Authored By: Patrick J. Ryan

Citation: Palisades Collection, L.L.C. v. Graubard, 2009 WL 1025176

Employee/Employer Implicated: Outside Counsel

e-Lesson Learned: Wikipedia entries cannot be used to prove important facts are true.

Tweet This: Just because it’s wikified doesn’t make it true... http://ellblog.com/?p=1737

For all the lawyers out there looking to fill the gaps in your client’s case at the last minute, we’ve got some bad news. It turns out Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information. In Palisades Collection, L.L.C. v. Graubard, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey held that a court may not treat a Wikipedia entry as conclusive evidence of a fact over which parties to a case clearly disagree. The plaintiff, Palisades Collection, L.L.C. (“Palisades”), was a collection agency that purchased a portfolio of delinquent accounts from Bank One Corporation (“Bank One”). Palisades alleged that one of the overdue accounts belonged to the defendant. On February 3, 2006, Palisades’ attorney notified the defendant that Bank One had sold his client the defendant’s account, which the defendant originally owed to Chevy Chase Bank, and that Palisades’ attorney was now seeking to collect the debt on behalf of his client. Three days later, the defendant sent Palisades’ attorney a letter stating that he was disputing the validity of the claim because he could not recall Bank One Corporation ever granting him credit.

Authored By: Courtney C. Ray

Citation: US v. Bennett, 363 F.3d 947 (9th Cir. 2004)

Employee/Employer Implicated: U.S. Customs Officer Malcolm McCloud Chandler

e-Lesson Learned: The best evidence rule isn’t just for journals, photographs and computers anymore … that’s right, GPS units are now among the electronic devices required to be physically present or have original documentation to support the information taken from the device to be used in testimony.

Tweet This: Cops fail to print info from GPS, conviction of weed importation overturned?! --> http://ellblog.com/?p=1733

Officer Keith James of the Coronado Police Department’s Task Force spotted Vincent Franklin Bennett’s boat travelling north near the U.S.-Mexico border on January 27, 2000. Upon boarding Bennett’s boat in San Diego Bay the officers noticed that the registration information did not match the boat, that the boat was riding extremely low in the water and there was a new high performance in the boat which provided space which the officers could not account for. Also, after boarding the officers learned that there was a warrant out for Bennett’s arrest. Once Bennett was removed for questioning, the boat was searched and x-rayed for marijuana that was hidden on board. The x-raying resulted in 1,541.5 pounds of marijuana being found. The district court denied Bennett’s motion to suppress the marijuana and convicted Bennett of importing marijuana and intending to distribute marijuana. Following his convictions, Bennett appealed in anyway humanly possible, since otherwise he would be spending over 10 lovely years in prison.

Tweet This: HBANJ Corporate Roundtable Event in Newark, NJ -- November 17, 2009 -- Open to all -- eLLblog to be official blog! http://ellblog.com/?p=1726

The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey invites you to attend its third annual CORPORATE COUNSEL ROUNDTABLE SERIES NOVEMBER 17, 2009 New Jersey Performing Arts Center | Newark, NJ | 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. View the Roundtable Invite In 2007, The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey (HBA-NJ) established the Roundtable Series to provide substantive, continuing legal education programs to the legal and business communities at large. The Roundtable Series showcases talented professionals in the fields of law and business. Some of the past featured panel topics include e-discovery, corporate internal investigations and intellectual property. This year, the Roundtable Series will bring together an elite group of panelists to discuss developments in Corporate Governance, Election Law (specifically “Pay to Play” legislation), and Sports Media and Entertainment Law. See the attached flyer for details on this year's panel.

Authored By: Matthew Utermark

Citation: Philip M. Adams & Assoc., LLC v. Dell, Inc., 2009 WL 910801 (D. Utah Mar. 30, 2009)

Employee/Employer Implicated: Upper Management

e-Lesson Learned: Data retention policies and procedures not only serve as backups to a system, but also can be effectively used to dictate the measures to be taken by employees to help preserve evidence and prevent spoliation claims.

Tweet This: Ironic: a computer company w/o the ability to backup emails; better have good retention policies to preserve evidence -> http://ellblog.com/?p=1724

Imagine you are an executive of a computer company that keeps experiencing defects in what is known as a floppy disk controller (FDC), a part in most personal computers. You decide that a technology needs to be developed to detect and resolve these defects. But someone else has already developed similar technology. However, even more alarming is that the computer company has a limited information management and data retention policy. Dr. Philip Adams found himself in this precarious situation when he brought a patent infringement action against ASUSTEK Computer, Inc. and ASUS Computer International (collectively hereinafter “ASUS”) alleging spoliation of relevant evidence. Adams claimed that ASUS should be sanctioned due to the spoliation claims.