Key Insight: Sanctions, Efforts to Thwart discovery, Fraudulent Concealment
Nature of Case: Estates and Trusts
Electronic Data Involved: Hard copy
Keywords: fraudulent concealment, Statute of Limitations, Sanctions, Violation of Court Orders, Failure to produce, Death Penalty sanction, Obstruction, Temporary injunction, Deception of the Court
Identified State Rule(s): Tex. R. Civ. P. 199.3; Tex.R. Civ. P. 176 .8 (a)
Key Insight: Severe sanctions will not be granted where bad faith cannot be proved and no prejudice.
Nature of Case: Automobile collision.
Electronic Data Involved: Mobile phone data.
Keywords: intentional destruction, adverse inference
Key Insight: is it spoliation for an insurance company to destroy a recorded statement of the accident when the loss of the information is minimally prejudicial
Nature of Case: insurance bad faith
Electronic Data Involved: Audio Recordings, recorded statement
Keywords: recorded statement, prejudice, spoliation
Key Insight: Party could still be sanctioned to pay expert fees where party unsuccessfully altered evidence.
Nature of Case: Automobile accident.
Electronic Data Involved: Photographs and videos.
Keywords: “altering” “deleting” “deliberate[ly]” “computer scientist” “Facebook post”
Key Insight: Plaintiff never articulated claims that would make reasonable person believe lawsuit was likely. No duty to preserve had yet attached when Plaintiff when to HR.
Nature of Case: Discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: emails and SAP account
Keywords: Imminent litigation; adverse inference
Key Insight: Sanctions granted for first claiming withholding all responsive documents, then claiming there were no responsive documents. Protective Order violated by using information obtained under protective order to locate public information.
Nature of Case: false advertising/trademark infringement
Electronic Data Involved: Document related to claimed settlement achieved
Keywords: privilege, sanctions
Key Insight: Requests for Production; marketing materials; Unreasonably cumulative or duplicative
Nature of Case: Trademark Infringement
Electronic Data Involved: Hard copy; Historical records; on-site inspection; Marketing materials (documents, recordings, video, displays, etc.)
Keywords: Discovery violations; adequacy of discovery responses; Vague/overbroad/burdensome/ not calculated to lead to discovery of documents relevant to claims or defenses; proportionality; access; costs/Attorney’s fees; resources; “Senior user”; Cherrypicking; Evidentiary preclusion; Court order; Representative samples
Key Insight: Both sides moved for spoliation sanctions. Court was troubled by failure to suspend automatic deletion and loss of personal cell phone, but imposed no sanctions.
Nature of Case: Employee Termination/Discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: cell phones, company computer, notebooks
Keywords: spoliation; sanctions; automatic deletion
Key Insight: The obligation to preserve evidence in a workplace discrimination suit can extend to personal devices known to contain relevant material.
Nature of Case: workplace discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: text messages
Keywords: personal device, text message, obligation to preserve
Key Insight: whether the party acted willfully in destroying electronic information by installing a new operating system to his remote access computer
Nature of Case: employment discrimination and retaliation
Electronic Data Involved: destroyed electronically stored information
Keywords: spoliation, updating operating system, electronically stored information
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