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Judge Scheindlin Reversed Magistrate’s Ruling on Spoliation and Prejudice
About a month ago, our blog discussed the case of Sekisui v. Hart, where a magistrate judge decided an electronic evidence spoliation issue. The magistrate issued a memorandum and order finding that while Sekisui acted “grossly negligent” in deleting emails and ESI after the duty to preserve evidence arose, the
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Ohio Appeals Court: Dismissal of Defendant’s Claims Proper for “Lost” Computer, Hard Drive and ESI
In our last blog, we reviewed the facts and timeline in the case Altercare, Inc. v. Clark, C.A. No. 12CA010211 (Ohio Ct. App. June 28, 2013). In the case, Clark was terminated from her position, and both she and her former employer, Altercare, had claims and counter-claims. After writing a
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Does Production of Hard Copies Negate the Need for Native Files?
What happens when you have lost electronic files and a destroyed computer, but you contend your document production was completed before the computer was discarded? To see how that argument went over in a New York appellate court, check out Harry Weiss, Inc. v. Mendez Moskowitz et al., 2013 NY
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Plaintiffs Sought Spoliation Sanction for Deleted Audio Recordings: Warranted or Not?
In the case Cottle-Banks v. Cox Communications, 2013 WL 2244333 (S.D.Cal 2013), a court considered an electronic discovery issue of whether spoliation sanctions were warranted against the defendant for the automatic destruction of audio recordings saved as electronic data. At issue in the underlying case, filed on September 13, 2010,
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Defendant Fails to Meet its Burden for Spoliation Allegations Against Plaintiff
All this week, our blog has been discussing the consequences of defendant’s failure to preserve evidence after a duty to preserve electronic data has been imposed. However, it is not always the defendant accused of spoliation. In the case Research Foundation of State University of New York v. Nektar Therapeutics,
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Electronic Discovery Issue: When Does Automatic Deletion of Data Become Spoliation?
Most businesses that have extensive electronic data and email communications have systems in place that automatically delete old data after set periods of time. However, when litigation is reasonably foreseeable, a duty to preserve evidence is imposed on all parties. When does automatic electronic data deletion cross the line into
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The Stored Communications Act and its Consequences for Plaintiff eDiscovery
The proliferation of smartphones for both personal and business use has now blurred the practical distinction between text messages and emails. When plaintiff trial attorneys need electronic data evidence contained within a smartphone, how can they gain access to text or email content and not run afoul of the Stored
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Are Text Messages Different than Email for eDiscovery?
Shortly after the case of Christou v. BEATPORT, LLC, No. 10-cv-02912-RBJ-KMT (D.Co. 2013) was filed on December 1, 2010, plaintiff served a “litigation hold letter” on the defendant. One of the items listed for preservation was text messages from defendant’s iPhone. The defendant was then served with plaintiff electronic discovery
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Email Threads and Chains as Evidence: The Smoking Gun of Plaintiff eDiscovery
In the advent of the modern electronic age, email has become the foremost form of communication for business correspondence. A far cry from formal writing on watermarked letterhead, email is typically casual and candid. For that reason, uncovering and obtaining all relevant emails is critical as part of a plaintiff
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Plaintiff eDiscovery Requests Lead to Wal-Mart Named as Defendant in Class Action
Last year, a group of workers filed a class action lawsuit in Carrillo v. Schneider Logistics, Inc., No. CV 11-8557-CAS (DTBx), alleging wage and hour violations in three warehouses located in California. During the time these allegations were taking place, Schneider was working for retail giant Wal-Mart, whom the lawsuit