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ESI Protocol Should Define “Documents” and Address Redaction Based on Irrelevancy

We the Protestors, Inc. v. Sinyangwe, 348 F.R.D. 175 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 18, 2024), makes several important points about the relationship between ESI Protocols and redaction of produced documents....more

Discovery Rulings in Abrego-Garcia v. Noem Deportation Case

In Abrego-Garcia v. Noem, __ F.R.D. ___, 2025 WL 1166402 (D. Md. Apr. 22, 2025)(Xinis, J.), plaintiffs notified the Court of “seemingly intractable discovery disputes….”  The case is before the District Court after the United...more

An ESI Protocol Saved the Day for the Discovering Party

In Pincus Law Grp PLLC v. MJ Connections, Inc., 2025 WL 1070384 (E.D.N.Y. Apr. 9, 2025), the court ruled in favor of a discovering party and ordered reproduction of previously-produced documents under the terms of an ESI...more

Court Holds That an ESI Protocol Must be Specific in GenAI Copyright Class Action

In Andersen v. Stability AI Ltd., 2025 WL 870358 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 19, 2025), the court resolved a dispute over an ESI Protocol. The starting point was a Standing Order that, absent good cause, parties “shall use” one of the...more

How Not to Negotiate an ESI Protocol? Say it is “Mandatory”; and, Demand That Discussions be Recorded

In Wilbert v. Pyramid Healthcare, Inc., 2025 WL 873947 (W.D. Pa. Mar. 20, 2025), the court wrote: From the inception of this action, Counsel for the parties could not agree on the scope and methodology for ESI discovery…....more

Li. v. Merck Addresses: Trigger; Spoliation Discovery; and, Document Unitization

In Li v. Merck & Co., Inc., 2025 WL 429013 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 7, 2025), the court addressed a number of discovery disputes in a lawsuit by a terminated employee against her former employer....more

Court Appointed a Special Master to Negotiate ESI Protocol

The Hon. James “Jay” Francis IV appointed Special Master in UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Uncharted Labs, Inc. - In UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Uncharted Labs, Inc., 2024 WL 4986962 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 5, 2024), the parties could not agree...more

Scheduling Orders Are Mandatory; Vital to Caseload Management; and, Enforced Even Where Parties Got Themselves Into a “Pickle” by...

The decision in EEOC v. Hooters of America, LLC, __ F. Supp. 3d __, 2024 WL 4362863 (M.D. N. Car. Oct. 1, 2024), opens with the court’s statement that: The parties jointly ask to extend the discovery deadline and continue...more

Possession, Custody, or Control of Responsive Information by States Suing Meta

The September 6, 2024, decision in In Re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, 2024 WL 4125618 (N.D. Cal. 2024), applies the “legal control” standard to Fed.R.Civ.P. 34 discovery...more

Takeaways From Felder v. MGM National Harbor

​​​​​​​Felder v. MGM National Harbor, LLC, 2024 WL 3690779(D. Md. Aug. 7, 2024)(Simms, J.), addresses several important issues. First, in Felder, the Court ordered the parties to conduct a “meet and confer” session.  That,...more

A Protective Order Has Teeth – Counsel Disqualified After Court Finds Violations

In US Dominion, Inc. v. Byrne, 2024 WL 3792654 (D.D.C. Aug. 13, 2024), violations of protective orders led to disqualification of counsel. The court began its decision by stating:  “This case arises out of the 2020 U.S....more

Agreement in ESI Protocol to Provide a “Metadata-Only” Privilege Log Was Enforced

In Linet Americas, Inc. v. Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., 2024 WL 3425795 (N.D. Ill. Jul. 15, 2024), the court enforced an ESI Protocol that called for a “metadata-only” privilege log, even though parts of the metadata were...more

Mediation of Discovery Disputes by Court’s Law Clerk?

I have come across cases in which a Court’s law clerk conducted an informal conference with parties to resolve a discovery dispute. For example, in Hipschman v. County of San Diego, 2024 WL 3206909 (S.D. Cal. June 26, 2024),...more

Sometimes Discovery Disputes Do Not Bring Out the Best in Us – Part II

It is not auspicious when a court writes: “The court notes that, from time to time, in contentious cases like this one, courts have ordered that the parties record – by video or court reporter – their Local Rule 37.2...more

4 Things You Never Wanted to Hear + 8 Lessons & a Dispute Over Revealing Recipients of Litigation Hold Notices, All in One Case

In one of the opening paragraphs of In Re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, 2024 WL 1786293, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 20, 2024), the court wrote: At the hearing, the Court...more

There’s No Right or Wrong Answer – But There Are Mistakes

In Rayome v. ABT Electronics, 2024 WL 1435098 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 3, 2024), the court wrote that “it would be in the parties’ interest to reach a negotiated result. It should not be forgotten that a party could be ‘right,’ but...more

Sometimes Discovery Disputes Do Not Bring Out the Best in Us.

That is what makes the recent decision in M1 Holdings, Inc. v. Members 1st Fed. Credit Union, 2024 WL 182220 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 17, 2024), interesting.  Both of the disputing litigants were ordered to state under oath that they...more

Procedures to Avoid, and Promptly Resolve, Discovery Disputes in the District of Maryland

Parties can live with a good call or a bad one, but they need the balls and strikes called promptly.   The United States District Court for the District of Maryland has established several processes for avoiding discovery...more

“Self Help” Discovery in Someone Else’s Dropbox is Held to be Sanctionable

“A trial-level judge in New York has sanctioned [attorneys’ name deleted] for ‘rummaging’ through the Dropbox of its litigation opponent after a third-party vendor accidentally revealed the link in discovery.” D. Cassens...more

Court Uses an Informal Discovery Procedure to Hold That Untimely Objections Were Waived, and Answers to Interrogatories...

[EDRM Editor’s Note: This article was first published here on November 1, 2023 and EDRM is grateful to Michael Berman, for permission to republish. The opinions and positions are those of Michael Berman.] In three recent...more

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