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.
Legal Hold
New York Court of Appeals Finally Speaks on Ediscovery Spoliation, But is it Now Out of Step with the Federal Courts?
After sitting on the sidelines for years, the New York Court of Appeals (the highest appellate court in New York) has finally ruled on the standard to be applied to claims alleging spoliation of ESI. The decision, however, which was late in coming, places New York at odds with the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This post will address…
Mere Negligence Cannot Support a Spoliation Claim
Giuliani v. Springfield Township, No. 10-7518, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74174 (E.D. Pa. June 9, 2015)
In the Third Circuit, mere negligence is not enough to support a claim of spoliation.
In this zoning dispute involving claims of civil rights violations and tortious interference with contractual relations, the court denied the plaintiffs’ request for spoliation sanctions where they could adduce…
Continue Reading Mere Negligence Cannot Support a Spoliation Claim
Still Need to Demonstrate Spoliated Materials Were Relevant
In the latest of a string of decisions relating to ediscovery spoliation, the First Department, on Jun 11, 2015, reconfirmed a basic principal of a spoliation motion: the party seeking sanctions must demonstrate that the spoliated materials were relevant to their case. This requirement must be satisfied even if the spoliation was caused by gross negligence.
In AJ Holdings Group …
Continue Reading Still Need to Demonstrate Spoliated Materials Were Relevant
Plaintiffs’ Failure to Preserve Leads to Two Adverse Inferences
AJ Holdings Grp. LLC v. IP Holdings, LLC, No. 600530/2009 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Sept. 19, 2014) reversed by AJ Holdings Group LLC v IP Holdings LLC et al., (2015 NY Slip Op 04943 [1st Dept 2015]).
In this breach of licensing agreement dispute, the Defendants sought spoliation sanctions against the Plaintiff. The sought-after sanctions included striking the complaint,…
Continue Reading Plaintiffs’ Failure to Preserve Leads to Two Adverse Inferences
Failure to Implement a Proper and Timely Legal Hold Notice Results in Plaintiff Being Sanctioned
In an earlier post (SEE reference to my top 10 list), I noted the importance of issuing a timely and proper legal hold notice. In case you failed to appreciate the critical importance of this step, a reading of the insurance case of Fidelity Nat. Ins. Co. v. Captiva Lake Invs., 2015 WL 94560 (E.D. Mo. Jan. 7…