E-Discovery-Center

Failure to Include Post Accident Researcher in Litigation Hold Leads to Adverse Inference

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:06:01 +0100

In Yelton v. PHI, Inc., the defendant in a products liability action was sanctioned in the form of an adverse inference and an award of attorneys fees for failing to include a researcher, hired after the triggering event to conduct a simulation of the accident, in its litigation hold. No. 09-3144, 2011 WL 6100445 (E.D.La. December 7, 2011).

Court Sanctions Parties for Doing Nothing and Causing Sale of a Server

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:54:05 +0100

In United Central Bank v. Kanan Fashions, Inc., the United States District Court for the District of Northern Illinois awarded monetary sanctions and an adverse inference against defendants who failed to preserve a computer server by doing nothing, as the applicable litigation hold letter instructed them. No. 10 C 331, 2011 WL 4396856 (N.D.Ill. September 21, 2011).

Misunderstanding of Vendor's Software Leads to Waiver of Privilege

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 01:00:00 +0100

In Thorncreek Apartments III, LLC v. Village of Park Forest, the United States District Court for the District of Illinois held that counsel waived privilege to six inadvertently produced documents by failing to properly handle documents flagged as privileged and failing to oversee the online production process. 2011 WL 3489828 (N.D.Ill. 2011).

Judge Scheindlin Withdraws Opinion Holding Metadata Producible Under FOIA

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:10:44 +0100

On June 17, 2011, 2011, Judge Scheindlin withdrew her opinion in National Day Laborer Organizing Network v. United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, 2011 WL 381625 (S.D.N.Y. 2011) which held that certain metadata is an integral or intrinsic part of an electronic record and where it is maintained by an agency, it is presumptively reproducible under FOIA unless the agency demonstrates it is not readily reproducible. As a reason for doing so, Judge Scheindlin cited an agreement amongst the parties as to the form and format that the disputed production would take and further stated that the decision was not based on a full and developed record.

Law Firm Sued By Client For Negligent Privilege Review

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:47:10 +0100

In a lawsuit filed June 2, 2011 in the California Superior Court, J-M Manufacturing Company, Inc. ( JM ) alleges that the law firm of McDermott Will Emery ( MWE ) breached its fiduciary duty owed to JM and committed legal malpractice by failing to sufficiently supervise the document review, and more specifically failing to adequately review documents for privilege prior to production.

Arizona Court Rejects "Per Se Gross Negligence" Rule from Pension Committee

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 14:11:46 +0100

In Surowiec v. Capital Title Agency, Inc., the United States District Court for the District of Arizona held that failure to issue a timely litigation hold justified sanctions in the form of an adverse inference. --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2011 WL 1671925 (D.Ariz. 2011).

Federal Circuit Holds Prospective Litigation Plan Triggers Duty To Preserve

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 13:04:58 +0100

In Micron Technology, Inc. v. Rambus, Inc., 2011 WL 1815975 (Fed. Cir. 2011) and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. v. Rambus Inc., 2011 WL 1815978 (Fed. Cir. 2011), the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that a memorandum prepared by the vice president outlining plans for suing Intel and DRAM manufacturers for patent infringement triggered Rambus's duty to preserve evidence.

"Three Strikes You're Out!" Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal Against Plaintiff As A ...

Thu, 26 May 2011 09:42:20 +0100

In Lee v. Max Intern., LLC, 2011 WL 1651640 (10th Cir. 2011), the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a United States District Court did not err in dismissing a Plaintiff's case for repeated failures to produce responsive documents.

Facebook Ordered To Reproduce Documents In Native Format

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:38:58 +0100

In In re Facebook PPC Advertising Litigation, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ordered Facebook to reproduce all documents previously produced in .pdf format and further ordered Facebook not to use third-party vendor Watchdox.com's online production software.