Our Insights on eDiscovery

Court Sanctions US Government for Spoliation in Copyright Infringement Case: eDiscovery Case Law

May 23, 2019

In 4DD Holdings, LLC v. U.S., the US Court of Federal Claims, in an opinion issued by Judge Bruggink, “grant[ed] plaintiffs’ motion for sanctions because the government destroyed relevant evidence that it had a duty to preserve.” The Court directed the plaintiffs to “file a motion, appropriately supported, seeking a recovery of its costs and fees related to the motion for sanctions and with respect to discovery prompted by the destruction of evidence” and indicated it would “defer until summary judgment or trial the application of the evidentiary implications of this ruling.” The court also denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss “[b]ecause plaintiffs established that the government authorized or consented to SMS’s allegedly infringing activity when working in SMS labs.”

Biggest eDiscovery Challenges Facing Plaintiff’s Attorneys, Part Four

May 22, 2019

The next most popular choice for plaintiff eDiscovery pain points was lack of competence. Let’s see what our group of attorneys had to say about that challenge for plaintiffs’ attorneys.

FTC Calling for National Data Privacy Law: Data Privacy Trends

May 21, 2019

Sure, we’ve talked about California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). And, we’ve also noted that there are at least 15 state data privacy laws that are working their way through the legislative process. But, is there anybody pushing for a national data privacy law? At least one Federal agency is doing so.

Biggest eDiscovery Challenges Facing Plaintiff’s Attorneys, Part Three

May 20, 2019

Now let’s turn to some of the individual responses. As I mentioned in part two, the most popular choice for plaintiff eDiscovery pain points was cooperation, so let’s take a look at the attorneys’ specific responses regarding cooperation challenges.

Court Establishes Search Protocol to Address Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel: eDiscovery Case Law

May 17, 2019

In Lawson v. Spirit Aerosystems, Inc., Kansas Magistrate Judge Angel D. Mitchell granted in part and denied in part the plaintiff’s motion to compel, ordering the defendant to produce documents related to two requests and, with regard to a third request, ordering the defendant to “produce these documents to the extent that such documents are captured by the ESI search protocol.”

Biggest eDiscovery Challenges Facing Plaintiff’s Attorneys, Part Two

May 16, 2019

With regard to my question regarding pain points in plaintiffs’ eDiscovery work, here is what our attorneys identified as the top 3 pain points experienced by plaintiffs’ attorneys.

Are You Making Enough Money as an eDiscovery Professional?: eDiscovery Trends

May 15, 2019

Geez, if that blog post title doesn’t get your attention, I don’t know what will. The answer is: of course not! But, how do you demonstrate to your boss that you deserve a raise? Leave to Rob Robinson and another “mashup” to give you the data you need to make your point!

Biggest eDiscovery Challenges Facing Plaintiff’s Attorneys

May 14, 2019

Approximately 2/3 of my consulting practice revolves around issues with ESI production. Much of that work involves asymmetrical cases where one side, typically corporate defendants, has the vast majority of discovery. And since my experience is not untypical, what we see in eDiscovery practice is a heavy focus in the eDiscovery world on defense strategy, both in actual practice and educational conferences. But what about strategy for the Plaintiff’s bar? Do they have different even dramatically different needs simply because they have less ESI? This paper will take a look at that.

Why Do Hackers Hack? It’s About the Money, Apparently: Cybersecurity Trends

May 13, 2019

Big surprise there, right? So says the 2019 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), which analyzes the reported cybersecurity and data breach incidents for the year. According to this year’s report, senior C-level executives are 12 times more likely to be the target of social engineering attacks, and 9 times more likely to be the target of social breaches than in previous years, with financial motivation the key driver in these attacks.

Twenty-One Points, Less Than 350 Words: eDiscovery Best Practices

May 10, 2019

Yesterday, I wrote about whether judges, like lawyers, should have an explicit technical competence requirement as well. Leave it to Craig Ball to take a somewhat complex technical concept and break it down to the fewest possible words – i.e., in a “nutshell”. Hey, judges! This might be a good place to start!