Key Insight: Court created its own eight-factor test by adding one more factor to the Zubulake seven-factor test, and determined that cost-shifting was appropriate (responding party 25% and requesting party 75%)
Nature of Case: Sexual harassment
Electronic Data Involved: Email stored on backup tapes
Key Insight: Exercising its inherent authority to safeguard the integrity of its judicial process, court granted defendants’ motion for sanctions and dismissed the complaint due to plaintiff’s discovery abuses and “civil vigilantism” which began during the course of his employment and prior to filing suit
Nature of Case: Wrongful discharge
Electronic Data Involved: Illicit incursions into the offices, computers, and email accounts of executives of defendant
Key Insight: Mandamus relief granted; “run” from database to be narrowed to retrieve only falling-merchandise incidents within geographic and temporal limits set forth by trial court
Nature of Case: Negligence, premises liability
Electronic Data Involved: Run from computer database
Key Insight: Plaintiffs required to produce air modeling information and draft reports prepared by colleague of expert witnesses, which were considered by experts in forming their opinions
Nature of Case: Personal injury arising from emissions from beryllium plant
Electronic Data Involved: Air modeling information and draft reports sent via email
Key Insight: District court upheld magistrate’s order requiring defendants to produce all responsive electronic information in native format
Nature of Case: Securities class action
Electronic Data Involved: Emails
Key Insight: Preliminary injunction prohibiting former employee from using or disclosing any of employer’s business information and directing her to return employer’s property, equipment, documents and business and quality control records (including computer records)
Nature of Case: Employer sued former employee for breach of fiduciary duty and related torts
Electronic Data Involved: Emails and computer records
Key Insight: Parties agreed to narrow the scope of archived email search, both in terms of the number of employees whose email was to be produced and the number of days per month for which that email was to be produced; defendants to bear cost of production ($130,000) initially, but court reserved decision about who ultimately would bear cost; court denied plaintiff’s request that defendant make its production available on CD-ROM
Nature of Case: Antitrust
Electronic Data Involved: Archived email
Key Insight: Motion to preclude in-house counsel from having access to confidential information produced by competitors denied; court established detailed protective order for handling of confidential information
Nature of Case: Antitrust
Electronic Data Involved: Electronic documents
Key Insight: Court denied Stewart’s motion to disqualify the attorney who inadvertently read Stewart’s email from cross-examining her or participating in the preparation of her cross-examination
Nature of Case: Criminal proceedings re Stewart’s sale of ImClone stock
Electronic Data Involved: Email
Key Insight: Court ruled that, although Martha Stewart waived the attorney client privilege when she forwarded to her daughter a privileged email containing her account of the facts surrounding her sale of the stock, she did not waive work product protection
Nature of Case: Criminal proceedings re Stewart’s sale of ImClone stock
Electronic Data Involved: Email
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