In In Re State Farm Lloyds, (Texas Supreme Court [May 26, 2017] 2017 WL 2323099), the Supreme Court of Texas elaborated on the standard applied to evaluate and resolve production disputes. Specifically, the Court opined (perhaps not surprisingly) that of “the guiding principles informing the exercise of discretion over electronic-discovery disputes, proportionality is the polestar.” Id. at *15.
Continue Reading The Seven Commandments of Proportionality in ESI*
In a decision dated May 26, 2017, Justice Chan of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, struck the defendant’s answer. Although the Court acknowledged that the imposition of this particular sanction was “severe,” Justice Chan deemed it warranted in light of the “egregious” and deliberate misconduct of the defendant.
The substantive allegations in the
In Miller v. Zara USA Inc., (2017 N.Y. Slip Op. 04407, 1st Department June 6th, 2017), the First Department held that where, as here, a company’s written employment guidelines clearly provide that employees have no reasonable expectation of privacy when using a company-issued computer for personal purposes, no claim of attorney-client privilege over personal documents on
Continue Reading Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Use Your Company Computer*
Most practitioners are familiar with the federal sanction powers as codified in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (i.e., Rules 11, 26, 30 and 37). However, all federal courts also possess inherent sanction power that is conceivably broader than those articulated under the various Rules. And, notwithstanding that this is an ESI blog, the Court’s inherent sanction powers are not
According to the Complaint filed in Michael Distefano and Nicole Distefano v Law Offices of Barbara H. Katsos, PC and Barbara H. Katsos, Michael DiStefano and a non-party were owners of a limited liability company that was the franchisee of three Cold Stone Creamery Inc. ice cream parlors. In 2006, the three stores suffered financial difficulties due to an extended
In Hsueh v. N.Y. State Dep’t of Fin. Servs., (No. 15 Civ. 3401 [PAC], 2017 WL 1194706 [S.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2017]) the Southern District imposed spoliation sanctions (specifically, an adverse inference) on the plaintiff in a sexual harassment case, because of her intentional deletion of a recorded conversation relevant to her allegations. While the court deemed the recording ESI, it
Electronic discovery (a/k/a ediscovery and e-discovery) is the process of identifying, preserving, collecting, preparing, reviewing and producing electronically stored information (“ESI”) in the context of a legal or investigative process. In order that counsel may bring discovery issues (including e-discovery issues) to the forefront early on in the development of a case, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure impose on
Continue Reading Rule 26 and How It Applies to Electronically Stored Information
In connection with a declaratory judgment lawsuit wherein the Harleysville Insurance Company sought a ruling that it did not have to pay a loss claim for an October 2014 fire at a funeral home, United States Magistrate Judge Pamela Meade Sargent ruled, in a February 9, 2017 decision, that the Harleysville Insurance Company waived any claim of privilege to materials
In Fulton v. Livingston Financial LLC, 2016 WL 3976558 (W.D. Wash. July 25, 2016), U.S. District Judge James L. Robart sanctioned a defense lawyer who “inexcusabl[y]” relied on outdated case law and pre-2015 amendments to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b) in motion practice before the court.
On April 13, 2015, Plaintiff (Richard Fulton) filed suit against Defendants for
Continue Reading Judge Finds Defense Counsel’s Reliance upon Pre-Amendment Rule 26 in a Motion to Compel the Equivalent of Bad Faith – Resulting in Significant and Embarrassing Sanctions
The Federal Rules are undergoing more changes! And, effective December 1, 2017, there will be two new Federal Rules of Evidence (Rules 902[13], [14]) that will directly impact e-discovery in the federal courts. These Rule changes are critical because, as aptly put by recently retired Magistrate Judge John Facciola, “[t]he Federal Rules of Evidence were…established to create uniformity in evidence
Continue Reading More Proposed Changes to the Federal Rules that Will Inevitably Impact Electronic Discovery and Federal Practitioners