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What are the Top eDiscovery Case Law Trends of 2016?
Each week, our plaintiff electronic discovery firm publishes summaries of the top eDiscovery case law opinions and notes the trends taking place throughout the country. One trend we’ve seen this year includes the rise of requests for terminating sanctions for electronic discovery violations. Additionally, we continue to see more cases
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Court Imposes $150 Daily Monetary Sanction Due to Plaintiff’s Failure to Produce ESI
In Friedman v. SThree PLC, et al., Civil No. 3:14CV00378(AWT) (D.Conn. October 24, 2016), Defendants expressed dissatisfaction with Plaintiff’s answers to discovery responses. After holding a conference with the court, the court issued an order requiring Plaintiff to conduct additional searches, to provide a certification as to the completeness of their
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Defendant Required to Produce Emails Relevant to Hours Worked in FLSA Case
In Boyington v. Percheron Field Services, LLC, Case No. 14-90 (W.D. P.A., Oct. 14, 2016), a lawsuit brought by an employee of Defendant on behalf of himself and others similarly situated for nonpayment of overtime wages, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant improperly classified Plaintiff and his coworkers as exempt employees under
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Massive Punitive Damages Award Rendered for Email Spoliation
Intentional Email Deletion Leads to Multi-Million Dollar Sanctions Order A Delaware Court entered a massive punitive damages award based upon findings of intentional, bad faith spoliation of email threads by a corporate defendant in an antitrust case brought under the Sherman Act and common law. The extensive facts in GN
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Plaintiff’s Motion for ESI Spoliation Sanctions Denied Without Prejudice Pending Further Discovery
In Konica Minolta Business Solutions, USA Inc. v. Lowery Corporation d/b/a Applied Imaging Systems, Inc. et. al., Case No. 15-11254 (E.D. Mich., Aug. 31, 2016), Plaintiff sued Defendants (several former employees and their new employer, Lowery Corporation (“Lowery”), for unlawful taking of property and disclosure of confidential materials and trade
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Court Denies ESI Spoliation Motion Regarding Document and iPad Email Deletion
In First American Title Insurance Company et. al. v. Northwest Title Insurance Agency, LLC et. al., Case No. 15-00229 (D. Utah, Aug. 31, 2016), Plaintiffs sued Defendants Smith and Williams, former employees of Plaintiffs, after they started a competing company, Defendant Northwest Title. While setting up the company, Smith and
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Eastern District of Pennsylvania Denies Discovery Sanctions Motion Against QVC
In Saller v. QVC, Inc., Case No. 15-2279 (E.D. Pa., July 29, 2016), Plaintiff sued her former employee, alleging that Defendant discriminated against her by unlawfully terminating her following a medical-related leave of absence and after she requested reasonable accommodation due to medical issues. In August 2014, five months after Plaintiff’s termination, her counsel
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Business Partner Sanctioned for Egregious ESI Spoliation and False Testimony
In re Shaw & Elting, LLC, Case Nos. 9661-CB, 9686-CB, 9700-CB, 10449-CB (Del. Ch. Ct., July 20, 2016) is a case in the Delaware Court of Chancery involving a dispute between parties Shawe and Elting, who jointly owned a company, TransPerfect Global. Prior to litigation, Elting attempted to hire a
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Adverse Inference Sanctions for ESI Spoliation: A Case Update
Spoliation refers to the intentional destruction of evidence that would be favorable to the other side. While it may sound like the stuff of a television procedural and not real litigation, spoliation of electronic evidence such as emails and data files is quite common. Federal courts may sanction the spoliating
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Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department Held in Civil Contempt for Failure to Produce Responsive Items
In Melendres v. Arpaio et. al., Case No. 07-2513, a class action lawsuit filed by residents of Maricopa County, Arizona, against Sheriff Joseph Arpaio, Maricopa County, and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for racial profiling and unlawful traffic stops of Latinos, the court had issued a preliminary injunction in late 2011 preventing