Tweet This: EXCLUSIVE: eLessons Learned’s Exclusive Interview with the Honorable Ronald J. Hedges

Interviewed by Catherine Kiernan, Co-Editor in Chief, eLLblog.com Thank you, Judge Hedges, for taking the time to provide eLLblog’s readers with some of your valuable insights about electronic discovery.

Authored By: Catherine Kiernan

Citation: Managing Discovery of Electronic Information: A Pocket Guide for Judges (Second Edition)

Tweet This: Just Released! “Managing Discovery of Electronic Information: Pocket Guide for Judges” Review! (Part 3)

Welcome back for the third and final part of our series summarizing and highlighting the most important parts of the new electronic discovery pocket guide for federal judges.  Part One focused on the volume of electronic discovery now being used in judicial proceedings as well as proper procedures for Rule 16 conferences and the scope of electronic discovery under Rule 26.  Part Two focused on cost-shifting, subpoenas and implicated third parties, and form of production. Finally, Part Three focuses on privilege and waiver, preservation, spoliation, and sanctions.

Authored By: Catherine Kiernan

Citation: Managing Discovery of Electronic Information: A Pocket Guide for Judges (Second Edition)

Tweet This: Just Released! “Managing Discovery of Electronic Information: Pocket Guide for Judges” Review! (Part 2)

Welcome back for the second of our three-part series summarizing and highlighting the most important parts of the new electronic discovery pocket guide for federal judges.  Part One focused on the volume of electronic discovery now being used in judicial proceedings, proper procedures for Rule 16 conferences, and the scope of electronic discovery under Rule 26. Part Two focuses on cost-shifting, subpoenas and implicated third parties, and form of production. Finally, Part Three will focus on privilege and waiver, preservation, spoliation, and sanctions (stay tuned!)

Authored By: Catherine Kiernan

Citation: Managing Discovery of Electronic Information: A Pocket Guide for Judges (Second Edition)

Tweet This: Just Released! “Managing Discovery of Electronic Information: Pocket Guide for Judges” Review! (Part 1)

Very recently the second edition of the eDiscovery pocket guide for federal judges was released by the Federal Judicial Center.  The new edition is key to understanding how judges view eDiscovery requests and how attorneys can avoid costly sanctions and unnecessary and damaging production.  The Guide is comprehensive and expands on many of the fundamental issues surrounding electronic discovery that have further developed since the first edition. e-Lessons Learned will be posting a three-part series summarizing the Guide to help highlight the key issues that judges consider when dealing with electronic discovery.  Part One will focus on Rule 16 conferences and the scope of electronic discovery under Rule 26. Part Two will focus on cost-shifting, subpoenas and implicated third parties, and form of production (stay tuned) Finally, Part Three will focus on privilege and waiver, preservation, spoliation, and sanctions (stay tuned)

Authored By: Catherine Kiernan

Citation: Watchtel v. Health Net, Inc., 482 F.3d 225 (3rd Cir. 2007)

Employee/Employer Implicated: District Court Judges, document custodian, in-house counsel, outside counsel, upper management, owners/executives

e-Lesson Learned: The fiduciary exception to the attorney client discovery privilege does not apply to certain ERISA fiduciaries when “the plaintiff-beneficiaries are not the ‘real’ clients obtaining legal representation.” Therefore, courts should be careful when applying the exception for discovery purposes, even when the company has been extremely disrespectful and unresponsive to the discovery process.

Tweet This: Courts Have to Be Careful In Applying the Fiduciary Exception to Attorney-Client Privilege

While sanctions against the defendant for severe lack of candor to the court and evasive responses to plaintiffs’ discovery requests were properly ordered by the district court, the third circuit noted that the defendant did not have to produce all documents ordered.

Authored By: Kathy Trawinski

Citation: Wachtel v. Health Net, Inc., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88563 (D.N.J. 2006).

Employee/Employer Implicated: Document Custodian, In-House Counsel, Outside Counsel, Owner & Executive, Upper Management

e-Lesson Learned: Litigants should never ignore a discovery order. A litigant who persistently evades discovery will face harsh sanctions, such as the preclusion of evidence, monetary sanctions, the striking of privilege assertions, etc. The severest of sanctions will be warranted in the face of such bad faith conduct and flagrant disregard of court orders.

Tweet This: Court finds extensive discovery violations and flagrant disregard of discovery orders warrant severe sanctions

This post has been updated to reflect subsequent appellate action.  Scroll down to the bottom to see the update. In Wachtel v. Health Net, Inc., Judge Faith S. Hochberg of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey imposed severe sanctions on Health Net Inc., a health insurance provider, and its subsidiaries for what the court term its “flagrant disregard” of discovery orders and its “lengthy pattern of repeated and gross noncompliance with discovery.”  These sanctions arose in a case in which the plaintiff beneficiaries, Zev and Linda Wachtel, had filed an ERISA action against the Health Net defendants for breach of fiduciary duty and other wrongs regarding the manner in which the defendants reimbursed out-of-network claims.