Our Insights on eDiscovery

In Harleysville Insurance Co. v. Holding Funeral Home, Inc., Virginia Magistrate Judge Pamela Meade Sargent ruled that the plaintiff’s placement of privileged information on a file share site and distribution of the hyperlink to access that information without providing any protection for the site resulted in a failure to take reasonable steps to protect the information – as a result, the declared attorney-client privilege and work-product protections were waived. Judge Sargent also denied the plaintiff’s motion to disqualify defense counsel for accessing the information without informing plaintiff’s counsel, but did order defense counsel to pay the plaintiff’s fees and costs in bringing the motion.

In Excel Enterprises, LLC v. Winona PVD Coatings, LLC, Indiana Magistrate Judge Michael G. Gotsch, Sr. ruled that despite the fact that the defendant failed to demonstrate that it produced documents kept in the ordinary course of business, the plaintiff failed to demonstrate any prejudice suffered from the current state of the production and granted the defendant’s motion to reconsider the court’s earlier order regarding the format of the defendant’s production.

In Diesel Power Source et. al. v. Crazy Carl’s Turbos et. al., Utah Magistrate Judge Brooke C. Wells denied the plaintiff’s Motion for Sanctions for the failure of the defendant to produce ESI, finding that the plaintiff had failed to sufficiently narrow its search terms by introducing 72 spelling variations on the five terms it proposed. Judge Wells also denied the defendants’ Motion for Order to Show Cause and for Sanctions, finding that the defendants had failed to provide any “certification that the parties made reasonable efforts to reach agreement on the disputed matters.”

In Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Assoc. v. California Dept. of Education, California Magistrate Judge Allison Claire granted the plaintiffs’ motion to compel the defendant to produce emails in native format with all metadata attached, but denied the plaintiffs’ motion for sanctions without prejudice to its renewal using Sacramento rates for attorneys’ fees. Judge Claire also denied the defendant’s motion for a protective order regarding production of the native format data, and its motion for sanctions.