Key Insight: Discovery request for managers’ text messages was ruled overbroad and not likely to be useful due to store policy that managers only communicate via email or voicemail.
Nature of Case: Fair Labor Standards Act dispute
Electronic Data Involved: text messages, email, communication methods the managers could have possibly used
Keywords: Text messages, overbreadth, overbroad, relevance
Key Insight: Social media information is not specially protected, but discovery requests should be tailored so as to not become fishing expeditions.
Nature of Case: employment discrimination, federal false claims act
Electronic Data Involved: Social media postings
Keywords: Social media, proportionality
Key Insight: Plaintiff requested Defendant run 72 “spelling variations” of 5 terms allowed by prior court order. Court denied and allowed 20, but did not apply sanctions yet.
Nature of Case: Libel/Slander
Electronic Data Involved: Various ESI
Keywords: search terms; sanctions; cooperation
Key Insight: personnel file related to settlement and claims handling was ordered to be produced with some confidentiality and redactions to protect personal information of adjuster.
Nature of Case: bad faith
Electronic Data Involved: adjusters personnel file
Keywords: personnel file
Key Insight: Compelling ESI prematurely is not needed if the records will be preserved throughout litigation
Nature of Case: malicious prosecution
Electronic Data Involved: emails, documents
Keywords: Scope of ESI search terms, willingness to produce
Key Insight: Plaintiff requested information related to outside counsel’s evaluation of claims. Court granted, but limited original request.
Nature of Case: Insurance breach of contract and bad faith
Electronic Data Involved: Various documents related to claims investigations; primarily related to outside counsel evaluations.
Keywords: scope; outside counsel; evaluation of claim
Key Insight: proportionality
Nature of Case: class action
Electronic Data Involved: backup tapes
Keywords: undue burden, statistical sampling, restoration, reasonably accessible, cooperation, interrogatory, relevance
Key Insight: How much access of a party’s electronic information system does rule 34(a) give a party?
Nature of Case: Trade secrets
Electronic Data Involved: Responsive documents
Keywords: ESI protocol, Forensic images, overly broad
Key Insight: Defendants request for social media posts was too broad and needed to be even more specifically directed to claims in case.
Nature of Case: personal injury
Electronic Data Involved: Social Media Posts
Keywords: social media; scope
Key Insight: Court declined to compel Defendant to conduct additional searches of witnesses? email accounts using 88 new search terms and excluding Plaintiff?s name finding that the request was ?overly broad and not proportional to the case? and reasoning that Plaintiff relied upon a multi-plaintiff case to justify her position and that she had not provided specifics regarding what she reasonably expected to find or shown that the information could not be found through other means, such as by asking additional questions of witnesses already scheduled for deposition ; court ordered Defendant to produce the relevant policies it operated under where Defendant claimed emails were deleted in the ordinary course of business according to Company policy, and that Defendant should also provide Plaintiff with the date of the deletion and the name of the person who made the deletion or the process of deletion, if known
Nature of Case: Wrongful termination
Electronic Data Involved: Email
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