Motion for Sanctions – Page 121 – Electronic Discovery Law

Metro. Opera Ass?n, Inc. v. Local 100, 2004 WL 1943099 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 27, 2004)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: On defendant’s motion for reconsideration, court again described numerous discovery failings by the defendants, concluded that it would adhere to its prior decision at 212 F.R.D. 178, and further rejected two new arguments belatedly advanced by defendant relating the merits of plaintiff’s underlying claims

Nature of Case: Opera company sued union

Electronic Data Involved: Email and electronic documents; hard drives

MPCT Solutions Corp. v. Methe, 1999 WL 495115 (N.D. Ill. July 2, 1999)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Sanctions in form of preliminary injunction preventing defendant from contacting MPCT clients granted, after defendant violated preservation order by deleting documents from laptop and defragmenting hard drive, thus preventing the recovery of deleted data

Nature of Case: Enforcement of non-competition agreement

Electronic Data Involved: Electronic documents stored on laptop

Munshani v. Signal Lake Venture Fund II, LP, 805 N.E.2d 998 (Mass. App. Ct. 2004)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Dismissal of complaint was appropriate sanction for fraud on the court consisting of plaintiff’s forging email, swearing to its authenticity, and continuing to insist on its authenticity while independent computer expert investigated the matter and ultimately concluded the email was fabricated; plaintiff ordered to pay costs and fees of expert and defendants’ attorney’s fees and costs related to discovery of the fraud

Nature of Case: Breach of contract

Electronic Data Involved: Forged email

Nat’l Assoc. of Radiation Survivors v. Turnage, 115 F.R.D. 543 (N.D. Cal. 1987)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Failure to produce computer data and other discovery abuses warranted imposition of monetary sanctions against defendant ($105,000 paid to plaintiffs and $15,000 paid to clerk of court “for the unnecessary consumption of the court’s time and resources”) and appointment of special master at defendant’s expense for purpose of monitoring its compliance with all further discovery

Nature of Case: Class action brought by veterans for alleged exposure to radiation during service with armed forces

Electronic Data Involved: Two V.A. computer systems (databases)

Nutrition Mgmt. v. Harborside Healthcare Corp., 2004 WL 887401 (E.D. Pa. Mar. 19, 2004)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Court denied plaintiff’s motion in limine to preclude testimony, which was based on speculation that email had been destroyed, since defendants produced sworn testimony that all relevant emails were produced, and legitimate reason for erasing some emails “was simply a function of cleaning the junk mail and other clutter from the computer software and disk storage space”

Nature of Case: Breach of contract and tort claims

Electronic Data Involved: Email

Oved & Assocs. Const. Servs., Inc. v. Superior Court, 2003 WL 23028903 (Cal. App. Dec. 30, 2003) (Unpublished)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Petition for writ of mandate denied; based on evidence that a business computer was used for accounting and nothing else, and that there was a risk the hard drive might be purged, trial court acted properly when it ordered the petitioner to produce the computer’s hard drive

Nature of Case: Misappropriation of funds

Electronic Data Involved: Hard drive

Pennar Software Corp. v. Fortune 500 Sys., Ltd., 51 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 279, 2001 WL 1319162 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 25, 2001)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Defendant’s discovery abuses and deletion of web site pages and other electronic information warranted entry of order enjoining spoliation and imposing monetary sanctions against defendant

Nature of Case: Breach of contract and related claims

Electronic Data Involved: Web site pages; log files and backup tapes of nonparty web hosting company

Pioneer Hi-Bred Int’l, Inc. v. Monsanto Co., 2001 WL 170410 (E.D. Mo. Jan. 2, 2001)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: After jury trial resulted in defense verdict, court ruled on defendant’s outstanding motion for sanctions; pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37 and its inherent authority, court ordered plaintiff to pay defendant’s total counsel fees, expenses and costs incurred in the litigation (not just those related to discovery issues) amounting to $8,211,287 as sanction for plaintiff’s egregious discovery misconduct

Nature of Case: Dispute over development and license agreement

Electronic Data Involved: Email and other computerized data

Positive Software Solutions, Inc. v. New Century Mortgage Corp., 337 F. Supp. 2d 862 (N.D. Tex. 2004)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Court ruled, reluctantly, that even though defendant had violated protective order relating to use of subject software and database, the order was not sufficiently clear and definite to be enforced by contempt

Nature of Case: Copyright infringement

Electronic Data Involved: Software and database

Procter & Gamble Co. v. Haugen, 179 F.R.D. 622 (D. Utah 1998)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Plaintiff sanctioned $10,000 for failing to preserve or search email of certain persons; key word search to be narrowed

Nature of Case: Business sued competitors for defamation and unfair competition

Electronic Data Involved: Email, databases (scope of key word search)

Tag:Motion for Sanctions