e-Lawyering Evidence and Argument Regarding Spoliation Excluded Absent Evidence of Prejudice and to Avoid “Confusing the Issues” November 10, 2015 by kgates West v. Talton, No. 5:13-cv-338 (CAR), 2015 WL 6675565 (M.D. Ga. Nov. 2, 2015) In this case, the court granted Defendants’ motion to exclude “Plaintiff’s use of any argument or evidence of alleged spoliation” where, despite Defendants’ failure to preserve emails from an individual defendant, they were nonetheless able to locate the relevant defendant’s “old […] Read more » CASE SUMMARIES
e-Lawyering Court Imposes “Death Penalty Order” for Discovery Violations, Rejects Reliance on Retention Policy April 28, 2015 by K&L Gates Crews v. Avco Corp., No. 70756-6-I, 2015 WL 1541179 (Wash. Ct. App. Apr. 6, 2015) In this case, the trial court held Defendant in contempt and ultimately imposed a “death penalty order” for discovery violations, including the failure to produce relevant information. Notably, the trial court rejected Defendant’s reliance on its document retention policy as... Continue Reading Read more » CASE SUMMARIES
e-Lawyering Court Imposes “Death Penalty Order” for Discovery Violations, Rejects Reliance on Retention Policy April 28, 2015 by K&L Gates Crews v. Avco Corp., No. 70756-6-I, 2015 WL 1541179 (Wash. Ct. App. Apr. 6, 2015) In this case, the trial court held Defendant in contempt and ultimately imposed a “death penalty order” for discovery violations, including the failure to produce relevant information. Notably, the trial court rejected Defendant’s reliance on its document retention policy as... Continue Reading Read more » CASE SUMMARIES
e-Lawyering No Sanctions for Discovery Failures Resulting from Court-Ordered Seizure of Defendants’ Books and Records in a Separate Case April 15, 2015 by K&L Gates Perez v. Metro Dairy Corp., No. 13 CV 2109(RML), 2015 WL 1535296 (E.D.N.Y. Apr. 6, 2015) Plaintiffs in this collective action sought spoliation sanctions for Defendants’ failure to produce certain relevant evidence, including payroll records, W-2s, cashier sheets, etc. Defendants objected to the motion on the grounds that “all of their books, records and computers... Continue Reading Read more » CASE SUMMARIES
e-Lawyering “[A] a party is not required to preserve all its documents but rather only documents that the party knew or should have known were, or could be, relevant to the parties’ dispute.” April 9, 2015 by K&L Gates Blue Sky Travel & Tours, LLC v. Al Tayyar, —Fed. Appx.—, 2014 WL 1451636 (4th Cir. Mar. 31, 2015) In this case, a magistrate judge imposed severe sanctions for Defendants’ failure to preserve “all documents” once litigation began. Specifically, the magistrate judge held that “once litigation began, [Defendants] had a duty to stop its document... Continue Reading Read more » CASE SUMMARIES
e-Lawyering Sixth Circuit Affirms Recovery of e-Discovery Costs for Imaging Plaintiff’s Computer March 27, 2015 by K&L Gates Colosi v. Jones Lang Lasalle Amers. Inc., –F.3d–, 2015 WL 1186765 (6th Cir. Mar. 17, 2015) In this opinion, the court addressed the recovery of taxable costs related to e-Discovery and concluded that “a plain reading of the statute authorizes courts to tax the reasonable cost of imaging, provided the image file was necessarily obtained... Continue Reading Read more » CASE SUMMARIES