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Supreme Court to Review Damage Stipulations and the Class Action Fairness Act
The Supreme Court may make a decision that will greatly affect class action lawsuits and plaintiffs across the nation when it hears the case Standard Fire Insurance v. Knowles, No. 11-1450. In Knowles, plaintiffs filed a state court class action for breach of contract against the defendant insurance company. The
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Is eDiscovery Cost Shifting Appropriate Prior to Class Action Certification?
Recently in Boeynaems v. LA Fitness, No. 10-2326 (E.D.P.A. August 16, 2012), the federal district court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania addressed an issue apparently one of first impression – whether cost-shifting to plaintiffs related to pre-class certification discovery, including ESI discovery, was appropriate. Plaintiffs alleged the defendant national fitness chain was engaged
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Sheldon Adelson Faces eDiscovery Sanctions Over Chinese Casino Dispute
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, whose estimated worth is approximately $20 billion, is facing sanctions for eDiscovery violations in a county district court in Las Vegas. The plaintiff in the ongoing case Steven Jacobs v. Las Vegas Sands, A627691-B, alleges his former employer fired him from his position as CEO of
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Can Mirror-Imaging Orders Better Preserve Electronic Data?
The wiping of work computers or business smartphones will likely be considered spoliation after a duty to preserve evidence arises, but what about home computers or cell phones? Evidence on personal computers is held to the same standard as business computers, but the electronic data is harder to control or
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Email Threads: The eDiscovery Key to Unlocking Truths
As our blog frequently writes about litigants’ duty to preserve evidence, one form of electronic data is paramount: email threads and correspondence. Even in business settings, the casual nature of email adds to the candor that is frequently found within its contents. Add to this the instantaneous and real-time capture
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Electronic Discovery and Incarceration: An Extreme Sanction for An Extreme Case
This blog’s alternate title is the eDiscovery Gang that Couldn’t Spoliate Straight, as both vivid lines are lifted straight from the court’s opinion in Victor Stanley Inc. v. Creative Pipe, Inc. et al., No. MJG-06-2662 (D.C.M.D. 2010). The defendant in this case engaged in what may be the most egregious
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Samsung Chokes on Apple After Email Spoliation
Defendant Samsung had a rough week in court. Apple had sued Samsung for patent infringement, and the defendant was ill-equipped for electronic data discovery. This led to a breach of its duty to preserve evidence and might have contributed to the $1 billion verdict entered against it by a jury
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Electronic Discovery Shines a Bright Light on Defendant Misconduct
Our blog frequently writes about preservation of evidence and how corporate defendants are getting into hot water when their litigation hold policies fall short. As more corporations move to full electronic data over paper documentation, it will become harder to hide, destroy or fail to produce relevant evidence. This is
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Second Circuit Takes Two Steps Back to Enforce Duty to Preserve Evidence
The standardization of eDiscovery protocols and better computer forensics is giving a boost in modern litigation to plaintiffs seeking to uncover the truth. Electronic data is difficult to hide or destroy, as it almost always leaves trace artifacts and trails. This was evident in the Zubulake series of cases where
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Making Copies: What eDiscovery Services are Taxable Costs?
Is eDiscovery preservation, collecting, culling, searching and production the same as “making copies?” The defendants thought so in Race Tires America, Inc. LLC v. Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. (Race Tires II), No. 11-2316, 2012 WL 887593 (3d Cir. Mar. 16, 2012). The defense had won the underlying case on a