Tag Archives: Doug Austin

Defendant Ordered by Court to Produce Gap-Period Emails on Backup Tapes.

04 Sunday Oct 2015

Posted by in Admissibility, Discovery, E-Discovery, Emails, Emails, Evidence, Federal Rules of Discovery, Forensic Evidence, Gap-Period Emails, Legal Technology, Motion to Compel, Relevance, Requests for Production

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Defendant Compelled to Restore and Produce Emails from Backup Tapes: eDiscovery Case Law, by Doug Austin, eDiscoveryDaily Blog

In United States ex rel Guardiola v. Renown Health, No. 3:12-cv-00295-LRH-VPC, (D. Nev. Aug. 25, 2015), Nevada Magistrate Judge Valerie P. Cooke concluded that emails contained on backup tapes held by the defendants was not reasonably inaccessible due to undue cost and, even if the emails were reasonably inaccessible due to undue burden or undue cost, ‘good cause supports their discoverability.’ . . .

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2,941 Page Privilege Log? Better Make It Good.

10 Monday Aug 2015

Posted by in Attorney Work Product, Attorney-Client Privilege, Discovery, Federal Rules of Discovery, Privilege and Confidentiality, Privilege Log, Requests for Production

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If You’re Going to Submit a 2,941 Page Privilege Log, You’d Better Be Able to Demonstrate Privilege: eDiscovery Case Law, by Doug Austin, eDiscoverydaily Blog

http://tinyurl.com/nwmrx27

The last post by Mr. Gilliland is an excellent illustration of the rule for privilege logs. This example? Well, you be the judge. -CCE

In United States v. Louisiana, 11-470-JWD-RLB. (M.D. La. July 31, 2015), Louisiana Magistrate Judge Richard L. Bourgeois, Jr., after reviewing 40 documents provided by the defendant for in-camera review, granted the plaintiff’s Renewed Motion to Compel a Proper Privilege Log, after denying the original motion because the plaintiff only provided 13 examples of ‘insufficient descriptions’ within the privilege log’s entries. . . .

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Is It Okay To Wipe A Former Employee’s Computer?

04 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by in Discovery, E-Discovery, Evidence, Forensic Evidence, Law Office Management, Litigation Hold, Office Procedures, Preservation, Technology

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Court Denies Request for Sanctions for Routine Deletion of Files of Departed Employees: eDiscovery Case Law, by Doug Austin, eDiscoverydaily

http://tinyurl.com/p2jfsqe

For many employers, it is normal procedure to “wipe” the computer of recently former employees after removing anything not already stored on the employer’s network. Is this a bad practice? -CCE

In Charvat et al. v. Valente et al., 12-5746 (N.D. Ill. July 1, 2015), Illinois Magistrate Judge Mary M. Rowland denied the plaintiff’s request for spoliation sanctions for the defendant’s admitted destruction of computer files belonging to two departed employees, finding that the plaintiff did not provide any evidence that the defendant acted in bad faith. . . .

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Regret Hitting Send or Hitting It Too Quickly? Finally, A Way To “Undo Send” In Gmail.

05 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by in Emails, Legal Technology

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Think Before You Hit Send (Unless You’re On Gmail and are Really Fast): eDiscovery Trends. by Doug Austin, eDiscoverydaily, powered by cloudnine™

http://tinyurl.com/q8hmrvu

Let’s face it, people make mistakes. However, a new feature from Google may help people who make those mistakes avoid the consequences – if they’re quick to address them.

As covered on Fortune.com (Gmail now officially lets you ‘Undo Send’ those really embarrassing e-mails, by Kia Kokalitcheva), Gmail, Google’s e-mail service, has officially added its ‘Undo Send’ feature to the Web-based version of the service. . . .

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Angry Judge Sanctions Defendants For E-Discovery Spoilation.

19 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by in Discovery, E-Discovery, Preservation, Sanctions

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Tired of the “Crap”, Court Sanctions Investors and Lawyers for Several Instances of Spoliation, by Doug Austin, eDiscoverydaily Blog

http://tinyurl.com/k3d74yu

In Clear-View Technologies, Inc., v. Rasnick et al, 5:13-cv-02744-BLF (N.D. Cal. May 13, 2015), California Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal sanctioned the defendants $212,320 and also granted a permissive adverse jury instruction that allows the presumption that the defendants’ spoliated documents due to a series of ‘transgressions’ by the defendants and their prior counsel.

You’ve got to love an order that begins this way:

‘Deployment of ‘Crap Cleaner’ software—with a motion to compel pending. Lost media with relevant documents. False certification that document production was complete. Failure to take any steps to preserve or collect relevant documents for two years after discussing this very suit. Any one of these transgressions by {the defendants} and their prior counsel might justify sanctions. Taken together, there can be no doubt.’ . . .

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“Read Receipt” Email Message Is Not Hearsay.

17 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by in Admissibility, Authentication, Evidence, Federal Rules of Evidence, Hearsay, Litigation, Summary judgment

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Court Rules that Automatically Generated Read Receipt is Not Hearsay: eDiscovery Case Law, by Doug Austin, eDiscoverydaily

http://tinyurl.com/ozbratn

In Fox v. Leland Volunteer Fire/Rescue Department Inc., 7:12-CV-354-FL. (E.D.N.C. Mar. 10, 2015), North Carolina District Judge Louise W. Flanagan ruled that a Read Receipt automatically sent from the defendant’s email address to the plaintiff (when the defendant opened an email sent by the plaintiff) was not hearsay.

Case Background

In this wrongful termination case, the court was considering the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, as well as the defendants’ motion to strike certain exhibits attached to plaintiff’s brief in opposition to summary judgment for failure to comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) & (e). One of the items that the defendants sought to exclude was a read receipt sent from defendant Grimes email address to plaintiff, triggered when an email plaintiff sent defendant Grimes was opened, arguing that the Read Receipt was ‘unauthenticated hearsay’.

Judge’s Opinion

Judge Flanagan made a swift ruling on this issue when she stated ‘Defendants’ argument fails. The Read Receipt is not hearsay.’ . . .

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Would You Report A Data Breach At Your Law Firm?

10 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by in Cybersecurity, Discovery, E-Discovery, Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology

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Has the Law Firm Holding Your Data Ever Suffered a Breach? You May Never Know: eDiscovery Trends, by Doug Austin, eDiscoverydaily Blog

http://tinyurl.com/lruvc2j

In February, we discussed a report about data breach trends in 2014 and how those trends compared to data breaches in 2013. That report provided breach trends for several industries, including the healthcare industry, which suffered the most breaches last year (possibly because stolen health records are apparently worth big money). But, according to a recent report, you won’t see any trends for law firms because the legal profession almost never publicly discloses a breach. . . .

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Slip-and-Fall Evidence Spoilation A Slippery Slope?

06 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by in Discovery, E-Discovery, Litigation, Personal Injury, Requests for Production, Slip and Fall

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Slippery Slope: Harrell v. Pathmark, by Craig Ball, Ball In Your Court Blog

https://ballinyourcourt.wordpress.com/2015/04/06/2318/

One e-discovery blog I never fail to read is Doug Austin’s eDiscoveryDaily. It’s hard to come up with a post every day; yet, Doug makes it look easy. Each post is a quick read with little editorializing; and, Doug faithfully includes a link to the opinion. That last may seem a small thing; but, some bloggers don’t do it (or only share the full text of the decision with paying customers). There’s no substitute for reading the case.

Today, Doug posted on Harrell v. Pathmark, (USDC EDPA, February 26, 2015), where the Court dismisses the plaintiff’s slip-and-fall injury claim on summary judgment. I don’t think the Court got it wrong on the merits; but, in weighing in, sua sponte, on the e-spoliation issue, I’m reminded of the maxim, ‘hard cases make bad law.’ . . .

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