Archive - December 2011

1
Chevron Corp. v. E-Tech Int., No. 10cv1146-IEG (WMc), 2011 WL 1898908 (S.D. Cal. May 19, 2011)
2
Velocity Press Inc. v. Key Bank, N.A., No. 2:09-CV-520 TS, 2011 WL 1584720 (D. Utah April 26, 2011)
3
Graff v. Haverhill N. Coke Co., No. 1:09-cv-670, 2011 WL 1630045 (S.D. Ohio Mar. 24, 2011)
4
Quality Inv. Props. Santa Clara, LLC v. Serrano Electric, Inc., No. C 09-5376 LHK (PSG), 2011 WL 1364005 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 11, 2011)
5
In re Facebook PPC Adver. Litig., No. C09-03043 JF (HRL), 2011 WL 1324516 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 6, 2011)
6
Nissan N. Am., Inc. v. Johnson Electric N. Am., Inc., No. 09-CV-11783, 2011 WL 1002835 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 17, 2011)
7
Datel Holdings, LTD v. Microsoft Corp., No. C-09-05535 EDL, 2011 WL 866993 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 11, 2011)
8
JFB Hart Coatings, Inc. v. AM Gen., LLC, 764 F.Supp.2d 974 (N.D. Ill. 2011)
9
Doyle v. Gonzales, 2011 WL 611825 (E.D. Wash. Feb. 10, 2011)
10
Corbello v. Devito, 2010 WL 4703519 (D. Nev. Nov. 12, 2010); 2011 WL 1466605 (D. Nev. Apr. 15, 2011)

Chevron Corp. v. E-Tech Int., No. 10cv1146-IEG (WMc), 2011 WL 1898908 (S.D. Cal. May 19, 2011)

Key Insight: The court denied defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration of the court?s order allowing forensic examination of the at issue hard drive by a neutral forensic examiner where defendant failed to meet the standard for reconsideration

Electronic Data Involved: Mirror image of hard drive

Velocity Press Inc. v. Key Bank, N.A., No. 2:09-CV-520 TS, 2011 WL 1584720 (D. Utah April 26, 2011)

Key Insight: Court denied plaintiff?s motion for sanctions where at-issue emails were deleted prior to when defendant?s duty to preserve attached; court?s analysis included consideration of when duty to preserve arose and found that some communications from plaintiff may have ?hinted at potential claims to certain employees? but did not ?directly threaten litigation? and that the duty to preserve was triggered later, upon receipt of the summons and complaint

Electronic Data Involved: Emails, ESI

Graff v. Haverhill N. Coke Co., No. 1:09-cv-670, 2011 WL 1630045 (S.D. Ohio Mar. 24, 2011)

Key Insight: Where, by comparing the time taken to respond to other requests, defendant established that responding to the requests at issue would be unduly burdensome (requiring an estimated 1,000 to 1,600 hours) and where plaintiff failed to provide ?any particular showing ? of the benefit to be obtained from such information?, the court denied plaintiff?s motion to compel

Electronic Data Involved: ESI, email

In re Facebook PPC Adver. Litig., No. C09-03043 JF (HRL), 2011 WL 1324516 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 6, 2011)

Key Insight: Despite Facebook?s assertions that an ESI protocol was unnecessary and that there was no basis to require rigid up-front requirements, court cited the ?clear thrust of discovery-related rules, case law, and commentary? suggesting that communication among counsel is critical and ordered parties to meet and confer to establish protocol to establish the format of production, search terms, etc.; court ordered re-production of any ESI already produced in non-searchable formats and prohibited Facebook?s further use of Watchdox.com to make ESI available to plaintiffs where the method was unduly burdensome to plaintiffs (in light of Facebook?s control of the documents, ability to track what was reviewed, etc.) and where parties previously agreed to a protective order which provided sufficient protection to the documents at issue

Electronic Data Involved: ESI

Nissan N. Am., Inc. v. Johnson Electric N. Am., Inc., No. 09-CV-11783, 2011 WL 1002835 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 17, 2011)

Key Insight: Court denied plaintiff?s motion for a protective order and ordered production of confirmation the locations searched for responsive ESI; production of plaintiff?s backup policies and tracking records; production of plaintiff?s document retention policy; and production of a data map to show the age and location of data on plaintiff?s systems

Electronic Data Involved: Information related to plaintiff’s computer systems

Datel Holdings, LTD v. Microsoft Corp., No. C-09-05535 EDL, 2011 WL 866993 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 11, 2011)

Key Insight: Where despite reasonable measures to prevent the production of privileged materials a software glitch resulted in the failure to identify privileged portions of emails that were then produced and where, upon learning of the disclosure, counsel acted promptly to rectify the error, the court found privilege had not been waived by the inadvertent production pursuant to FRE 502; court?s analysis included discussion of meaning of ?inadvertent?

Electronic Data Involved: Email chain

JFB Hart Coatings, Inc. v. AM Gen., LLC, 764 F.Supp.2d 974 (N.D. Ill. 2011)

Key Insight: Court found it ?more likely than not? that plaintiff?s fabrication of an exhibit was in bad faith and necessitated sanctions and ordered an evidentiary hearing where evidence revealed that plaintiff had significantly altered evidence and subsequently provided misleading information to opposing counsel and the court regarding the same

Electronic Data Involved: Fabricated evidence

Doyle v. Gonzales, 2011 WL 611825 (E.D. Wash. Feb. 10, 2011)

Key Insight: Where a small town with ?limited financial and technological resources? sought a protective order to allow phased discovery of ESI in light of the alleged burden and expense of the requested discovery, the court granted in part the defendant?s motion and crafted a protective order which established the search terms to be employed and allowed plaintiff the opportunity to provide suggestions and which provided that if the search returned an unreasonable amount of documents that plaintiff?s counsel should assist in ?restructuring the search? to reduce that number

Electronic Data Involved: ESI

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