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: 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: Court ordered defendant to produce to plaintiff information in the possession of a third party storage facility, with each side paying one-half of the charges billed by the third party for retrieving the information; court further ruled that the prevailing party would be entitled to recover from the losing party its share of the costs associated with retrieval of the information
Nature of Case: FLSA claim
Electronic Data Involved: Electronic documents
Key Insight: Where defendants had actual notice of allegations against them and affirmatively stated that they were fully aware of their preservation obligations under PSLRA and sanctions for failure to comply, court declined to enter preservation order
Nature of Case: Securities litigation
Electronic Data Involved: Documents, data compilations (including electronically recorded or stored data), and tangible objects
Key Insight: Scheduling and case management order provides, inter alia, that document requests shall be responded to and documents produced within ten days after service, and that parties will produce documents in either hard copy form, or, in the case of electronic documents, in the native electronic format (or a mutually agreeable format)
Key Insight: Court ruled that plaintiff should determine, either informally or during a corporate deposition of defendant, what information responsive to interrogatory could be retrieved from defendant?s computer system and what could only be retrieved manually; to the extent the information could only be retrieved manually, parties were ordered to attempt to agree on a sampling process
Electronic Data Involved: Computer databases
Key Insight: Plaintiff failed to comply with court order by making various misrepresentations about whether all original input files were produced and whether software program changed over time it was used; sanction in form of attorneys’ fees and costs warranted
Nature of Case: Construction litigation
Electronic Data Involved: Software program and input files used to make design calculations
Key Insight: Reversing jury verdict of over $1.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages, court found evidence not legally sufficient to support finding that manager authored offending memorandum; computer experts testified regarding creation of memo, history of revisions and locations of copies
Nature of Case: Former employee sued former employer and managers for libel
Electronic Data Involved: Word document
Key Insight: District court’s refusal to enforce subpoena seeking non-party’s research data affirmed
Nature of Case: Herbicide cancellation proceeding
Electronic Data Involved: Research data regarding toxicity studies of third party
Key Insight: Motion for reconsideration of order granting of summary judgment properly denied where party failed to show that email from repaired server that was produced the day before summary judgment hearing qualified as “newly discovered evidence”
Nature of Case: Action to enforce advertising agreements
Electronic Data Involved: Email
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