Litigation Hold: Proportionality

Proportionality limits to the duty to preserve.

April 28, 2023

Book Review:  Any Ship Can Be a Minesweeper – – –  Once

When it comes to electronically stored information, Tom O’Connor is a national treasure.  He has a wealth of litigation-related ESI experience, helped run the prestigious Georgetown E-Discovery Academy, lectures on recent cases and developments in the law, has published several books and blogs, and is a consultant.  He has generously shared his […]
April 10, 2023

District of Maryland Sets Guidelines for Cell Phone Preservation in Place

Fowler v. Tenth Planet, Inc., 2023 WL 2691576 (D. Md. Mar. 29, 2023)(Coulson, J.), is an important and thoughtful decision demonstrating the peril of preservation in place. In Fowler, the plaintiff left his cell phone in an unlocked car.  It was stolen after the duty to preserve had been triggered.  It contained […]
December 16, 2022

Managing Small Cases – Excellent Sedona Conference Resource

The Sedona Conference recently published a public comment version of its “Primer on Managing Electronic Discovery in Small Cases” (Dec. 2022). There has long been an interest in low-cost technology. For example, two decades ago, I wrote “Low Cost Litigation Technology” (Md. Bar Journal Nov./Dec. 2000).  Similarly, Craig Ball has blogged about […]
November 11, 2022

Be Careful What You Agree To, But the Duty to Cooperate May Provide an Escape Hatch (Part II)

In Advanced Magnesium Alloys Corp. v. Dery, 2022 WL 3139391 (S.D. Ind. Aug. 5, 2022), defendant, Alliance, agreed to search 159 terms.  However, when it produced the text messages “hitting” those terms, plaintiff found the texts to be cryptic and asked for more texts to provide context.  Alliance said – in my […]
August 15, 2022

Is There a Duty to “’Fess Up?”

Several Fourth Circuit, District of Maryland, and Maryland intermediate appellate decisions stand for the proposition that, where a potential litigant is unable to comply with the duty to preserve potentially responsive information, the potential litigant has a duty to notify the anticipated opponent before the information goes missing. For example: I have […]
July 15, 2022

Use of Phased Discovery to Achieve Proportionality

In Guzman v. KP StoneyMill, Inc., 2022 WL 1748308 (D. Md. May 31, 2022)(Quereshi, J.), a single plaintiff sued his employer for alleged FLSA violations.  The Court addressed a number of discovery issues.[1] The case provides a textbook example of the use of phased discovery to achieve proportionality. Plaintiff had worked for the defendants […]
July 12, 2022

Directive to Collect Less Evidence

“Prosecutors struggling to pore through mushrooming amounts of electronic data they uncover during corporate crime investigations are beginning to hear counterintuitive advice from the Justice Department: Collect less evidence. The nascent strategy of selectively seizing fewer computers, cell phones, and hard drives coincides with an exponential growth of available e-data. It comes […]
June 2, 2022

Historical ESI Highlights – Part X – Dec. 2015 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

As described in the initial blog in this series, the “ESI Amendments” to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect in December 2006.  And, as Judge Facciola explained “[I]t is startling how small the changes to the 2006 rules really are. Anyone looking for a revolution in civil procedure will […]
May 31, 2022

Historical ESI Highlights – Part VIII – Cooperation and The Cooperation Proclamation

Like many of its other publications, The Sedona Conference’s “Cooperation Proclamation” was an inflection point. The Cooperation Proclamation was published by The Sedona Conference in 2008.[1] It was followed by a number of publications, endorsed by Mancia v. Mayflower Textile Services. Co., 253 F.R.D. 354 (D. Md. Oct. 15, 2008), and by […]
May 30, 2022

Historical ESI Highlights – Part VII – The Sedona Conference and EDRM

It would be difficult to overstate the significance of The Sedona Conference and the EDRM in shaping the contours of ESI in civil litigation. Kenneth J. Withers is the Deputy Executive Director of The Sedona Conference.  In “The Sedona Conference and Its Impact on E-Discovery,” Chap. 35 in M. Berman, et al., eds., […]
April 21, 2022

Sedona Conference “Selected eDiscovery and ESI Case Law from 2021-22”

Philip J. Favro, Esq., has edited the just-published “Selected eDiscovery and ESI Case Law from 2021-22” (The Sedona Conference 2022).  This is an excellent resource in an always-changing field. Phil’s work runs the gamut of topics, including cooperation, ephemeral messaging, ESI protocols, ethics, Fed.R.Evid. 502(d), privilege logging, redactions, litigation holds, social media, […]
February 17, 2022

Beyond Email – Slack, “Channels,” and Expert Testimony

Mike Hamilton’s blog, “Defendant Ordered to Produce 30,000 Slack Messages” (Exterro Feb. 7, 2022), provides an excellent description of Benebone LLC v. Pet Qwerks, Inc., 2021 WL 831025 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 18, 2021).  The blog correctly points out that, as to discovery of Slack messages, “proportionality was the key issue.” Benebone is […]
November 18, 2021

Proportionality Analysis in Vanessa Bryant’s Emotional Distress Case

In a lawsuit seeking emotional distress damages arising out of events following the January 26, 2020, death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, the court held that some of his widow’s more recent therapy records were relevant and discoverable.  However, the cost of discovery of older records was held to be disproportionate, […]
August 10, 2021

District of Maryland Gives Qualified Approval to Non-Forensic Downloads of Social Media Data

Many social media programs provide their members with a non-forensic download tool.  For example, Google Takeout, Uber, Twitter, and LinkedIn provide download instructions.  See C. Ball, “Preserving Social Media Content: DIY (Dec. 24, 2019). However, those tools may not provide the same information that a forensic download collects. In Allen v. PPE […]
August 8, 2021

District of Maryland Clarifies Rules Governing Discovery of Social Media

In Allen v. PPE Casino Resorts Maryland, LLC, __ F.Supp.3d __, 2021 WL 2434404 (D. Md. Jun. 14, 2021), and Gaske v. Crabcake Factory Seafood House, LLC, 2021 WL 3188007 (D. Md. Jul. 28, 2021), the Honorable J. Mark Coulson described the principles governing discovery of social media.  Both decisions involved employment […]
August 3, 2021

Maker’s Mark: A Different View of Self Collection

In Maker’s Mark Distiller, Inc. v. Spalding Grp., Inc., 2021 WL 2018880 (W.D. Ky. Apr. 20, 2021), the court addressed self-collection. I have previously written on self-collection in “Unsupervised Self-Collection Predictably Led to Problems,” and in “Self-Identification and Self-Preservation: A Fool for a Client?,” I cited to R. Losey, “Another “Fox Guarding […]
July 27, 2021

Where Producing Party Represents That It Fulfilled Its Duty to Produce, a Motion to Compel Additional Production Cannot Be Based on Speculation

Weidman v. Ford Motor Co., 2021 WL 2349400 (E.D. Mich. Jun. 9, 2021), involved a suit for alleged brake defects.  Near the end of discovery, plaintiff moved to compel further searches by Ford.  The motion was denied. The Weidman court provided a comprehensive discussion of the December 2015 amendments to the Federal […]
February 4, 2021

Requests for “Any and All” Documents Are Obsolete

In the ancient year of 2009, Gil Greenman and James Weingarten, of Williams & Connolly LLP, wrote “Beware the Use of Absolute Language Regarding Electronically Stored Information,” 9 Digital Discovery and e-Evidence 11 (BNA Nov. 1, 2009). Their thesis was simple and correct: “All,” “any,” and “every” are dangerous words when describing […]
January 29, 2021

Some Tactical Options for Businesses Faced With Pre-Litigation Preservation Demands

After litigation starts, a business faced with unreasonable preservation or discovery demands can resort to the court’s procedural rules to request relief from a judge.  However, the duty to preserve potentially responsive information often arises in a “free for all” zone before litigation is commenced.  In that situation, there is no umpire […]
January 9, 2021

Maryland’s Intermediate Court Affirms Denial of Sanction for Spoliation of Video Evidence

An unreported decision of the intermediate appellate court provides an interesting contrast to Steamfitters Local Union No. 602 v. Erie Insurance Exchange, 469 Md. 704 (2020), which is discussed in a prior blog. In Benson v. ALDI, Inc., 2019 WL 5704532 (Md. Ct. Spl. Apls. Nov. 5, 2019), summary judgment was affirmed […]
January 8, 2021

Maryland’s High Court Affirms Sanction for Spoliation of Video Evidence

“I just delete. I delete – delete. Anything there that I don’t want, don’t need anymore, I delete.” Peterson v. Evapco, Inc., 238 Md. App. 1, 21 (2018).  That is an invitation to disaster.  Steamfitters Local Union No. 602 v. Erie Insurance Exchange, 469 Md. 704 (2020), involved spoliation in the context […]
December 11, 2020

The “Practical Ability” Standard for “Control” in Maryland

In Equal Employment Opportunity Comm’n. v. MVM, Inc., 2020 WL 6482193 (D. Md. Nov. 2, 2020), the Court again followed a “practical ability” plus notification standard for determining when ESI is within a party’s possession, custody, or control, and what should be done if it is not.  Maryland State courts appear to […]
May 12, 2020

Publication of M. Berman, et al., eds., ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION IN THE MARYLAND COURTS (2020)

I am pleased to announce the publication by the Maryland State Bar Association of M. Berman, et al., eds.,  ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION IN THE MARYLAND COURTS (2020). This book is intended as a practitioner’s handbook addressing primarily – but not exclusively – how ESI is addressed in Maryland State courts, comparing and […]
July 25, 2015

The Duty to Preserve & the Spoliation Doctrine in the Maryland State Courts

My article, “The Duty to Preserve ESI (Its Trigger, Scope, and Limit) & the Spoliation Doctrine in Maryland State Courts” was recently published in the University of Baltimore Law Forum, Vol. 45 (2015).  The article discusses Maryland case law addressing the issue, suggests a modern analytical framework, and concludes with a cautionary […]
July 30, 2011

American Bar Assoc., Publishes Berman, et al., Managing E-Discovery and ESI

The American Bar Association has  published M. Berman, C. Barton, and P. Grimm, eds., Managing E-Discovery and ESI: From Pre-Litigation Through Trial.  The 761-page work features chapters by The Hon. Paul W. Grimm (D.Md.), The Hon. John M. Facciola (D.D.C.),  The Hon. James C. Francis IV (S.D.N.Y.), and The Hon. Joseph F. […]
June 30, 2011

Proportionality in Government e-Discovery – June 2011 IQPC Presentation

Government litigants have an enormous impact on civil litigation. Because the United States is the most frequent and successful litigant in the federal courts, the federal government as a litigant plays “a central role in the development of law and policy in the United States courts.” G. Sisk, Litigation with the Federal […]
May 26, 2011

Self-Identification and Self-Preservation: A Fool for a Client?

“Self-preservation” is the ESI equivalent of “do-it-yourself” home repair.  If successful, it can save money.  If not, it can lead to bigger problems.  Recent decisions arising out of self-preservation disasters have posed the question of whether it is ever a viable technique to preserve and review ESI. A well-known commentator and The […]