Legal discovery not only for use in cases with deleted or destroyed documents

Contributed by Roumiana Deltcheva (Mercredi, 14 juillet 2010) | Category : eDiscovery

A recent Lexology report regarding the benefits of having a legal discovery solution stressed cases outside of those involving the intentional deletion or destruction of digital files use the technology.

The article references a recent court case to support its statement. In January, the New York Federal Court issued sanctions to six plaintiffs for “gross negligence” of understanding eDiscovery guidelines in the case of Pension Committee of the University of Montreal Pension Plan v. Banc of America Securities.

The court handed down such sanctions because the litigation was “reasonably clear” 10 months before the suit. These plantiffs then failed to preserve digital documents, cease deletion of email and preserve electronic backup. These actions were not deemed to have been completed in bad faith, but the court instead, felt they should have been commonplace and thus, handed down the sanctions.

Furthermore with the case, seven other plaintiffs were issued sanctions for “ordinary negligence” when they failed to produce all relevant files and emails pertinent to the case.

While other cases not involving intentional document deletion have taken place, Montreal v. Banc of America clearly showed the penalties involved with not having a legal discovery solution in place. Because of such repercussions and increased adoption of the technology, Gartner predicted the eDiscovery market to grow to $1.2 billion in 2010, up 25 percent from 2008.