What Is Electronic Information, and Why Should You Care? - Electronically Stored Information - page 11

1.2.1.3. Rule.37.Safe.Harbor
When.you.are.thinking.about.what.is.reasonably.accessible,.
you.also.need.to.consider.a.concept.called. spoliation ..This.
might.be.thought.of.along.the.lines.of.“the.dog.(or.computer).
ate.my.homework.(or.e-mail).”
You.might.be.accused.of.(and.sanctioned.for).spoliation.if.
you.go.into.court.with.bad.arguments.for.relevant.electronic.
evidence.being.not.reasonably.accessible.because.you.allowed.
it.to.be.deleted.or.lost.or.damaged.somewhere.along.the.way,.
when. you. should. have. realized. it. would. be. important. to. a.
case. that. you. should. have. known. was. coming. (all. of. these.
“should.haves”.are.important.and.as.usual.pretty.ambiguous,.
so.we.talk.about.them.more.later).
I. think. spoliation. was. best. described. in. a. case. known.
as. Mosaid. Technologies,. Inc.. v.. Samsung. Electronics.
Corporation. from.the.New.Jersey.District.courts.in.2004.as.
follows:.Spoliation.is.“the.destruction.or.signiicant.alteration.of.
evidence,.or.the.failure.to.preserve.property.for.another's.use.
as.evidence.in.pending.or.reasonably.foreseeable.litigation.” *
There.is.that.“reasonably.foreseeable”.language.again..You.
have.to.love.the.courts.for.piling.on.this.type.of.ambiguous.
language.that.gives.attorneys.and.all.of.us.plenty.of.oppor-
tunities.to.guess.what.they.might.mean..We.talk.a.lot.more.
about.this.later,.and.you.will.see.examples.when.we.look.at.
case.law.of.how.various.court.cases.have.treated.this.idea..It.
is.a.great.idea.to.consider.all.of.these.cases.and.work.with.
your.legal.counsel.to.decide.what.you.consider.a.reasonable.
trigger.to.foresee.litigation.so.that.you.are.all.operating.from.
the.same.principles.
But.when.we.are.considering.whether.data.are.reason-
ably.accessible,.we.might.be.tempted.to.the.spoliation.of.evi-
dence.by.virtue.of.the.assumption.that.if.it.isn't.accessible,.
*. Applied.Discovery,.Online.Law.Library,.Case.Summary,. MOSAID.Techs..Inc..
v.. Samsung. Elecs.. Co. :. http://www.applied.discovery..com/.ws_display..asp?.
ilter.=.Case%20Summaries%20Detail&item._id=.%7B781012C0-.1342-.4A84-
8BA9-9BC1FC9FDE57%7D..Retrieved.2011-02-25.