Proposed FRCP Changes: Effect on eDiscovery, RIM & IG (CLE)
[Legal Perspective] When Is It NOT Okay to Delete Your Social Media Account?
The Growing Role of Social Media in Litigation and How to Prepare for It
Implementing and enforcing appropriate legal holds is essential to preventing the destruction of data related to current or anticipated litigation and avoiding inadvertent spoliation claims. Depending on the nature of the...more
A motion for an adverse inference was denied in Pratt v. Robbins, et al., 2024 WL 234730, Case No. 5:20-cv-170-GCM (W.D. N.C. Jan. 22, 2024) where Defendants failed to preserve or produce a video that might have contained...more
[Editor’s Note: This article was first published November 15, 2023 and EDRM is grateful to Tom Paskowitz and Robert Keeling of our Trusted Partner, Sidley, for permission to republish. The opinions and positions are those of...more
Today, we embark on a quest to unravel the triggers that ignite the legal hold process. It will be a wild ride as we navigate the realm of legal obligations and preservation. Or at least slightly more fascinating than one...more
Your friendly neighborhood Technocat is back to shed some light on the captivating topic of legal hold notices. (Riveting I know!) The legal hold process for Electronically Stored Information (ESI) is a crucial step in the...more
Hey there, data detectives! It’s TechnoCat, Cat Casey, back with a critical concept that underpins the whole eDiscovery rollercoaster ride. I’m talking about the infamous ‘Legal Hold’. No, it’s not a wrestling move, but it...more
A recent decision declined to find the requisite “intent to deprive” that would merit sanctions under Rule 37(e) when a plaintiff was unable to produce text messages because his phone had been stolen and he had not taken...more
Few terms make litigators shudder like the dreaded spoliation; and for good reason. The consequences of a company’s failure to preserve evidence that might be relevant in prospective litigation can be severe. What many...more
A review of recent case law by EDRM Guardian Partner Exterro’s E-Discovery Case Law Project - Five or so years ago, legal professionals were hearing about “the end of sanctions.” Changes in the Federal Rules of Civil...more
Corporate counsel often shoulder the burden of managing the entire Legal Hold process for their organization. That means on top of everything else, they must issue, execute and ensure compliance with required legal holds...more
When it comes to a pending litigation, the duty to preserve electronic data is clearly laid out in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP)... But when it comes to the actual process of letting custodians know they need...more
In DR Distributors LLC v. 21 Century Smoking, Inc, v. CB Distributors, Inc. and Carlos Bengos, 2021 WL 185082, No. 12 CV 50324 (1/19/2021), Judge Johnston of the Northern District of Illinois, granted Plaintiff’s motion for...more
Legal holds arise from the duty to preserve information for pending or reasonably anticipated litigation. Once litigation is contemplated, organizations have a legal obligation to prevent deletion and preserve potentially...more
In today’s world, there is a tendency to believe that everything must be preserved forever. The common belief is that documents, emails, text messages, etc. cannot be deleted because doing so may be viewed as spoliation...more
Generally, a litigation hold letter* will issue to preserve documents and information potentially relevant to a reasonably anticipated lawsuit. However, when does one’s duty to preserve potentially relevant documents end? ...more
When it comes to eDiscovery, lawyers have plenty of challenges to deal with – including challenges to address even before the case is filed. Add “disappearing evidence”(!) to that list of challenges. If you read this blog...more
Video surveillance is ubiquitous today and often sought in connection with injuries or litigation. As a result, courts are increasingly presented with disputes relating to the preservation and production of surveillance...more
In New York, it is widely recognized that the duty to preserve documents arises once a party “reasonably anticipates litigation” (see Voom HD Holdings LLC v EchoStar Satellite, 93 AD3d 33, 41-42 [1st Dept 2012]). And so,...more
Allegations of intentionally purged emails, wiped laptops and servers, and corrupted key source code rarely sink major cases. But Judge Davila of the Northern District of California recently reminded litigants that failure to...more
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e)(2), imposition of the most severe sanctions for failure to preserve relevant electronically stored information — a presumption that the information lost was unfavorable, an...more
This is what it sounds like, when sanctions are granted. In March 2019, a federal judge in Minnesota sanctioned Defendants for their failure to preserve text messages in a copyright infringement suit brought in part by the...more
Two Recent Cases Highlight the Spoliation Thresholds in Rule 37(e) - With the 2015 FRCP amendments quickly nearing a half-decade in existence, case-law continues to define how these rules are upheld in court, especially...more
The extent to which a loss scene can be altered before adversaries can legitimately cry spoliation has long been a mysterious battleground in the world of subrogation. In the case of In re Xterra Constr., LLC, No....more
Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal has ruled that Florida law does not impose an obligation on a nonparty to preserve evidence based solely on the foreseeability of litigation. Shamrock-Shamrock, Inc. v. Remark involved...more
Whether we like it or not, a reality of today’s world is that often important business is conducted by text messages. And so, when it is time to issue a litigation hold notice, you must include an instruction to preserve text...more