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Plaintiff Attorney Fees Imposed for Defense Production’s “Severe Shortcomings”
As electronically stored information (ESI) is now a standard part of the discovery process in most civil litigation, it is inexcusable to not issue proper ESI litigation holds and deliver the electronic data in a timely manner. For a case demonstrating “severe shortcomings” for defendant’s ESI production, read the case
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Court Disagreed that Plaintiff Metadata Reflected Attorney Misconduct
Can metadata steer parties in the wrong direction, or offer information that can be misconstrued or interpreted in the wrong way? This was a question in the case HSBC Bank USA v. Santana Cline, et al., Civil Action No. 2:13-cv-00978 (S.D. Ohio October 25, 2013), where defendants alleged attorney misconduct
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Application Metadata vs. System Metadata: Federal Court Examines the Sedona Principles
In our last blog, we discussed the case Teledyne Instruments, Inc. v. Cairns, et al., Case No. 6:12-cv-854-Orl-28TBS (M.D.Fl. October 25, 2013), where a District Court agreed that defendants’ alleged “inconsistencies” in metadata for two productions was normal and expected. Why did the court come to this conclusion? The court
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Is Forensic Imaging Warranted if Defendant Metadata Appears Inconsistent?
Metadata, or data about data, is becoming a real hot topic in the area of plaintiff electronic discovery law. In an eDiscovery order in the case Teledyne Instruments, Inc. v. Cairns, et al., Case No. 6:12-cv-854-Orl-28TBS (M.D.Fl. October 25, 2013), plaintiff sued defendant for breach of contract and other business
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Court Orders Defense Production in Searchable Electronic Format with Metadata
In Kwan Software Engineering, Inc. v. Foray Technologies, LLC, No. C 12-03762 (N.D.Cal. October 1, 2013), plaintiff electronic discovery requests were sent and defendant responded by producing 28,786 documents on the discovery due date of August 20. After the deadline, defendants then produced 100,692 documents three weeks later, then 99,778
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Plaintiff ESI to Be Uploaded to Secure Database in FDIC Case
In FDIC v. Giannoulias et al., No. 12 C 1665, (N.D.Ill. October 23, 2013), plaintiff FDIC, acting as receiver for a bank, sued to recover millions of dollars in losses for loans the FDIC alleged the defendants had negligently approved. Discovery commenced and “Phase II” of discovery included plaintiff ESI
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Defendant Failed to Make Prima Facie Case for Alleged Plaintiff ESI Spoliation
In Digital Vending Services International v. The University of Phoenix, et al., Action No. 2:09CV555 (E.D.Va. Oct. 3, 2013), the defendants sought spoliation sanctions for a missing thumb drive containing plaintiff ESI. It was undisputed that the thumb drive was lost; the only question before the district court was whether
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When Social Media is Relevant, Deleting Account May Lead to Adverse Inference Instruction
In Gatto v. United Airlines, Inc., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41909, No.: 10-cv-1090-ES-SCM (D.N.J. Mar. 25, 2013), plaintiff Frank Gatto was ordered to produce personal Facebook account records. The personal injury action alleged permanent disability limiting physical and social activities, so the court agreed Facebook records were relevant and discoverable.
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Court Agrees Boolean Phrasing Useful in Searching Electronic Data
In the case Swanson v. Alza Corporation, No. CV 12-04579-PJH (KAW), (N.D. Cal, October 7, 2013), Defendant filed a Motion to Compel the Plaintiff ESI production. Specifically, Defendant sought to compel Plaintiff to use its chosen search terms and to update the interrogatories (the parties were able to resolve the
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After In Camera Review, Magistrate Rules Only Select Plaintiff Email Chains be Produced
One theme that has emerged in electronic discovery disputes is that courts do not look favorably on general objections to either defendant or plaintiff ESI requests. Parties must make specific, pointed objections to numbered requests to have the best chance at having the judge rule in their favor. For a