Anticipation of Litigation Advisor

Anticipation of Litigation Advisor - July 2018

July 24, 2018

By: Spencer W. Tanner and Whitney G. Clegg

Waiver of Privilege-Protected Email Communications by Voluntary Disclosure:
The “Common Interest” Exception
by Spencer Tanner

On a macro level, the discovery process provides a litigant with a number of devices (i.e., interrogatories, requests for production of documents and admissions, depositions) to compel disclosure of information from another person.  In federal court, litigants’ use of these devices is limited to matters that are “relevant to any party’s claim or defense” and “proportional to the needs of the case.”  Click here to read more.

The Duty to Preserve Metadata:
Leidig v. BuzzFeed, Inc. 
1:16-cv-00642 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 19, 2017)
by Whitney Clegg

Leidig v. Buzzfeed, Inc. serves as a cautionary tale to demonstrate the critical importance of preserving evidence and its embedded metadata  during discovery. In this defamation case, evidentiary sanctions were imposed following plaintiffs' negligent and "amateurish" preservation efforts.  Click here to read more.