Our Insights on eDiscovery

October Case Law Pop Quiz! – eDiscovery Case Law

October 20, 2014

We enjoyed the eDiscovery case law pop quiz that we did back in August so much, that we decided it’s time for another one – this one is customized to the case law that we’ve covered since the beginning of August. If you’re reading the blog each day, these questions should be easy! If not, we’ve provided a link to the post with the answer. We’re that nice. Test your knowledge! Tomorrow, we’ll post the answers for those who don’t know and didn’t look them up.

Battle Continues between Attorneys and Client over Attorneys’ Failure to Review Documents – eDiscovery Case Law

October 17, 2014

In Price Waicukauski & Riley v. Murray, Indiana District Judge William T. Lawrence granted the plaintiff’s request for summary judgment for failure to pay attorney’s fees of over $125,000, and refused to issue summary judgment for either party related to a legal malpractice claim for the plaintiff’s admitted failure to review documents produced in the defendants’ case against another party because of a factual dispute regarding the plaintiff’s knowledge of the documents produced.

If You Have a Flashlight App on Your Phone, You Need to Read This – Mobile eDiscovery

October 16, 2014

Yesterday, we discussed a case where a company faced a recommended severe default judgment sanction, in part because of the company’s failure to preserve data on “bring your own device” (BYOD) personal smart phones used by employees for work purposes. This is merely one challenge associated with BYOD policies in organizations. Another is the greater potential for spyware to capture data through installed apps. Here is one reported example.

Failure to Preserve Data on Various Devices Causes Special Master to Recommend Default Judgment – eDiscovery Case Law

October 15, 2014

In Small v. University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, Special Master Daniel B. Garrie, calling the defendant’s widespread failure to preserve data a “mockery of the orderly administration of justice”, recommended that the court enter an order of default judgment, along with further sanctions, in favor of the plaintiffs.

Microsoft Acquires Equivio (Reportedly) and Everyone Speculates what that Means for eDiscovery – eDiscovery Trends

October 14, 2014

The acquisitions just keep coming. The Wall Street Journal reported on October 7 that Microsoft has signed a letter of intent to acquire Israeli text-analysis vendor, Equivio. The Journal said Microsoft may pay $200 million for the startup, though Bloomberg’s report on the same day stated “Microsoft will pay materially less than that, the person with knowledge of the matter said”. So, what does it mean for the eDiscovery industry?

Court Rules that Joint Stipulation Supports Plaintiff’s Production of Images Instead of Native Files – eDiscovery Case Law

October 13, 2014

In Melian Labs, Inc. v. Triology LLC, California Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore denied the plaintiff’s motion to compel discovery in native form because the production format had been agreed upon under the parties’ ESI protocol under the Joint Rule 26(f) Report filed by the parties that supported production in “paper, PDF, or TIFF format”.

Twitter Sues for the Right to be More Transparent – Social Tech eDiscovery

October 10, 2014

Back in July, we took a look at Twitter’s Transparency Report to show government requests for data over the last six months of 2013 (we had previously looked at their very first report here). However, because Twitter is barred by law from disclosing certain details on government surveillance requests, the Transparency Report is not as transparent as Twitter would like. So, on Tuesday, Twitter filed suit against the FBI and the Justice Department, seeking the ability to release more detailed information on government surveillance of Twitter users.

eDiscovery Throwback Thursdays – How things evolved, part 3

October 9, 2014

So far in this blog series, we’ve taken a look at the ‘litigation support culture’ circa 1980, and we’ve covered how databases were built and used. In the past couple of weeks we’ve talked about the form in which document collections were stored and the evolution – first in paper form, then on microfilm, then microfiche, and then as digital images. Database content has evolved too. Let’s discuss.

Survey of Corporate Counsel Finds that there is Much Room for Improvement in Handling eDiscovery – eDiscovery Trends

October 8, 2014

Yesterday, we discussed a new self-assessment test that enables organizations to measure their eDiscovery “maturity”. Today, we look at a new survey of corporate counsel from BDO Consulting that shows that they feel there is substantial room for improvement when evaluating their organizations’ effectiveness in managing eDiscovery.

How Mature is Your Organization in Handling eDiscovery? – eDiscovery Best Practices

October 7, 2014

A new self-assessment resource from EDRM helps you answer that question. A few days ago, EDRM announced the release of the EDRM eDiscovery Maturity Self-Assessment Test (eMSAT-1), the “first self-assessment resource to help organizations measure their eDiscovery maturity”. Find out more about it here.