Archive - December 16, 2005

Elec. Funds Solutions v. Murphy, 36 Cal. Rptr. 3d 663 (Cal. Ct. App. 2005)

In this lawsuit between former business partners, plaintiffs alleged claims for breach of fiduciary duty, intentional interference with economic relations, unfair competition, and related torts. Plaintiffs sought compensatory damages “in an amount in excess of $50,000 and according to proof,” as well as punitive damages. Read More

In re Old Banc One Shareholders Sec. Litig., 2005 WL 3372783 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 8, 2005)

In this opinion, the District Court adopted in full the Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation regarding plaintiffs’ motion for sanctions based upon the defendant’s failure to preserve relevant documents.

The court explained that, in securities cases, corporations have a duty to preserve documents pursuant to both the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Public Securities Litigation Reform Act. “However, the duty to preserve potentially discoverable information does not require a party to keep every scrap of paper. Instead, a party is required to keep relevant evidence over which it had control and reasonably knew or could foresee was material to the litigation.” 2005 WL 3372783 at *3 (citations omitted). Read More