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Judge Creates Uncommon Sanctions for Defendants’ Common Discovery Abuses
The basic rule of discovery is that a party may obtain any information that is relevant to any claim or defense in the lawsuit. The free flow of information is of the utmost importance and this concept applies equally to expert eDiscovery services. In The Security National Bank of Sioux
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When Do Counsels’ Actions Create Spoliation Sanctions?
When resolving spoliation issues between litigants, courts will fashion sanctions that properly address the severity of spoliation, place the parties on equal footing, and serve as a deterrent for future cases. This is a task that is not taken lightly, and one which the court sought to remedy in Brown
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QK Healthcare And The Examination Of Electronic Evidence Spoliation
In our last blog, we discussed the recent interim opinion in QK Healthcare, Inc. v. Forest Laboratories, Index No. 117407/09 (May 13, 2013). The court noted that electronic data in civil litigation necessitates a new standard that is different from the traditional rules about spoliation of evidence. In finding that
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Despite “Wiping Software,” Metadata and Other Forensic Artifacts May Remain
In the cases discussed in our prior blogs this week, “wiping software” had been used by parties in an attempt to delete what is likely adverse information on personal and work computers. As expert computer forensics continually improves, it has become more likely that deleted files and metadata can, in
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Class Action Attorney Requests $24 Million in Fees but Deleted Electronic Data…What is a Court to Do?
In an order handed down August 7, 2013, a California Court of Appeals considered a class action attorney fee request of $24 million. The case is Ellis v. Toshiba, Nos. B220286, B227078 (Cal. Ct. App. 2013), and it has a very long history. The basic issue on appeal is whether
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Plaintiff Awarded Fees for Unorganized and Misclassified Defense Production
In our last blog, we began a discussion of the state court case Hull et al. v. WTI, Inc., A13A0003 (Ga.Ct.App. June 18, 2013). In this complex business litigation case, the defendants produced 156,000 documents that the plaintiffs characterized as unorganized and a violation of defendant’s discovery duties. Additionally, the
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Negligent Spoliation Without a Showing of Prejudice: Sanctions or No?
For a recent case that offers a twist on necessary elements for spoliation sanctions, see the memorandum decision dated June 10, 2013 in Sekisui America Corp. v. Hart, 2013 WL 2951924 (S.D.N.Y.). One of the disputes at issue is whether sanctions were warranted against the plaintiff company for deleting 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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Plaintiff Awarded $134,613 as Sanction for Late Discovery Production
What constitutes a valid excuse for late production when answering plaintiff eDiscovery and document requests? An order dated May 22, 2013 in Nuance Communications Inc. v. Abbyy Software House, et al., No. C 08-02912 JSW (N.D.Cal. 2013) considered an excuse from a defendant when ruling upon plaintiff’s motion for sanctions.