Personal Injury › Civil Procedure › Electronic Discovery

Confessions of an adrenaline addict and trial lawyer

Adrenaline and its effects is the crushing elephant in the room of every courthouse across the country. Lawyers strung out on adrenaline are crowding our courtrooms with lawsuits that never end, disputes that never get...more

S.D.N.Y. Sanctions Ryan Leslie For Negligently Destroying His Laptop’s Hard Drive

It is not really a surprise when a celebrity makes the news after being sued; we see it happen all time. Those cases typically involve some sort of misconduct, domestic issue, or some other media-driven dispute. It is not...more

COITO v. SUPERIOR COURT--Is It Heading Back to the Supreme Court?

On August 14, 2012, Judge William A. Mayhew of Stanislaw Superior Court issued his Notice of Hearing on Issues Re Remand in the case of Debra Coito v. State of California. The order requested that the following issues to be...more

Don’t Forget Social Media During Discovery

Social media continues to be important in litigation, especially in cases where the plaintiff alleges damages for emotional distress or mental injury. Courts are increasingly allowing discovery of the plaintiff's social media...more

Acted With Substantial Justification

Just wondering, but what does the phrase "acted with substantial justification" mean in the sanctions statute for motion to compel depo testimony, CCP 2025.480 (pdf)? Does it mean the conduct that led the moving party to...more

All Answers Remain the Same

A party should use supplemental interrogatories and demands in an efficient and effective manner. They should be sent at least once a year and no later then 90 days before trial. The responses you obtain should direct you...more

New York Appellate Court Holds Electronically Signed Affirmations Admissible

On June 21, a New York state appellate court held that an electronically signed affirmation is admissible under state court rules. Martin v. Portexit Corp., No. 303854/07, 2012 WL 2344889 (N.Y. App. Div. June 21, 2012)....more

ADR Neutrals Can Be Utilized with New ESI Rules

ARTICLE ABSTRACT Changes are coming to existing rules and specifically include amendments to address ESI within Florida Civil Procedure Rules 1.200, 1.201, 1.280, 1.340, 1.350, 1.380 and 1.410 of the Florida Rules of Civil...more

YOU NEED TO FILE A MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER!!

Over lunch last week, a local attorney was complaining to me about his case that is going to trial in July. On the last day to serve written discovery, Plaintiff counsel had served each of his five clients, on behalf of each...more

Making Your Online Evidence Usable in the Courtroom by Michael Kaiser, Kaiser Legal Group

Presented by Michael Kaiser of the Kaiser Legal Group at the Seattle Continuing Legal Education seminar (CLE) "Everything You Don't Know About E-Discovery (But Wish You Did)." The CLE was held at the Washington State...more

Save Time, Money & Angst -- MEET and CONFER

The purpose of the “meet and confer” requirements set forth in C.C.P. §§ 25.450(b)(2)), 2025.480, 2030.300(b), 2031.310(b), 2032.250 and 2033.290 was for the lawyers to revisit their position, in good faith discuss a...more

Am I Naïve to Think Something Should Be Done?

What do you do when you are being out muscled by a party who has deep pockets and a lawyer who's intent is to abuse the discovery process and run up his bills. ANSWER--GET THE COURT INVOLVED!!...more

The Document From Hell--AKA The "Privilege Log"

In responding to Requests for Production of documents you have three response choices (1) agree to produce (C.C.P. §2031.220); (2) state that after a diligent search and a reasonable inquiry you have no documents (C.C.P....more

John Doe v. U.S. Direct Ins. Co.

Motion and Brief in Support of Motion to Compel Discovery of Plaintiff's Facebook Login Information

Civil Litigators are well aware that there is an increasing trend in Social Media Discovery litigation in the Pennsylvania courts (and nationwide). Insurance defense counsel Daniel E. Cummins of the Scranton law firm of...more

Quoting Shakespeare

Last spring I had the pleasure of taking a tour of the Royal Globe Theatre in London, England. On display there was a plaque titled "Quoting Shakespeare." It brought a smile to my face when I read the passage as I realized...more

Facebook No Friend of Yet Another MVA Plaintiff

Another Ontario Superior Court judge has ordered an MVA plaintiff to preserve, print, and produce to the defendant her Facebook photographs....more

Facebook No Friend of MVA Plaintiff

An Ontario Superior Court judge has ordered a plaintiff to re-attend an examination for discovery to answer questions about photographs of himself that he posted on his Facebook or MySpace pages. He also ordered the...more

INSPECTION DEMANDS-What is a Reasonable Inquiry?

To determine whether or not a responding party has made a reasonable inquiry, you must determine where the responding party searched (what efforts were made), who did they talk to (did they make an inquiry to their legal...more

Hip Checked – Plaintiffs’ Ediscovery Ploy Rebuffed In New Jersey

Ediscovery is dreadfully expensive. Plaintiffs are dedicated to keeping it that way, as they know that anything that drives up a defendant’s litigation costs (and mass tort ediscovery falls disproportionately on defendants)...more

INSPECTION DEMANDS--What is a "Diligent Search"?

Have you ever received a response to requests for production of documents that says: After a diligent search and a reasonable inquiry has been made in an effort to comply with this Request, there are no documents within...more

E-Discovery Failures Can Eliminate Tennessee Civil Justice Act Damage Limitations

There are two fundamental takeaways from Tennessee’s recently enacted tort reform legislation from an e-discovery perspective. To ensure that the non-economic and punitive damage limits apply, organizations especially health...more

Florida E-Discovery Rules Coming Soon!

This summer, the Florida Bar Civil Rules committee finally approved draft rule amendments of its longstanding E-Discovery subcommittee. The Florida Bar Board of Governors recently gave its blessing to the Expedited Submission...more

"I Declare, It Is Necessary"

As every lawyer is aware, a party may propound more than 35 specially prepared interrogatories or requests for admissions simply by attaching a Declaration of Necessity pursuant to C.C.P. §2030.040 and C.C.P. §2033.040...more

GIve Me All Your Documents!

I recently reviewed a case management order in a complex construction case venued in Southern California. The order required all parties to produce: Any and all relevant non-privileged and non-protected documents...more

Facebook Profile Subject to Discovery

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania recently considered whether information contained within a party's Facebook account is properly subject to discovery. The case arose from a November 2008...more