Every week, the Array team reviews the latest news and analysis about the evolving field of eDiscovery to bring you the topics and trends you need to know. This week’s post covers the period of July 27-August 2. Here’s what’s happening.
Privilege log helps deny motion to compel
On eDiscovery Today, Doug Austin writes about Haptic, Inc. v. Apple, Inc., a patent infringement case in the Northern District of California in which Apple’s motion to compel Haptic to produce all relevant documents relating to litigation funding was denied.
While U.S. District Judge Jacqueline S. Corley found in favor of Apple’s argument that the documents were relevant, she also found they were protected by the work-product doctrine. In finding that Haptic made a prima facie showing that, absent waiver, the documents on its privilege log were protected as attorney-work product, Judge Corley reminds us of the importance of the privilege log:
“Haptic’s log provides adequate explanations for what each withheld document contains, who created it, who sent it, who received it, and the date of sending. … Haptic further provides a supporting declaration from its CEO who attests that Haptic’s attorneys or their agents prepared these documents in anticipation of litigation.”
Apple, however, argued Haptic waived its work-product privilege over documents shared with the litigation funder by sharing those documents. Because Haptic admitted to sharing the documents it claimed were privileged with the third-party funders, Judge Corley had to determine whether sharing these documents with the litigation funders waived the work-product privilege.
Judge Corley found Haptic did not disclose attorney work product “to an adversary in litigation” or “substantially increased the opportunities for potential adversaries to obtain the information.’” This meant that Haptic’s privilege was not waived by the disclosures.
While we have seen several cases in the past where privilege logs were challenged due to their vagueness or lack of detail, here we see a matter where the information provided in the log were specific and detailed to prove the privilege claims.
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Other recent eDiscovery news and headlines:
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