-
Motion to Compel Text Messages Denied for Untimely Filing after Discovery End Date
In Healthwerks, Inc. et. al. v. Stryker Spine, et. al., Case No. 14-93 (E.D. Wisc., Mar. 6, 2017), Plaintiffs sought declaratory judgment regarding two exclusive agency agreements entered into with Defendant Stryker. One month before the scheduled March 2016 trial, Plaintiffs and Third Party Defendants filed a Motion to Compel text
-
Text Messages in Electronic Discovery: Produce or Face Spoliation for Deletion
Text messages in electronic discovery are more important than ever in almost all civil litigations. Even more so than email, texts tend to be casual and candid in content, and may not be as carefully considered prior to transmission. This quality makes text messages a particularly prime source of potential
-
Sanctions Awarded against Defendant for Deleted Text Messages and Failure to Produce Native Format Data
In First Financial Security, Inc. v. Freedom Equity Group, LLC, Case NO. 15-1893 (N.D. Cali., Oct. 7, 2016), Plaintiff sued Defendant for intentional interference with contractual relationships and violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law, alleging that Defendant induced 1,400 sales contractors to leave Plaintiff’s employ and join Defendant “en masse”.
-
Court Orders Spoliation Sanctions for Defendants’ Willful Failure to Produce Text Messages
In First Financial Security, Inc. v. Lee et. al., Case No. 14-1843 (D. Minn. Mar. 8, 2016), Plaintiff sued Defendants for breach of contract. During discovery, Plaintiff sought communications, including emails and text messages, sent both before and after a critical May 10 meeting. Defendants refused to provide any of the information
-
Defendants Sanctioned for Failure to Preserve Text Messages
In Benefield v. MStreet Entertainment, LLC et. al., Case No. 13-1000 (M.D. Tenn., Feb. 1, 2016), a wrongful termination lawsuit in which Plaintiff alleges she was fired in retaliation for reporting sexual harassment to human resources, Plaintiff filed an EEOC charge on June 27, 2013 and filed suit three months
-
Court Quashes Subpoena for Irrelevant Plaintiff Text Messages
In Burdette v. Panola County, No. 3:13CV286-MPM-SAA (N.D. Miss. February 4, 2015), the Northern District of Mississippi granted Plaintiff’s Motion to Quash Subpoena where Defendant subpoenaed Plaintiff’s text messages and call log records. Plaintiff filed an employment lawsuit alleging unpaid wages and retaliation. Defendant served AT & T with a subpoena
-
Text Messages and Plaintiff’s eDiscovery
What Does Recent Case Law Say About Text Message Preservation? Text messages can present particular challenges in eDiscovery. To avoid the common pitfalls, the plaintiff’s bar needs to know both how to properly preserve its clients’ text messages and how to ensure defense counsel produces everything plaintiffs are entitled to
-
Routine Deletion of Text Messages: Spoliation or Acceptable Smartphone Maintenance?
State Court Issues Notable Ruling Regarding Electronic Evidence If a defendant readily admits to deleting electronic evidence after a preservation order is in effect, plaintiff trial attorneys could be excused in thinking that a motion for sanctions should be a cut and dry issue. However, issues of spoliation of electronic
-
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