Sometimes, an argument or position may seem so self-evident or apparent that parties proceed on the assumption that it is correct without ever actually litigating the issue. Should a party decide to contest the issue,...more
Experienced litigators are familiar with the tension between the federal legal system’s policy favoring liberal pretrial discovery into all relevant matters and the countervailing policy forbidding discovery that is...more
Reasonable expenses for an expert witness deposition surely include the expert’s travel time, airfare and hotel accommodations. Right? It’s true that litigators are free to make their own financial arrangements regarding the...more
At this moment, communication is more instantaneous and readily available than at any other point in recorded history, and "recorded history" grows exponentially with each passing year. Across the globe, we collectively...more
Fed. R. Civ. 26(b)(3)(A) protects from discovery documents and tangible things that are prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial. Litigants asserting work product protection must (if called upon to do so) identify...more
Court rulings in the past few years have codified what people working in ediscovery have known all along: Slack (and other collaboration app data) is discoverable during litigation and should be preserved the same as email as...more
With the evolution of technology, electronic communications -- particularly text messages -- can often provide a treasure trove of evidence. While requests for email communications and collections from hard drives and...more
Even before the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, collaboration app (e.g. Slack) usage was on the rise for internal enterprise communications, with the market share increasing from around seven billion U.S. dollars in 2015 to nearly...more
It is not uncommon for an opposing expert to opine that the existence of injury alone implies negligence, nor is it unusual to find that such opinions are supported only by general reliance on “literature” with no discernible...more
In last month’s eDiscovery Blues, I wrote about how Information Governance can help legal teams prepare for the “Meet and Confer” conference set forth under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure’s (FRCP) Rule 26(f). This...more
The concept of early case assessment (ECA) hasn’t changed with the times — the name of the game is still getting a clear, upfront picture of the issue at hand, as well as any liabilities or potential costs. But what has...more
Litigants often disagree about which method of identifying potentially responsive electronically stored information (“ESI”) is best. Specifically, the use of keywords versus technology assisted review (“TAR”)* is typically...more
ResMan LLC (ResMan) sued Karya Property Management LLC (Karya) and Scarlet Infotech Inc. d/b/a/ Expedien Inc. (Expedien), in federal court in Texas alleging misuse of the "ResMan Platform," a property management software...more
With many of us now working from home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the reality of using videoconferencing software like Zoom, Teams, and other such platforms has become a regular part of the day-to-day. This was...more
In a precedential decision in HVLPO2, LLC v. Oxygen Frog, LLC, the Federal Circuit held that non-expert testimony on obviousness is inadmissible, further finding that the district court abused its discretion by allowing a lay...more
On mandamus review, the Ninth Circuit recently vacated a district court order directing Defendant Williams-Sonoma to produce a list of California consumers, as the order improperly sought to aid plaintiff’s counsel in finding...more
In a series of IPR proceedings between Petitioner Adobe Inc. and Patent Owner RAH Color Technologies LLC, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board declined to extend attorney work product protection to deposition questions seeking...more
In inter partes review (IPR) proceedings of patents relating to printer technology, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) granted Patent Owner’s motion to compel testimony over Petitioner’s arguments that the information...more
In Part I of this series, we discussed institutional bad faith and best practices for insurers to minimize the risk of these costly and intrusive lawsuits. In Part II, we will focus on cutting discovery off at the...more
Deciding whether mobile devices should be imaged can be difficult when it comes to eDiscovery. They contain a large variety of file-types and data intermingled with a lot of private information, which may be privileged....more
In 2010, Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 was amended to require full expert reports and other disclosures for retained expert witnesses, but only summaries of anticipated opinion testimony of non-retained experts. During the ensuing nine...more
Summer is winding down, and Fall texted to say she is on her way. This means that Pro Te: Solutio is returning for its third edition of 2019. As always, our authors have taken the time to research and address current issues...more
Parties in today’s complex litigation world, and their counsel, need no reminder of the ubiquity of electronic discovery and the tremendous expense it occasions. Even before 2006, when “electronically stored information”...more
In contrast to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1), the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure do not require initial disclosures—but that could be changing soon. On August 13, 2019, the Tennessee Supreme Court issued an...more
What Does Rule 26 Say about Scope and Proportionality? In 2015, when the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended, the issue of scope and Rule 26 was a hot topic of discussion, mainly around the issue of costs. But...more