[EDRM Editor’s Note: The opinions and positions are those of Michael Berman.] A protective order barring post-settlement use by plaintiffs’ counsel of defendant’s discovery responses in other litigation was vacated in Cordero...more
7/16/2025
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Judicial Authority ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Protective Orders ,
Settlement ,
Standing
In Hall v. Baltimore Police Dept., 2025 WL 1548560 (D. Md. May 30, 2025)(Austin, J.), the Court considered whether materials created many years after the underlying incident were protected under the work-product doctrine. The...more
Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(g) is called the “stop and think” rule. In Grullon v. Lewis, 2025 WL 1693425 (S.D.N.Y. Jun. 17, 2025), the court found a violation of that rule....more
6/26/2025
/ Data Collection ,
Discovery ,
Discovery Disputes ,
Document Productions ,
Document Review ,
e-Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronic Communications ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Legal Ethics ,
Motion to Compel ,
Sanctions
In Gilbane Bldg. Co. v. School Bd. of Broward County, 2025 WL 1615553 (S.D. Fl. Jun 6, 2025), plaintiff moved to compel a “compliant” privilege log. The court decided six issues. The court wrote: “I agree that Defendant...more
6/18/2025
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Discovery ,
Discovery Disputes ,
Document Review ,
e-Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronic Communications ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Legal Technology ,
Motion to Compel ,
Privilege Logs
In EEOC v. Mia Aesthetics Clinic ATL, LLC, No. 1:24-CV-3407-MLB-AWH (N.D. Ga. May 30, 2025), the EEOC prevailed on several discovery disputes. It prevailed because its attorneys did their homework and supported their...more
6/9/2025
/ Disability Discrimination ,
Discovery ,
Discovery Disputes ,
e-Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Motion to Compel
In Wenzler v. U.S. Coast Guard, 2025 WL 1445805 (Mar. 20, 2025), Wenzler alleged that he had been disenrolled from the voluntary U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary based on his speech on social media. Wenzler unsuccessfully asserted...more
5/29/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
First Amendment ,
Motion for Sanctions ,
Motion to Compel ,
Social Media ,
Spoliation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Text Messages
In Lacey v. State Farm General Ins. Co., 2025 WL 1363069 (C.D. Cal. May 5, 2025), plaintiff submitted a filing with erroneous AI-generated citations. The Special Master pointed out some of them. The plaintiff resubmitted a...more
5/14/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Discovery ,
e-Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Evidence ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Legal Ethics ,
Legal Technology ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Sanctions
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
5/13/2025
/ Discovery ,
Discovery Disputes ,
Document Productions ,
Document Review ,
e-Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Evidence ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Legal Technology ,
Redaction ,
Text Messages
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
4/23/2025
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Deportation ,
Discovery ,
Discovery Disputes ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Evidence ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Government Agencies ,
Motion to Compel ,
Privileged Communication ,
SCOTUS
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
In Lively v. Wayfarer Studios LLC, 2025 WL 662896 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 28, 2025), the court granted in part and denied in part a motion to quash subpoenas issued to AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile (the “Wayfarer Parties”) by Ms. Blake...more
4/7/2025
/ Data Collection ,
Discovery ,
e-Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronic Communications ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Personal Data ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
Subpoenas
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
4/1/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Class Action ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Discovery ,
Discovery Disputes ,
e-Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Machine Learning
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
3/25/2025
/ Audio Recording ,
Discovery ,
Discovery Disputes ,
e-Discovery ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Meet and Confer ,
Video Recordings
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
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
Ho v. Jefferson Financial Credit Union, 2024 WL 4119422 (E.D. La. Sept. 9, 2024), provides a succinct summary of the scope of discovery under the December 2015 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It –...more
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 Orlando Health, Inc. v. HKS Architects, Inc., 2024 WL 4025379 (M.D. Fl. Sept. 3, 2024), the court denied an unopposed motion to enter a protective order and an unopposed motion to enter an ESI Protocol....more
In Melton Properties, LLC v. Ill. Central R. Co., 2024 WL 3015749 at *5 (N.D. Miss. June 14, 2024), the court listed the factors to consider in deciding when the failure to provide a timely privilege log is – or is not – a...more
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
In Rullan v. Goden, 2024 WL 1191600 (D. Md. Mar. 20, 2024), the Hon. J. Mark Coulson construed a Fed.R.Civ.P. 45 motion to quash or modify a subpoena, which would have been heard in New York, as a Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c) motion...more
Dismissal of plaintiff’s claims under Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(e)(2) was affirmed in Jones v. Riot Hosp. Grp. LLC, __ F. 4th__, 2024 WL 927669 (9th Cir. Mar. 5, 2024). The case is a textbook example of a plaintiff tanking her own case...more