Philip Favro
July 20, 2021
Courts have repeatedly emphasized that lawyers should take actionable steps at the outset of litigation to safeguard the preservation of relevant ESI. One of those steps typically includes investigating and understanding client information systems that contain relevant information. This is particularly the case with social media and messaging apps whose content is dynamic and—barring swift action—can easily be modified and destroyed. The recent Doe v. Purdue University case—in which the court sanctioned plaintiff for failing to preserve relevant images and videos from his Snapchat application—underscores this point.
June 29, 2021
The Association of Corporate Counsel (“ACC”) has published a new survey report that discusses significant challenges companies are facing when it comes to preserving and producing relevant electronically stored information (“ESI”) for U.S. litigation. In particular, the report provides detailed metrics that spotlight a correlation between information governance maturity and discovery responsiveness. Understanding this correlation can help companies identify gaps in their upstream information governance programs, which should yield better downstream results when they need to preserve and produce relevant ESI in litigation.
May 27, 2021
Privilege log disputes are ubiquitous as parties quibble over descriptions that often reveal few details regarding the nature of privileged communications. These disputes, in turn, give rise to in camera reviews of privileged documents as courts seek additional detail regarding those claims. While in camera reviews are not supposed to issue as a matter of right, they have become increasingly widespread in recent years. This trend is fairly surprising given the near universal dislike that courts express toward in camera reviews.
May 18, 2021
Recent case law continues to reflect key trends in eDiscovery, ranging from the propriety of forensic examinations to ESI spoliation. While an order requiring a forensic collection of a party’s devices has generally been a disfavored remedy, courts now seem more willing to consider this as an option to prevent spoliation of ESI. Regarding ESI spoliation cases, courts have recently emphasized two additional issues. First, parties who preserve lesser forms of ESI like screenshots that do not adequately capture metadata may face severe procedural and evidentiary consequences. Second, counsel have an ethical obligation to inform the court and adversaries regarding ESI preservation failings.