US Case Law Update: Failing to suspend routine document retention process leads to sanctions

December 15, 2021

In a recent case from the United States, the failure to properly implement a legal hold led to a motion for spoliation sanctions.

In Mahboob v. Educ. Credit Mgmt. Corp., Case No.: 15-cv-0628-TWR-AGS (S.D. Cal. Mar. 1, 2021), the plaintiff alleged that the defendant failed to suspend its two-year document retention policy, which resulted in the loss of months of relevant call data and recordings. Countering, the defendant argued that the plaintiff’s motion should be denied due to unreasonable delay.

In the result, the Magistrate Judge granted the plaintiff’s motion for spoliation sanctions, in part. … Read More

Towards More Efficient and Cost-effective Discovery

Crystal O’Donnell

Chief Executive Officer and Senior Counsel

November 3, 2021

Discovery is typically the most time-consuming and expensive aspect of any legal dispute. This article provides some practical guidance and key tips for minimizing risk and cost for enterprises involved in disputes or regulatory matters that require the production of electronically stored information (ESI).

The most effective way to minimize eDiscovery cost and risk is to start with good document management and retention policies. While document management and retention are substantive and complex areas, there are a couple things that do not require software or expenditure that can make a substantial difference. … Read More

eDiscovery Preparedness – Data Processing

Candice Chan-Glasgow

Director, Review Services and Counsel

July 16, 2021

After potentially relevant electronically stored information (ESI) has been identified, preserved, and collected, it must be processed. Processing is converting the ESI to a usable format for review and analysis. Before processing the ESI, agreement should be obtained on processing specifications. Many processing decisions are common, and agreement on these issues is generally non-contentious.

One primary decision is how you will deduplicate the data. This is important due to the volumes of duplicate records that are typical for any enterprise. Deduplication will reduce the volume of documents that will need to be hosted in a review platform and ultimately reviewed for relevance. … Read More

eDiscovery Preparedness – Custodian Interviews

T. James Cass

Manager, Review Services and Senior Counsel

July 7, 2021

Custodian interviews are an important and necessary part of the identification phase of an eDiscovery project. Early interviews are necessary to develop a proportionate and defensible discovery plan.

The purpose of the interview is to:

identify the cast of characters,
the relevant time periods,
the potential sources of electronically stored information (ESI), and
confirm that the individuals understand the legal hold requirements.

If custodian interviews are not done there is a risk that the relevant information won’t be preserved and collected or conversely that too much data is preserved and collected. … Read More

eDiscovery Preparedness – Discovery Planning

Candice Chan-Glasgow

Director, Review Services and Counsel

June 22, 2021

Previous blog posts have discussed document management systems and provided some tips that can be implemented prior to a dispute or investigation, such as the creation of a Data Map at the outset of an eDiscovery project. This article focuses on discovery planning and agreements with opposing parties on the scope and nature of the eDiscovery process and exchange of data. During this phase, the parties and respective counsel must work with their document management systems used and the data that is available from all relevant sources.

Discovery planning allows parties to discuss and obtain disclosure of information needed to identify any document issues early in the process. … Read More

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