Knotty Issues of eDiscovery
Published California eDiscovery cases are as rare as California Condors. However, unpublished California opinions provide a lot of insight in how judges see eDiscovery issues in state court. Flagship Theatres of Palm Desert is a California case regarding spoliation of email messages and the preservation of evidence. Even though it[…]
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We have a new case applying Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 37(e): Living Color Enterprises v New Era Aquaculture. My thanks to attorney Chris Dix from the law firm of Smith, Hulsey, & Busey for sending me this case. Chis joined me for a podcast to discuss the case,[…]
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The City of New York, 50 unnamed NYPD officers, and the former NYPD Commissioner are involved in a civil rights lawsuit over allegedly issuing summonses without probable cause, violating the First, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, if true. The City was found to be grossly[…]
Read moreMagistrate Judge Jonathon Goodman knows the value of an expert deposition in complex litigation and B.B. King. Everyday I Have the Blues Here is the basic dispute in Procaps S.A. v. Patheon Inc.: The Plaintiff, based in Columbia, did not put a litigation hold in place until ordered by the[…]
Read moreIt is dangerous for lawyers to argue information was not searched for years because of “human error.” That is right up there with saying, “Your Honor, we goofed. Are we cool?” As we learned from Judge Kevin Fox, no, we are not cool. The case involved claims for wrongful termination and[…]
Read moreThe Texas Supreme Court has clarified the standards for spoliation (in Texas). The rule is that Texas has a two-step process: (1) the Trial Court must determine, as a question of law, whether a party spoliated evidence, and (2) if spoliation occurred, the Court must assess an appropriate remedy. Brookshire Bros.,[…]
Read moreA Plaintiff brought a motion for tortious spoliation of evidence for the alleged destruction of a native file report after the duty to preserve triggered. The Defendants produced the written report, but the native file and its metadata were gone. Raines v. College Now Greater Cleveland, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS[…]
Read moreHow do you know there is a duty to preserve? When two managing officers involved in the termination of an employee are repeatedly asked by an attorney for their electronic calendars, including a letter threatening an EEOC complaint if there was not an amicable resolution, and then followed by formal discovery[…]
Read moreIn a dispute involving claims of monopolistic violations regarding booking A-list DJ’s at nightclubs, the Defendants did not take any steps to preserve or review text messages on an iPhone for relevance that was lost. Christou v. Beatport, LLC, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9034, 36-39 (D. Colo. Jan. 23, 2013). While the[…]
Read moreMany eDiscovery attorneys associate Chicago with 1) the Blues Brothers and 2) Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan. Judge Nolan granted in part and denied in part a motion to compel in an employment dispute. The Judge found the Defendant had a duty to preserve audio recordings of calls that had been[…]
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