ediscovery Archives - Page 2 of 6

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July 24, 2015

Amended FRCP Likely Effective as of December 1, 2015

Proposed Amendments to FRCP 1, 4, 16, 26, 30, 31, 33, 34, 37 and 55 were approved by the U.S. Supreme Court on April 29, 2015 and submitted to Congress. Absent some contrary action by Congress, the amended FRCP will become effective December 1, 2015. The Amendments will have a significant impact on the discovery process. As

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July 22, 2015

Court Declines to Withdraw Bankruptcy Court Reference Due to ESI Concerns

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan recently considered whether to “withdraw the reference” to bankruptcy court (e.g., remove the matter from the bankruptcy court’s consideration) in an adversary proceeding where discovery was still ongoing. In Vulpina, LLC v. Dzierzawski (In re Dzierzawski), Bankruptcy Case No. 13-47986, Adversary Proceeding No. 14-05199; District Court Case Nos.

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July 20, 2015

Court Refuses to Order Additional Custodial Production

In Pan American Life Insurance Co. v. Louisiana Acquisitions Corp., et. al., Case No. 13-5027 (Jul. 9, 2015), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana considered Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel production of additional ESI from a yet unsearched custodian. After Defendants’ initial document production, Plaintiff sought production of additional ESI related to a CEO

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July 17, 2015

Failure to Seek Native Format and Metadata at Outset Sinks Plaintiff Request

In U.S. ex rel Carter v. Bridgepoint Education, Inc., et. al., Case No. 10-01401, the Southern District of California considered, among other things, Plaintiffs’ request that Defendants produce emails in native format and produce metadata for all ESI, including for ESI already produced by Defendants. Defendants, an education company that receives most of its revenues from the

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July 15, 2015

9th Circuit Rules that a Marker Placed by Google Earth Does Not Constitute Hearsay

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently considered whether a Google Earth satellite image and a digital “tack” obtained by Google Earth with GPS coordinates constitutes hearsay. In U.S. v. Lizarraga-Tirado, Case No. 13-10530 (9th Cir. Jun. 18, 2015), the 9th Circuit affirmed the conviction of Defendant for his illegal re-entry into the United States. Defendant argued

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July 13, 2015

Court Finds No Spoliation Despite Destruction of Privileged Files

In Charvat et. al. v. Valente et. al., 12-5746, the Northern District of Illinois considered whether Defendant Carnival Corporation had engaged in spoliation when it deleted certain files from its employees’ computers after those employees had ceased working for Carnival. Plaintiffs sued based upon alleged improper conduct by one of the defendants, a marketing company. Carnival investigated

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July 10, 2015

Court Denies Spoliation Argued For the First Time on Appeal

In Zamsky v. Dodge Premier, Inc. et. al., No. 2107 EDA 2014 (Jun. 23, 2015), the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held that an appellant could not argue that the lower court ignored potential spoliation by the appellee without supporting the argument with some legal authority. Plaintiff filed suit against a limited liability company and its

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July 8, 2015

Court Refuses to Require Party to Produce Medical Record Audit Trail

The Supreme Court of Kings County, New York, recently ruled that a hospital could not be compelled to produce the audit trail for its electronic records without a showing of good cause from the patient. In Vargas v. Lee et. al., 2015 NY Slip Op 31048(U) (Jun. 5, 2015), the court held that Plaintiff had

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July 7, 2015

Update on Forensic Examination of Hard Drives and Computers

When Can a Party Obtain a Computer Forensic Examination? A year ago, ILS focused its monthly newsletter on the forensic examination of hard drives, computers, and mobile devices. Since then, the federal courts have issued several new decisions on the subject. Below is a summary of recent case law regarding eDiscovery disputes over computer forensics,

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July 6, 2015

Court Holds Forensic Examination Improper Without Good Cause

In Hawkins v. The Center for Spinal Surgery et. al., Case No. 12-1125 (Jun. 18, 2015), the Middle District of Tennessee recently denied an employer’s motion to compel a forensic examination of a former employee’s flash drive. Plaintiff sued Defendant, her former employer, for employment discrimination and unlawful retaliation. Plaintiff, an African-American, claims that Defendant

ediscovery Archives - Page 2 of 6 - ILS