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eDiscovery Question: Is Negligent Destruction of “Irrelevant” Evidence Spoliation?
Our last blog reviewed the facts in the case Cottle-Banks v. Cox Communications, 2013 WL 2244333 (S.D.Cal 2013) regarding the issue of automatic destruction of electronic data from audio tapes. Plaintiffs sought spoliation sanctions for recordings not saved after the case was filed on September 13, 2010, as defendant only
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ESI Privilege Log at Issue in Electronic Discovery Dispute
In the case Dornouch Holdings International, LLC v. Conagra Foods Lamb Weston, Inc. (2013 WL 2384235 (D. Idaho)), the district court appointed a Special Master to review the plaintiff ESI production for privilege. After the data was screened and the privilege log was created and served upon the parties, the
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When Must Video Surveillance Be Preserved to Avoid eDiscovery Spoliation?
In an unpublished decision, the Eleventh Circuit decided an appeal by a plaintiff in McLeod v. Wal-Mart, No. 12-13919, slip op. (11th Cir. April 3, 2013). Plaintiff had been charged with theft, but the criminal case was dismissed and plaintiff sued Wal-Mart in a civil case. The court considered the
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District Court: Email is Obvious and Critical Source of Information
On Monday, our blog reviewed a federal district court case Branhaven, LLC v. Beeftek, Inc., et al., Civ. No. WDQ-2334 (D. Md. 2013). In the case, after five months, plaintiff produced electronic data that consisted of 112,106 documents three days before oral depositions were scheduled. Although plaintiff offered some excuses
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Preservation Orders Issued for eDiscovery in Fungal Meningitis Cases
The plaintiffs in the potential multidistrict litigation In Re New England Compounding Pharmacy Cases secured a key win early on: the judge ordered preservation orders for tangible and electronic evidence held by defendants. The case stems from an incident last Fall when the defendant, New England Compounding, recalled three lots of
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Chevron Seeks Sweeping eDiscovery Requests After Losing International Litigation
Chevron, a subsidiary of oil giant Texaco, is fighting back after a $19 billion dollar judgment was entered against it by an Ecuadorian court in an international litigation case. Plaintiffs in the environmental suit were indigenous Ecuadorian communities that alleged Chevron engaged in illegal rainforest destruction in their country. Chevron
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Is eDiscovery Cost Shifting Appropriate Prior to Class Action Certification?
Recently in Boeynaems v. LA Fitness, No. 10-2326 (E.D.P.A. August 16, 2012), the federal district court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania addressed an issue apparently one of first impression – whether cost-shifting to plaintiffs related to pre-class certification discovery, including ESI discovery, was appropriate. Plaintiffs alleged the defendant national fitness chain was engaged