In In Re: Uber Technologies, Inc. Passenger Sexual Assault Litigation, 2025 WL 678543 (Mar. 3, 2025), the court issued another hyperlinked document discovery decision arising out of the parties’ ESI Protocol. While...more
3/11/2025
/ Data Collection ,
Discovery ,
Document Productions ,
Document Review ,
e-Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Email ,
Evidence ,
Hyperlink ,
Legal Technology ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Metadata
In Tremblay v. OpenAI, Inc., 2025 WL 635335 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 27, 2025), plaintiffs, the requesting parties, sought to have input in determining search terms to be used by defendant, the producing party. Based on “the specter...more
3/4/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Discovery ,
Document Review ,
e-Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Evidence ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Legal Technology ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Technology-Assisted Review
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
2/26/2025
/ Data Preservation ,
Discovery ,
Discovery Disputes ,
Document Productions ,
Document Review ,
e-Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Legal Technology ,
Spoliation
The decision in Cook v. Meta Platforms, Inc., 2024 WL 251942 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 21, 2025), packs a lot into very few pages. In two instances, where Meta had offered a compromise solution, the court held Meta to that offer....more
1/24/2025
/ Data Management ,
Discovery ,
Document Productions ,
Document Review ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Evidence ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Privilege Logs ,
Privileged Communication ,
Privileged Documents
I have never heard of a “destruction/unavailable” log; however, in the comprehensive – indeed, exhaustive – decision of Leprino Foods Co. v. Avani Outpatient Surgical Center, Inc., 2024 WL 4488711 (C.D. Ca. Sep. 30, 2024),...more
10/18/2024
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Discovery ,
Document Destruction ,
Document Productions ,
Document Review ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Evidence ,
Motion to Compel ,
Privilege Logs ,
Privileged Communication
EEOC v. Formel D USA, Inc., 2024 WL 4172527 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 12, 2024), addressed several interesting issues. Among them were: general principles of discovery; the role of counsel in self-collection; discovery on discovery;...more
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
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
The purpose of a privilege log is to provide sufficient information for the recipient of the log to determine whether the withheld information is, at least on its face, privileged. In short: “Trust, but verify.” See,...more
In Re: Uber Technologies, Inc., Passenger Sexual Assault Litigation, 2024 WL 1772832 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 23, 2024), resolved a dispute over so-called “modern attachments” based on impressive and comprehensive technical...more
4/29/2024
/ Cloud Storage ,
Data Management ,
Discovery ,
Document Productions ,
Document Review ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Email ,
Evidence ,
Federal Rules of Evidence ,
Hyperlink ,
Information Governance
I am an advocate of data mapping. I also usually attempt to discuss key custodians with opposing counsel. However, in cases with a large number of custodians, I often find that it is difficult to keep track of them,...more
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
Privilege logs have been getting a lot of attention, with good reason. “Privilege logging is arguably the most burdensome and time consuming task a litigant faces during the document production process.” The Sedona...more
“Self-collection” is often viewed as prohibited. Abraham Maslow said that: “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” This blog addresses a methodology...more
One role of an attorney handling ESI is to function as a translator between computer scientists and forensic experts, on the one hand, and laypersons, such as clients and Judges, on the other....more
Some courts have issued Standing Orders governing the use of A.I. Another viewpoint is that a better approach is to use Local Rules. See Shweta Watwe, Judges Reflect on GenAI Use One Year After ChatGPT’s Debut...more
“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
[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
In In re Expungement Petition of Franics A., 2023 WL 5948060 (Appellate Ct. of MD Sept. 13, 2023)(unreported), the intermediate appellate court resolved a novel discovery issue. The Appellate Court affirmed a decision that...more
In CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Spiniello Global, Inc., 2023 WL 5515979 (D. Md. Aug. 25, 2023)(Bredar, C.J.), the Court denied spoliation motions, in part because they were filed too late. The plaintiff owned and operated...more
The issue of whether irrelevant material in a relevant document can be redacted when the document is produced in discovery has long been a hot topic. See, e.g., Relevance Redactions Rejected – Rule 26(f) Resolution –...more
Phil Favro and The Sedona Conference have released “Selected eDiscovery and ESI Case Law from 2022-23” (2023). This is a sequel to Phil’s 2021-22 publication. I wrote that the prior book was “an excellent resource in an...more
When it comes to electronically stored information, Tom O’Connor is a national treasure. He has a wealth of litigation-related ESI experience, helped run the prestigious Georgetown E-Discovery Academy, lectures on recent...more