e-Lawyering Applying Proportionality, Court Denies Motion to Compel Additional Search for ESI, Reminds Parties of Other Discovery Tools September 19, 2014 by K&L Gates United States v. Univ. Nebraska at Kearney, No. 4:11CV3209, 2014 WL 4215381 (D. Neb. Aug. 25, 2014) In this housing discrimination case, the parties disagreed regarding the proper scope of discovery and plaintiff’s proposed search terms. Plaintiff sought the production of ESI related to requests for accommodation of a disability in every context (e.g., housing,... Continue Reading Read more » CASE SUMMARIES
e-Lawyering Another Milestone Passes: Judicial Conference Approves Federal Civil Rules Amendments September 17, 2014 by K&L Gates As reported by the National Law Journal (subscription required), the Judicial Conference has approved proposed changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. No revisions to the proposals were reported. The proposals will now go before the United States Supreme Court for review and, if approved, will take effect on December 1, 2015, absent any... Continue Reading Read more » FEDERAL RULES AMENDMENTS NEWS & UPDATES
e-Lawyering Court Allows Plaintiff to “switch horses in midstream” and Use Predictive Coding to Review Documents Initially Screened with Search Terms September 10, 2014 by K&L Gates Bridgestone Americas, Inc. v. Int. Bus. Machs. Corp., No. 3:13-1196 (M.D. Tenn. July 22, 2014) In this case, the court approved plaintiff’s request to use predictive coding in reviewing over two million documents, despite defendant’s objections that the request was an “unwarranted change in the original case management order” and that it would be unfair... Continue Reading Read more » CASE SUMMARIES
e-Lawyering “The time to tap flexibility and creativity is during meet and confer, not after.” – Court Quashes Subpoena, Declines to Allow Plaintiff to Accept Prior Offer for Production September 2, 2014 by K&L Gates Boston Scientific Corp. v. Lee, No. 5:14-mc-80188-BLF-PSG, 2014 WL 3851157 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 4, 2014) This case illustrates a recurring problem in all civil discovery, especially in intellectual property cases. A party demands the sun, moon and stars in a document request or interrogatory, refusing to give even a little bit. The meet and confer... Continue Reading Read more » CASE SUMMARIES
e-Lawyering Looking back on Zubulake, 10 years later August 26, 2014 by K&L Gates By Victor Li This article was originally published in the ABA Journal, September, 2014. When Laura Zubulake first brought her employment discrimination lawsuit to attorney James Batson in 2001, neither of them thought the case would make history. Neither did U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin, who presided over the case in the Southern District of... Continue Reading Read more » NEWS & UPDATES
e-Lawyering Sixth Circuit Addresses Spoliation, Preservation of Back-up Tapes, Affirms Denial of Sanctions August 5, 2014 by K&L Gates Automated Solutions Corp. v. Paragon Data Sys., Inc., —F.3d—, 2014 WL 2869286 (6th Cir. June 25, 2014) In this copyright infringement case, the Sixth Circuit considered plaintiff’s arguments that the district court abused its discretion by denying plaintiff’s motion for spoliation sanctions related to defendant’s failure to preserve the information on a relevant hard drive... Continue Reading Read more » CASE SUMMARIES