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Gender Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit to Proceed, Despite Dukes
Many plaintiff trial attorneys were disappointed with the outcome in the Supreme Court decision Wal-Mart v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011). In Dukes, class certification of 1.6 million women was denied, as the court held the plaintiffs lacked the requisite requirement of commonality. The main problem was that the
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District Court: Email is Obvious and Critical Source of Information
On Monday, our blog reviewed a federal district court case Branhaven, LLC v. Beeftek, Inc., et al., Civ. No. WDQ-2334 (D. Md. 2013). In the case, after five months, plaintiff produced electronic data that consisted of 112,106 documents three days before oral depositions were scheduled. Although plaintiff offered some excuses
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Another Cautionary Tale: Retain an eDiscovery Vendor Before Its Too Late
In the federal district court case Branhaven, LLC v. Beeftek, Inc., et al., Civ. No. WDQ-2334 (D. Md. 2013), the Court addressed the issue of delayed and inadequate plaintiff ESI production. The opinion is a ruling on defendant’s Motion for Sanctions, alleging that the plaintiff engaged in “discovery abuses intended
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Courts Weigh in Obtaining eDiscovery in Foreign Proceedings
Parties involved in foreign litigation can apply to U.S. federal courts in order to seek the production of electronically stored information, or ESI, from litigants within the court’s jurisdiction. Under 28 U.S.C. 1782, the district court is not required to grant such applications, but may do so after considering a number
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8th Circuit Decides Issue of First Impression Regarding Adverse Inference Instruction
Monday’s blog discussed the district court case involving plaintiff Hallmark suing its former VP, Janet Murley. In response to plaintiff discovery requests, it was revealed that Murley had disclosed, then deleted, 67 electronic documents regarding Hallmark’s confidential and proprietary information to a competitor. The judge issued an adverse jury instruction
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Jury Finds Former Hallmark VP Engaged in Electronic Evidence Spoliation
In the recent case Hallmark Cards Inc. v. Murley, No. 11-2855 (8th Cir. 2013), former Hallmark VP and defendant Janet Murley appealed a jury verdict entered against her. After leaving her employment at Hallmark, she received a $735,000 severance package in exchange for signing non-compete and non-disclosure agreements. In 2006,
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Legal Conference Discusses Cost Shifting, Issue Coding and eDiscovery Software
On January 29th, 2013, judges, attorneys and electronic discovery vendors gathered in New York City for the LegalTech Conference to discuss important eDiscovery practices. Law Technology News reported that one topic discussed included cost shifting, and how both plaintiffs and defendants can work together to keep costs down by maintaining
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Court Rejects Excuses for Poor Electronic Discovery Defense Production
Our last blog discussed the first part of the 2013 court opinion in Peerless Industries, Inc. v. Crimson AV, LLC, (2013 WL 85378 (N.D.Ill.), which compelled the deposition of a foreign managing agent to be conducted in the U.S. The second part of the order reviewed plaintiff’s renewed Motion for
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Compelling the Deposition of a Foreign Managing Agent
In Peerless Industries, Inc. v. Crimson AV, LLC, (2013 WL 85378 (N.D.Ill.), an Illinois District court heard, and rejected, common defense excuses to evade a deposition and electronic data discovery obligations. Plaintiff brought a patent infringement lawsuit against defendant Crimson, which company is closely aligned with a non-defendant Chinese corporation, Sycamore.
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Plaintiff Trial Attorneys Cite Email Threads as Key Evidence in Antitrust Litigation
One of the ongoing themes in our blogs is how email threads are not only relevant in civil litigation, but they can also be critical evidence to a case. This is particularly true for plaintiff electronic discovery requests against large corporations, as internal emails often reflect candor and truth not