[author: Sean O'Shea*]
1/29/2019: S.D. Fla. Ruling: Jury Can Decide Bad Faith Intent for Rule 37 Sanctions
In a slip and fall case, Carnival was found to have failed to take reasonable steps to preserve CCTV video. Judge Goodman noted the fact that its 30(b)(6) representative testifies once or twice a week is proof that it is a sophisticated litigant.
1/30/2019: Action to Add PDFs to PowerPoint Files
Use an Adobe action to insert multiple PDFs on the slides of a presentation.
1/31/2019: Ernst & Young on Information Governance
E&Y has established 7 principles for information governance.
2/1/2019: Basel III
The Basel III international regulatory accord recommends a data governance policy.
2/2/2019: Python Script to read csv file and split onto new lines
Read and parse a file using strip and split in Python.
2/3/2019: Sort function: Python 2 v. Python 3
The syntax for the sort function changes in Python 3.
2/4/2019: Trouble Exporting Text of PDFs? Edit Tags in Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat uses tags to identify the reading order of a page, and its overall layout, accounting for tables, lists, and footers.
2/5/2019: D. Minn.: Unidentified Processing Cannot be Taxed under 28 U.S.C. § 1920
“’ESI Processing’ is a broad term, and SuperValu provides no explanation of the tasks performed in this subset of costs.”
2/6/2019: Reading a .csv file with Python’s csv module
Python’s csv module can be used to read and write to .csv files.
2/7/2019: EDRM TAR Guidelines
The new EDRM TAR guidelines recommend the use of a decision log to track attorney decisions about relevancy.
2/8/2019: Bit Recover Email Conversion Tools
Convert .mbox files to PDFs; .msg files; and a .pst archive.
2/9/2019: Running Google searches for specific file types
filetype:mbox -site:facebook.com will only find files posted to sites other than facebook.com
2/10/2019: Protective Order Addresses Microsoft Source Code
Protective order signed in patent suit against Microsoft specifies that material designated as, ‘HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – SOURCE CODE’ must be made available for inspection within 7 days of receiving a request to review it, on computer not connected to the internet. No record can be made of the code other than handwritten notes which cannot copy the code verbatim.
2/11/2019: Workdays in Excel
Use the WORKDAY and NETWORKDAYS formulas to find the number of workdays in specified ranges.
2/13/2019: E.D. Wis.: Malware is a Device Under the Wiretap Act
In United States v. Hutchins the Court rejected the position of whitehat hacker Marcus Hutchins that malware is not a device under the Wiretap Act.
2/14/2019: Reformatting Rows With Cut-Off Text
When the full text of a cell can’t be shown with the height set to the 409.5 max, use this method to automatically split it into two rows.
2/15/2019: Accessing Excel files with OpenPyXL
You can use the OpenPyXL module for Python to access Excel files.
2/16/2019: Get list of files in a folder with Python
Use the glob module to get a list of Excel files in a folder.
2/17/2019: Installing Pandas for Python
Pandas can only be installed with Python 3.5 or later.
2/18/2019: Count number of rows and columns in an Excel file with Python
2/19/2019: Judges Really Do Notice Legal Citations
“The Undersigned does not view the Bluebook requirement of a parallel case docket number in a Westlaw citation in an unreported case to be a hyper-technical, nit picky-type obligation.” Sosa v. Carnival Corp., No. 18-20957-CIV, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12283, at *8 n.1 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 25, 2019)
2/20/2019: Use Python’s xlrd library to extract multiple columns or rows
2/21/2019: N.D. Cal. – ESI Discovery Not Proportional From Custodians Who Only Had an Interest in Trade Secrets
Court ruled that ESI discovery could be conducted from senior executives who obtained or used trade secret information, not those who wanted to learn about it.
2/22/2019: Python search to search multiple text files
Save python code in a text file with the extension .py then double-click it to run a search.
2/23/2019: Digital Signatures
A basic demo of how digital signatures work: a signer uses a private key to generate a hash value for message, which the recipient decrypts with a public key.
2/24/2019: District of South Carolina: Forensic Protocol Granted Where Mobile Devices Returned in 3 Hours
In Indus. Packaging Supplies v. Davidson, No. 6:18-0651-TMC, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28143 (D.S.C. Feb. 22, 2019), a forensic protocol was granted where mobile devices must be returned in three hours and search terms not agreed to by parties are excluded.
2/25/2019: use /v option to exclude results
In Windows commands the /v option excludes lines from results including the string listed after it.
2/26/2019: The SOC 2 Cloud Security Standard
The AICPA issues a SOC 2 cloud security certification which emphasizes baselines for normal activity; limiting false positive alerts; audit trails; and responding rapidly to attacks.
* Sean O'Shea, Litigation Paralegal at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
