Case Summaries – Page 409 – Electronic Discovery Law

Gambale v. Deutsche Bank Ag, 2002 WL 31655326 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 21, 2002)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Defendants ordered to provide an affidavit explaining steps taken to search paper and electronic files for responsive documents and feasibility and cost of retrieving certain emails. Plaintiff would then have option of consenting to protocol set forth in Rowe Entertainment as modified by Murphy Oil, or arguing for different protocol by conferring with defendant and submitting a joint letter outlining parties’ respective positions on the issue

Nature of Case: Gender discrimination

Electronic Data Involved: Email and electronic files

Hildreth Mfg., LLC v. Semco, Inc., 785 N.E.2d 774 (Ohio Ct. App. 2003)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Failure to preserve certain computer hard drives did not warrant sanctions where there was no reasonable possibility that the missing hard drives (which were obtained after protective order was issued) contained evidence of the theft of trade secret information

Nature of Case: Misappropriation of trade secrets and related torts

Electronic Data Involved: Computer hard drives

Kleiner v. Burns, 48 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 644, 2000 WL 1909470 (D. Kan. Dec. 15, 2000)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Granting motion to compel disclosure of all relevant computerized data under former Rule 26(a)(1), court observed: “As used by the advisory committee, ‘computerized data and other electronically-recorded information’ includes, but is not limited to: voice mail messages and files, back-up voice mail files, e-mail messages and files, backup e-mail files, deleted e-mails, data files, program files, backup and archival tapes, temporary files, system history files, web site information stored in textual, graphical or audio format, web site log files, cache files, cookies, and other electronically-recorded information.”

Nature of Case: Copyright infringement (posting of copyrighted photographs on web site)

Electronic Data Involved: All voice mails, email, web sites, web pages, and other relevant electronic data

Mathias v. Jacobs, 197 F.R.D. 29 (S.D.N.Y. 2000), vacated, 167 F. Supp. 2d 606 (S.D.N.Y. 2001)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Plaintiff’s failure to preserve computer printouts and telephone lists loaded onto Palm Pilot did not warrant an adverse inference instruction, but did warrant monetary sanctions of $28,271.75 to be paid by party (not his attorney) to compensate the victim for attorneys’ fees and expenses arising both from additional discovery required to locate equivalent information by alternative means and from the motion practice necessitated by the spoliation

Nature of Case: Action seeking monetary damages and specific performance of stock option agreement

Electronic Data Involved: Hard copy material loaded onto Palm Pilot

Oppenheimer Fund, Inc. v. Sanders, 437 U.S. 340 (1978)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Requiring defendant to bear expense of identifying class members was abuse of discretion where cost of effort (over $16,000), which included manually sorting records, keypunching and creating software programs, would be same for plaintiff and no special circumstances existed

Nature of Case: Securities fraud class action

Electronic Data Involved: Computer tapes

In re Propulsid Prods. Liab. Litig., 2003 WL 22174137 (E.D. La. Sept. 9, 2003)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Brief reference to court’s earlier order narrowing the scope of subpoena to hard copy documents only, rather than including production of electronic documents

Nature of Case: Product liability

Electronic Data Involved: Electronic production of documents

Sheppard v. River Valley Fitness One, LP, 203 F.R.D. 56 (D.N.H. 2001)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Defense counsel’s failure to produce computer records and to retain all drafts of settlement documents reflected lack of diligence rather than intentional effort to abuse discovery process; testimony of witness barred and $500 awarded as sanctions

Nature of Case: Sexual harassment

Electronic Data Involved: Computer records

Symantec Corp. v. McAfee Assoc., Inc., 1998 WL 740807 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 14, 1998)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Plaintiff’s motion to modify scheduling order to allow additional electronic discovery (production of all source code and image copies of all hard drives with access to a server from which a particular disk was copied) denied because plaintiff failed to exercise reasonable diligence — it had possession of the disputed disk for over nine months before it examined the disk and appreciated its significance

Nature of Case: Copyright infringement

Electronic Data Involved: Source code, image copies of hard drives

United States v. Philip Morris USA Inc., 327 F. Supp. 2d 21 (D.D.C. 2004)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Finding it “astounding” that defendant’s employees failed to follow court’s preservation order and defendant’s own document retention policies, court rejected plaintiff’s request for adverse inference but imposed monetary sanction of $2,750,000 and barred testimony from at least 11 witnesses who failed to comply with defendant’s own internal document retention program

Nature of Case: Tobacco litigation

Electronic Data Involved: Email

Wilson v. Sundstrand Corp., 2003 WL 21961359 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 18, 2003)

Dec 01 2004

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

Catagory:Case Summaries