Bursztein v Best Buy Stores, L.P., (2021 WL 1961645 [SD NY 2021]) involves a personal injury lawsuit arising from plaintiff Perla Bursztein’s slip and fall accident in a New York City Best Buy store.

During discovery, Bursztein requested: (i) video surveillance footage of the accident; (ii) maintenance, and repair records for the location of the accident; and (iii) Best
Continue Reading Boilerplate Objections and Discovery Games Require Little Effort but Result in Big Sanctions

Aldinger v. Alden State Bank is a good reminder of counsel’s obligation to be cooperative in the discovery process.

Aldinger, an employment discrimination case pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, involved a series of discovery disputes including Plaintiff’s motion to compel Defendant to respond to her First Request for the Production of
Continue Reading Federal Judge Finds it is Counsels’ Absence of Good Faith and Cooperation Causing an Increase in Duration and Expense of Litigation

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

Whether we like it or not, a reality of today’s world is that often important business is conducted by text messages. And so, when it is time to issue a litigation hold notice, you must include an instruction to preserve text messages as well as the devices from which they are sent/received (i.e., smartphones).  Your failure to do so can
Continue Reading Text Messages Must be Preserved

On August 1, 2018, Judge Beetlestone (E.D. Pa.) granted Defendants’ motion for sanctions based upon unequivocal evidence that Plaintiffs manipulated and fabricated emails material to the litigation.  Although the Court imposed the drastic sanction of dismissing Plaintiffs’ complaint, the Court provided a detailed and instructive analysis supporting its ultimate conclusion.  The Court’s analysis, addressed below, can be read in full
Continue Reading Court Dismisses Plaintiff’s Complaint As Sanction for Doctored Emails

In Youngevity Intl’s Corp. v. Smith (No: 16-cv-00704 [SD CA December 21, 2017]), defendants sought an Order pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26(g) and 37.  The Order required Plaintiffs to remediate an improper discovery production to pay for Defendants’ costs for bringing the motion to compel and for the cost to review various improper prior productions.  Specifically,
Continue Reading A Cooperative Discovery Process Promotes Efficient Advocacy

In Barcroft Media, Ltd. et al. v. Coed Media Grp., LLC, No. 16-CV-7634 (JMF) (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 28, 2017), Plaintiffs – providers of entertainment-related photojournalism and owners of celebrity photographs – interposed various intellectual property claims against Defendant Coed Media Group, LLC (“CMG”).  The claims related to the allegedly infringing use of certain celebrity photographs (the “Images”) on CMG’s pop
Continue Reading If Evidence in its Original Form Is No Longer Available – But a Copy of that Evidence Is – Are Spoliation Sanctions Appropriate?

In Eshelman v. Puma Biotechnology, Inc., No. 7:16-CV-18-D (E.D.N.C. June 7, 2017), Magistrate Judge Robert B. Jones, Jr., denied Plaintiff Eshelman’s motion seeking a jury instruction in response to Puma Biotechnology Inc.’s (“Puma”) failure to preserve (or identify in its litigation hold notice the need to preserve) internet web browser and search histories.  In denying Eshelman’s request, Judge Jones
Continue Reading Your Litigation Hold Must be Generally Broad And Specifically Tailored

Mueller v. Swift, (D. Col. 2017) 2017 WL 2362137

Some opinions just have it all, and Mueller v. Swift does not disappoint!  Indeed, in this lawsuit, Taylor Swift, the pop sensation who has been sweeping the nation, alleges she was the victim of sexual misconduct, assault, and battery.

What in the world do such allegations have to do with
Continue Reading Taylor Swift and the Java-Dump: An E-Discovery Tale

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 (along with others — Rules 1, 16, 26 and 34) was amended, effective December 1, 2015.

The amendment to Rule 37(e) was intended, in part, to ensure practitioners/litigants were fully aware of their preservation obligations, to ensure a uniformity of sanctions imposed upon parties and practitioners who failed to preserve discoverable electronically stored information

Continue Reading E-Discovery Update: ESI Sanctions in Federal Court During 2016 (Well, through July)