What Is Electronic Information, and Why Should You Care? - Electronically Stored Information - page 42

to.weigh.the.differing.factors.and.make.decisions.appropriate.
to.the.facts.of.the.case.
In. this. case,. she. found. that. several. of. the. plaintiffs. had.
been.grossly.negligent.resulting.in.the.spoliation.of.relevant.
evidence.and.issued.an.adverse.inference.to.the.jury.regard-
ing.those.speciic.plaintiffs,.telling.the.jury.that.it.“may,.if.it.
chooses,. presume. that. the. lost. evidence. would. have. been.
favorable. to. the. Citco. Defendants,”. and. if. they. decided. to.
make. those. presumptions. and. “the. plaintiffs-spoliators. do.
not.adequately.rebut.them,” * .they.may.infer.that.the.evidence.
would.have.been.favorable.to.the.defendants.
The. judge. also. ordered. the. plaintiffs. to. pay. the. defen-
dant's.costs.for.bringing.the.motion.and.the.attorneys'.fees.
and.deposition.costs,.and.so.forth..With.some.of.the.“spolia-
tors”. that. she. did. not. ind. grossly. negligent,. she. neverthe-
less.ordered.them.to.pay.for.further.discovery.to.produce.the.
evidence. that. was. lost.. In. one. particular. example. she. said.
that.one.plaintiff.should.have.searched.the.handheld.device.
for.relevant.e-mail.and.made.sure.all.of.its.employees.were.
instructed. to. preserve. any. relevant. evidence.. Not. doing. so.
resulted. in. the. failure. to. produce. 22. e-mails. that. the. Citco.
defendants.speciically.asked.for.
The.lesson.here.is.that.thanks.in.part.to.Judge.Scheindlin.
and.to.other.evolving.case.law,.it.is.no.longer.acceptable.to.shirk.
your.duties.to.preserve.and.retain.electronic.documentation.
All. courts,. especially. the. federal. courts,. are. coming. to.
expect.attorneys.and.organizations.and.even.individuals.to.
have. a. very. irm. grasp. on. all. of. their. electronically. stored.
information..If.you.do.not.know.where.your.data.lives,.how.
to.access,.store,.and.preserve.it.in.a.sound.manner,.and.pro-
duce.it.when.required,.you.will.be.held.culpable.and.could.
face. some. severe. sanctions,. either. in. litigation,. or. from.
regulatory. or. tax. revenue. agencies.. Yet,. it. is. not. expected.
that. anyone. will. be. perfect. in. this. knowledge. and. compli-
ance.. Judge. Scheindlin. made. that. point. in. her. decision.
*. 2010.U.S..Dist..LEXIS.4546.at.pg.105-08..Retrieved.2012-03-09.