Key Insight: As sanction for discovery abuse and tardy production of “smoking gun” email, court precluded defendant from opposing the admission in evidence of various emails and records, and ordered defendant to pay plaintiffs’ reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with motion and related discovery
Nature of Case: Airline crash litigation
Electronic Data Involved: Email
Key Insight: Parties ordered to resolve, within five days, scope of electronic discovery to be made by each plaintiff through the completion of the meet and confer process; if no resolution reached, hearing to be held six days later to resolve outstanding issues
Nature of Case: Individual securities fraud actions
Electronic Data Involved: Electronic discovery
Key Insight: Court granted underwriter defendants’ motion for extension to complete production of certain electronic discovery but advised that, should they fail to meet this schedule, plaintiffs could request to be relieved of their obligation to share expenses in the production of electronic discovery; further, defendants to conduct additional electronic discovery searches for nine more custodians
Nature of Case: Securities class action
Electronic Data Involved: Electronic discovery
Key Insight: No abuse of discretion to deny plaintiff’s motion to compel discovery of “computer diskette or tape copy of all word processing files created, modified and/or access by, or on behalf” of five employees over 2-1/2 year period as overbroad and unduly burdensome
Nature of Case: Age discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: Word processing files
Key Insight: Motion for protective order requiring plaintiff to share the cost of restoring computer files denied; Zubulake judge applied Zubulake factors and concluded that cost-shifting was not appropriate
Nature of Case: Breach of contract class action
Electronic Data Involved: Computer files housed on decommissioned systems
Key Insight: Court denied defendant’s motion to strike the testimony of plaintiff’s computer expert (who recovered “plethora” of deleted documents from defendant’s old YCA computer) since any delay in disclosing the expert and the recovered material was justified given defendant’s failure to disclose that his old computer might contain relevant evidence
Nature of Case: Breach of nondisclosure agreement, tortious interference
Electronic Data Involved: Deleted documents, computer hard drive
Key Insight: Defendant required to produce documents regarding use of software program and designate Rule 30(b)(6) witness to testify about defendant’s use of software program; defendant allowed to submit protective order “to safeguard divulgence of such information to third parties”
Nature of Case: Insurance bad faith
Electronic Data Involved: Colossus computer software program used by insurance industry to evaluate claims
Key Insight: Order compelling defendant surgeon to produce his surgical database, to include information related to all the cholecystectomy procedures defendant had ever performed (with the patient names redacted) was abuse of discretion; matter remanded with directions that the court examine the database contents in camera to determine relevance and privilege issues
Nature of Case: Medical malpractice
Electronic Data Involved: Surgical database maintained by defendant surgeon
Key Insight: Motion to compel production of computer-generated salary data granted; court further ordered parties to preserve all relevant evidence including all data compilations, computerized data and other electronically-recorded information
Nature of Case: Employment discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: Computerized payroll records
Key Insight: Defendant ordered to produce crash test data, but plaintiff to share in cost
Nature of Case: Product liability
Electronic Data Involved: Crash test data
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