Key Discovery Points: Timing Sweet Spots for Spoliation Motions
Proposed FRCP Changes: Effect on eDiscovery, RIM & IG (CLE)
[Legal Perspective] When Is It NOT Okay to Delete Your Social Media Account?
The Growing Role of Social Media in Litigation and How to Prepare for It
Filing a motion for sanctions under Rule 37(e) requires a strong evidentiary foundation. But there's another factor that's just as critical — timing. Courts have broad discretion in how they handle sanctions, and...more
There are few better cases that illustrate the risks of social media spoliation than Lester v. Allied Concrete Company....more
Implementing and enforcing appropriate legal holds is essential to preventing the destruction of data related to current or anticipated litigation and avoiding inadvertent spoliation claims. Depending on the nature of the...more
A motion for an adverse inference was denied in Pratt v. Robbins, et al., 2024 WL 234730, Case No. 5:20-cv-170-GCM (W.D. N.C. Jan. 22, 2024) where Defendants failed to preserve or produce a video that might have contained...more
[Editor’s Note: This article was first published November 15, 2023 and EDRM is grateful to Tom Paskowitz and Robert Keeling of our Trusted Partner, Sidley, for permission to republish. The opinions and positions are those of...more
Today, we embark on a quest to unravel the triggers that ignite the legal hold process. It will be a wild ride as we navigate the realm of legal obligations and preservation. Or at least slightly more fascinating than one...more
Your friendly neighborhood Technocat is back to shed some light on the captivating topic of legal hold notices. (Riveting I know!) The legal hold process for Electronically Stored Information (ESI) is a crucial step in the...more
Hey there, data detectives! It’s TechnoCat, Cat Casey, back with a critical concept that underpins the whole eDiscovery rollercoaster ride. I’m talking about the infamous ‘Legal Hold’. No, it’s not a wrestling move, but it...more
A recent decision declined to find the requisite “intent to deprive” that would merit sanctions under Rule 37(e) when a plaintiff was unable to produce text messages because his phone had been stolen and he had not taken...more
A review of recent case law by EDRM Guardian Partner Exterro’s E-Discovery Case Law Project - Five or so years ago, legal professionals were hearing about “the end of sanctions.” Changes in the Federal Rules of Civil...more
In DR Distributors LLC v. 21 Century Smoking, Inc, v. CB Distributors, Inc. and Carlos Bengos, 2021 WL 185082, No. 12 CV 50324 (1/19/2021), Judge Johnston of the Northern District of Illinois, granted Plaintiff’s motion for...more
In today’s world, there is a tendency to believe that everything must be preserved forever. The common belief is that documents, emails, text messages, etc. cannot be deleted because doing so may be viewed as spoliation...more
Generally, a litigation hold letter* will issue to preserve documents and information potentially relevant to a reasonably anticipated lawsuit. However, when does one’s duty to preserve potentially relevant documents end? ...more
Video surveillance is ubiquitous today and often sought in connection with injuries or litigation. As a result, courts are increasingly presented with disputes relating to the preservation and production of surveillance...more
In New York, it is widely recognized that the duty to preserve documents arises once a party “reasonably anticipates litigation” (see Voom HD Holdings LLC v EchoStar Satellite, 93 AD3d 33, 41-42 [1st Dept 2012]). And so,...more
Allegations of intentionally purged emails, wiped laptops and servers, and corrupted key source code rarely sink major cases. But Judge Davila of the Northern District of California recently reminded litigants that failure to...more
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e)(2), imposition of the most severe sanctions for failure to preserve relevant electronically stored information — a presumption that the information lost was unfavorable, an...more
This is what it sounds like, when sanctions are granted. In March 2019, a federal judge in Minnesota sanctioned Defendants for their failure to preserve text messages in a copyright infringement suit brought in part by the...more
The extent to which a loss scene can be altered before adversaries can legitimately cry spoliation has long been a mysterious battleground in the world of subrogation. In the case of In re Xterra Constr., LLC, No....more
Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal has ruled that Florida law does not impose an obligation on a nonparty to preserve evidence based solely on the foreseeability of litigation. Shamrock-Shamrock, Inc. v. Remark involved...more
Whether we like it or not, a reality of today’s world is that often important business is conducted by text messages. And so, when it is time to issue a litigation hold notice, you must include an instruction to preserve text...more
You may have read my colleague Starling Underwood’s post on two recent Second Circuit decisions discussing sanctions for spoliation. If you have not, I encourage you to read it here. The two cases Starling addressed, one...more
Cell phones have been around for a long time, but preserving the data they contain for discovery purposes is still often overlooked or avoided due to expense and inconvenience. Two recent decisions highlight the importance of...more
We’ve all been there: something happens that causes your organization to reasonably anticipate litigation, whether it’s the receipt of a preservation letter, a breach of a contract, or even service of a filed complaint....more
This is Part 2 in a multi-part blog discussing various core requirements that can serve as the road map to allow a lawyer to fulfill his/her duty of technological competence. 2.Implement Appropriate Preservation...more