Bridgewater, NJ (April 23, 2010) – Fernando Pinguelo, a Member of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A., appeared as a guest on Fox News Channel’s live web show, The Strategy Room, hosted by Kimberly Guilfolye. Pinguelo was interviewed about today’s headlines featuring internet abuse, including the Security and Exchange Commission Office of Inspector General’s 5-year investigation that revealed SEC employees and contractors visiting porn sites and viewing sexually explicit pictures using government computers. Ms. Guilfoyle’s guests today also included Richard “Bo” Dietl and Dr. Kathryn Smerling.
The Strategy Room airs weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET for a discussion of the day’s top stories, plus a variety of hour-long shows on topics like business, health, technology, and entertainment.
“Casual use of the internet in the workplace is on the rise. With up-to-the-minute Facebook statuses and Twitter ‘tweets,’ the use of company time for personal internet use has become common place. This has become so common that it is obvious employees don’t realize their actions can be tracked and saved. This new breaking story testifies to the fact that many workers don’t realize the implications of their actions online,” said Pinguelo.
e-Lesson Learned: The proportionality standard of FRCP Rule 26 governs discovery requests, including e-discovery.
Twitter This: eDiscovery has to follow discovery rules too --> http://ellblog.com/?p=2082
Just because e-discovery is involved does not mean we can disregard the rules applied to traditional discovery. While we must adapt the way we approach discovery because of advancing technology and the decline of the paper-based world, we must not forget that the spirit behind the rules of discovery apply to all discovery, including e-discovery.
In High Voltage, the plaintiff filed a motion to compel the defendant to search for alternative sources beyond the initial production of documents for the selection of the VAULT mark. This would involve having the defendant review an additional 1.5 million pages of documents (17 gigabytes) beyond the 1.7 million pages already produced to the plaintiff. Continue reading »
Citation: Paris Business Products, Inc. v. Genisis Technologies, LLC, 2007 WL 3125184 (D.N.J. Oct. 24, 2007)
Employee/Employer Implicated: Owners and Executives
e-Lesson Learned: If you destroy discoverable electronic data, you can be subject to an adverse inference jury instruction at trial.
Twitter This: Destroying discoverable e-data can lead to an adverse inference charge at trial --> http://ellblog.com/?p=2078
Dead men tell no tales, but their bodies provide enough evidence to paint a graphic picture. The same is true of deleted files on a computer. Missing files can carry the inference that the evidence was only destroyed because it would have been damaging to the party responsible.
In Paris Business Products, Inc. v. Genisis Technologies, LLC (“Paris”), Genisis Technologies, LLC, (“Genisis”) was subject to a discovery order requiring it to preserve all relevant data on company-owned computer hard drives. Despite this order, Genisis’ executive officers allegedly were responsible for: (1) deleting the company hard drives by reformatting them; and (2) physically removing and destroying some hard drives. Continue reading »
Employee/Employer Implicated: Businessmen and laymen alike
e-Lesson Learned: Be wary of what you agree to in your next "reply." Your email can end up sealing a binding contract.
Twitter This: The Devil is in the emails: Your inbox could be home to binding contracts! --> http://ellblog.com/?p=2076
Often I am asked if certain arrangements and deals are enforceable without a written contract. Sometimes, I am asked that question with a little bit of layman lawyering as to whether the so called “statute of frauds” (this is an ancient statute that essentially says certain classes of contracts) can cut off a contract claim. First, let me say that the law is blind, but not dumb. If there was a real arrangement oral or otherwise, rarely will a court will simply tell the plaintiff that he/she is without a paddle.
Though not related to eDiscovery per se, we at eLessons Learned want to alert Law Students and fellow student bloggers of the National Law Review’s writing competition taking place this month.
The National Law Review (NLR) consolidates practice-oriented legal analysis from a variety of sources for easy access by lawyers, paralegals, law students, business executives, insurance professionals, accountants, compliance officers, human resource managers, and other professionals who wish to better understand specific legal issues relevant to their work.
The NLR Law Student Writing Competition offers law students the opportunity to submit articles for publication consideration on the NLR Web site. No entry fee is required. Applicants can submit an unlimited number of entries each month.
Employee/Employer Implicated: Employees and Employers Alike
e-Lesson Learned: The employee in this case had a reasonable expectation of privacy in personal web-based emails between the employee and her lawyer, sent and received (during work hours) using the employer’s computer and IT systems.
Twitter This: Video eLessons: Privacy wins out in latest Stengart decision --> http://ellblog.com/?p=2059
This is the second video by Joscelyn from the eLessons Learned series on Stengart, dealing with the March 30 New Jersey Supreme Court decision favoring privacy over waiver of attorney-client privilege.
eLessons Learned is proud to be a Media Partner with eDiscovery Readiness for Government, a two-day training conference exploring best practices for proactive electronic records management, information assurance and litigation readiness. Scheduled to be held at the Sheraton in Arlington, VA, June 8-9, 2010, this event is specifically designed for executives in the Federal and Government agencies involved with data and records management.
Speakers at the event include the Honorable John M. Facciola, US Magistrate Judge, US District Court, District of Columbia, Jason R. Baron, Director of Litigation, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Miriam Nisbet, Director, Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Catherine Teti, Managing Director for Knowledge Services, Chief Agency Privacy Officer, Government Accountability Office (GAO), and other respected members of the Federal Government.
Discounts available for executives in Federal and Government agencies. Call 1.646.200.7530 or visit http://www.eDiscoGov.com to register for the event and to view an updated agenda.
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