Our Insights on eDiscovery

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.

In Shawe v. Elting, the Delaware Supreme Court found that the Court of Chancery followed the correct legal standards and made no errors of law in its sanctions award of over $7 million against the appellant, agreeing with the lower court that his behavior was “unusually deplorable”.