Failure to Produce Originals Could be Spoliation in Third Circuit Bull v. United Parcel Service, Inc., — F.3d —, 2012 WL 10932 (3d Cir. Jan. 4, 2012) In this case, the appellate court concluded that “producing copies in instances where the originals have been requested may constitute spoliation if it would prevent discovering critical information,” [...]

Court Grants Cross Motions for Spoliation Sanctions, Imposes Adverse Inference Against Both Parties Patel v. Havana Bar, Restaurant & Catering, No. 10-1383, 2011 WL 6029983 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 5, 2011) In this opinion addressing the parties’ cross motions for sanctions, the court ordered an adverse inference for defendants’ failure to preserve relevant video surveillance footage [...]

Chief Judge Finds That Alteration of Facebook Page Can Lead to Spoliation Inference In a trademark infringement case involving two restaurants, Katiroll Company, Inc. v. Kati Roll and Platters, Inc. et al., Plaintiff sought a spoliation inference, alleging various discovery abuses involving several types of evidence including social media. Specifically, Plaintiff requested sanctions for the [...]

Client & Counsel Sanctioned for Spoliation where Plaintiff was Instructed to “Clean Up” His Facebook Page Lester v. Allied Concrete Co., Nos. CL.08-150, CL09-223 (Va. Cir. Ct. Sept. 1, 2011); Lester v. Allied Concrete Co., Nos. CL08-150, CL09-223 (Va. Cir. Ct. Oct. 21, 2011) In this case, significant monetary sanctions were ordered against the plaintiff [...]

Document Preservation: Spoliation and the “Ultimate Sanction” The proper preservation of electronic data for discovery has become an increasing source of contention between parties. Two recent cases illustrate the importance of mindfully preserving electronic data during discovery.  In Gentex Corp. v. Sutter, No. 3:07-CV-1269, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122831 (M.D. Pa. Oct. 24, 2011), the district [...]

Court Sanctions Defendants for Elaborate Spoliation, Declines to Sanction Misled Counsel Unaware of “What was Going on Behind the Scenes” United Cent. Bank v. Kanan Fashions, Inc., No. 10 CV 331, 2011 WL 4396912 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 31, 2011); United Cent. Bank v. Kanan Fashions, Inc., No. 10 C 331, 2011 WL 4396856 (N.D. Ill. [...]

New Jersey District Judge Grants Spoliation Sanctions Citing Negligent Litigation Hold Procedures Failure to properly preserve electronic evidence continues to provide at-risk litigants with the ability to steer the court from scrutiny of the merits, and drastically shift the balance of litigation leverage. The latest example of this is NVE, Inc. v. Palmeroni out of [...]

For e-Discovery Efforts “Wholly Devoid of Competence” and for Spoliation, Court Orders Sanctions and Prohibits Indemnification from Insurer PIC Group, Inc. v. LandCoast Insulation, Inc., No. 1:09-CV-662-KS-MTP, 2011 WL 2669144 (S.D. Miss. July 7, 2011) A Special Master determined that defendant’s discovery failures were largely the result of a “callous and careless attitude” rather than [...]

[Update] Pulte Gets Pinched for Spoliation Follow @cspizzirri UPDATE: I have amended my post based on some very thoughtful clarification from Dennis Kiker in the comments. Added text is underlined, and deleted text is struckthrough. ORIGINAL POST (February 28, 2011): LTN reports that national home builder Pulte Homes was caught deleting emails and wiping hard [...]

DuPont v. Kolon: A Lesson In How To Avoid Sanctions For Spoliation Of Evidence Two recent decisions in the same case illustrate that, when it comes to imposing sanctions for spoliation of evidence, what matters is not simply whether you’ve intentionally deleted relevant evidence, but how you go about deleting it, and what the record [...]