Welcome to the new eLessons Learned
When I was a kid, every year at Hanukah, my mom had a one in one out policy for toys. If I got a new Transformer, I had to donate an old toy to Goodwill. It taught me two important lessons: always think of those less fortunate and try to keep the clutter in your home to a minimum. My fiancé cannot bear to part with anything. About five years ago she lost weight and went from a size 14 to a size 8. Today, half of her closet is filled with clothes that are 6 sizes too big for her. Which one would you rather have for a client?
Continue ReadingAs the Appellate Court in Minnesota aptly noted, the rules of civil procedure exist for a reason―they provide us with an orderly system of discovery. Do not attempt to circumvent these rules. Secret email surveillance is never a good idea. This point was made very clear in Gates v. Wheeler. Richard Gates and Matthew Wheeler were co-owners of RSR, which was a limited liability company in Minnesota. Over time, the men’s relationship soured and this led to deadlock in their management of the company. Clearly, the time arrived for their professional relationship to end.
Continue ReadingLIVE Visit http://live.foxnews.com/ today at 1PM EST and watch eLL featured on the impact hacking has on small businesses. At 1:20PM EST the segment will discuss the data breach that recently occurred at Epsilon, a third-party vendor who provides marketing services to many companies. Names and email addresses are powerful tools for certain types of cybercriminals known as “phishers” who use social engineering to target potential victims and lure them into exposing confidential financial information. The danger posed by such data breaches has resulted in the federal government and many states adopting data breach notification laws. If you operate a small business, you may not be aware of your responsibilities under these laws. This begs the question: What are your responsibilities if cybercriminals hack into your company’s computer system and steal sensitive customer data? Stay tuned, and see you at 1PM!
Again with the scandalous sex tapes? Seriously? With all the publicity surrounding leaked sex tapes coupled with the prevalence and ease of digital communication, one cannot honestly believe such a tape will remain a well kept secret. You’ll receive no sympathy on this blog for your escapades, and you’ll receive no sympathy in the Ohio court system, either. In Davis v. Spriggs, Spriggs was suing her former husband (Davis) for posting pictures and video on an adult website after the divorce settlement, signed a few months prior, specifically prohibited such distribution. Spriggs discovered these pictures after logging into a members-only adult website which sent her enough email spam she just had to check it out. Whilst cruising the racy adult website she also discovered pictures of her ex’s new girlfriend.
Continue ReadingYou have to make sure everyone on your side keeps the promises you make! When you and your adversary enter into a confidentiality stipulation about the return or destruction of confidential business information you received as a result of a lawsuit, you have to make sure that you and your outside counsel fully comply with this agreement, even if it turns out to be more costly than you anticipated. This applies even to inadvertently backed-up information by your outside counsel, as it did to the Plaintiff in Oxxford Information Technology, Ltd. V. Novantas LLC.
Continue ReadingIn 2000, David Ronsen launched Orbit One Communications, Inc., a corporation that sold satellite communications services and manufactured tracking devices reliant on satellite technology. In 2006, Numerex Corp., another satellite communications company, initiated negotiations to acquire Orbit One. These negotiations resulted in a 2007 agreement for Numerex to acquire Orbit One’s outstanding assets. Numerex asked the three executives that were also equity owners in Orbit One, (Ronsen, Scott Rosenzweig, and Gary Naden) to continue to run Orbit One as a division of Numerex, to the tune of over $6 million in “incentives,” meaning that if certain projected earnings targets were met, they would receive “earn out” payments. But April Fools! Big bonuses did not come as promised.
Continue ReadingLegal counsel for both parties left the judge frustrated from unprofessional conduct and lazy discovery techniques. Judge Hollows stated, “In the future, the court will decline to hear any discovery matters where the Federal and Local Rules are not strictly followed.” So, when it comes to electronic discovery being strictly followed, keep in mind the following: 1) address the issue EARLY; 2) keep documents in easily accessible format; and 3) supply metadata for pivotal documents. In the facts, Brinckerhoff worked for the Town of Paradise as a volunteer firefighter. Subsequently, she was appointed to a civil service position and eventually terminated. She brought suit for wrongful discrimination and requested documents in their original format. Included in the documents was an evaluation of plaintiff while she worked for the Town. In Plaintiff’s motion to compel, she argued that defendant should be required to produce responsive emails in their native format (not hard copy).
Continue ReadingOn Friday, April 1, 2011, Rutgers Race & the Law Review will host an all-day symposium at Rutgers School of Law–Newark to mark the sesquicentennial of the first shots of the Civil War and consider how a re-imagining of the use of law and policy to address today’s unfulfilled promises could result in a stronger union. Among the topics of discussion is how technology and social networking/communications has changed democracy, and how technology could keep government accountable in instances such as the events occurring in Libya today. Confirmed speakers include U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, New Jersey Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, and Newark Advisory School Board President Shavar Jeffries. The symposium is free and open to the public. Register at http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~racelaw/symposiumrsvpform.html.
What can be more detrimental than giving your adversary access to your electronic files? The answer: not giving your adversary access to your files. Jacob Ahroner, the plaintiff in Ahroner v. Israel Discount Bank of N.Y., requested and was awarded spoliation sanctions, an adverse inference instruction and reimbursement of fees paid to his expert at trial based upon the destruction of electronic evidence. To successfully request spoliation sanctions involving the destruction of electronic evidence the party requesting the sanctions be imposed must establish three elements.
Continue ReadingLike the student who pleads for impunity because the dog ate his homework, so too will Plaintiff’s plead for impunity when they have misplaced a piece of evidence that is central to their case. In both situations the teacher or judge will likely grant impunity to a degree, as both should realize that accidents happen and people make mistakes. Yet, they also realize that total impunity would be unfair to the students who kept their homework out of harm’s way or to opposing counsel whose defense relies on its examination of alleged evidence. Thus, the teacher and judge are likely to impose consequences. The student will not fail the class for his misfortune, but he might receive a diminished grade for the assignment or the class. Similarly, the litigant will not likely have his case dismissed, but he will face lesser sanctions like an adverse inference or the exclusion of other related evidence. This is precisely what happened in Gallagher v. Crystal Bay Casino, when Gallagher negligently misplaced duplicate CDs of an original recording of a jingle for which he was alleging copyright infringement. In Gallagher, Gallagher sued Crystal Bay Casino for copyright infringement, misappropriation, and breach of contract for Crystal Bay Casino’s alleged failure to pay for its use of an advertising jingle Gallagher created.
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