A recent federal district court decision, Lawson et al. v Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, Inc., US Dist Ct, MD Pa, 1:17-CV-1266, Carlson, J., 2019, reminds litigants of the need to tailor discovery requests for electronically stored information (“ESI”).

Before the Court was plaintiffs’ motion to compel defendants’ production of “all” text messages on approximately 100 company-owned
Continue Reading Federal Court Denies Request for Wholesale Disclosure of Text Messages

Yikes!  No practitioner wants to be on the receiving end of a decision that starts with the title of this post.  And yet, that’s precisely how Magistrate Judge Bloom started her decision in Abbott Laboratories v. Adelphia Supply USA (15 cv 5826 [CBA] [LB]), ECF No. 1545 Abbott serves as an important reminder to practitioners that we need to
Continue Reading A Cautionary Tale About How Not to Conduct Discovery in Federal Court

Technology has revolutionized, among other things, the way people conduct business, store information and communicate with others.  And, despite the many efficiencies and benefits of technology, a downside of this “revolution” is the creation of countless files that may later be subject to review and potential production during litigation /investigation proceedings.  Indeed, even relatively small cases routinely involve the collection
Continue Reading How to Defensibly Limit Data During Discovery

Rule 1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure calls upon courts and litigants to “secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.” And so, it comes as no surprise that technology assisted review (“TAR”) is being widely embraced by the legal profession.

What is TAR?

TAR (also called predictive coding, computer assisted review, or supervised
Continue Reading Technology Assisted Review At a Glance

Often viewed as a necessary evil, the Rule 26(f) conference can serve as an invaluable opportunity to meaningfully discuss discovery such that the process is streamlined and seeks to avoid unnecessary (and often costly) disputes.   Generally speaking, Rule 26(f), among other things, sets the deadline for the conference as soon as practicable and at least 21 days before the scheduling
Continue Reading The Rule 26 Conference: Necessary Evil or Critical for Streamlined and Efficient Discovery?

On October 1, 2018, a new Rule (specifically, a new subdivision to existing Rule 11-e) of the Commercial Division Rules, will go into effect. 

Rule 11-e governs Responses and Objections to Document Requests.  The new subdivision, promulgated by administrative Order of Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks, governs the use of technology-assisted review (“TAR”) in the discovery process. 

The
Continue Reading Important Update for Those Who Practice in the Commercial Division of the NYS Supreme Courts

The amendment to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) (which defines the scope of permissible discovery) did away with the timeworn “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence” standard.  In its place is now the “proportionality standard,” which explicitly imposes a responsibility on litigants to tailor their discovery requests to account for the significance of the information

Continue Reading Proportionality Is the Critical Inquiry in Federal Court Discovery

In Hyles v. New York City et. al., (Case No. 10-3119, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100390 [S.D.N.Y. Aug. 1, 2016], the plaintiff, an African-American female employed by the City of New York, was demoted.  Specifically, she was replaced by a white male and demoted to a different position with a lesser salary.  Ultimately, plaintiff sued the City for discrimination

Continue Reading The Southern District of New York Rules that It Cannot Force a Responding Party To Use Technology Assisted Review When Searching for Documents

Chief Justice Roberts commented that the newly amended Federal Rule of Civil Procedure, Rule 26 “crystalizes the concept of reasonable limits in discovery through increased reliance on the common-sense concept of proportionality.”  This common sense approach was recently embraced by a Special Master, and then approved by the District Court Judge, in the products liability case In re Takata Airbag

Continue Reading Defendants’ Proposal to Redact Non-Relevant Information Recently Upheld under Newly Amended Rule 26

For a long time, New York state and federal courts were out of sync with one another with regard to a litigant’s discovery obligations. For example, the state courts in New York required a party to take steps to preserve discovery materials upon the commencement of a litigation, while the federal courts required preservation upon the reasonable anticipation of litigation. 

Continue Reading The Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court of Appeals’ Pegasus Aviation Decision and What They Mean for New York Litigators