Case Law
← Back to Blog
Search
Authors
The First Amendment Privilege Against Discovery by the Government
Michael D. Berman examines a ruling addressing the First Amendment privilege against government discovery, including internal advocacy materials and the evidentiary showing required to establish a chilling effect on associational rights.
A Request for “Three-Strata Validation” Was Denied
A federal court addressed a proposed “three-strata validation” process for ESI discovery in In re Class Action Settlement Administration Litigation. The parties agreed to statistically valid sampling of documents coded nonresponsive, while the court rejected...
Use of Personal Email by Government Personnel
Government personnel who use personal email or devices for government business may expose those systems to discovery. A federal court ordered counsel-supervised searches of personal email and cell phone data in Washington v. Mass. Dept....
What Substantive Law Governs Sufficiency of a Privilege Log in a Federal Court Sitting in Diversity?
In McSwain v. HOMAG Machinery N. America, Inc., the court distinguished state substantive privilege law from the federal procedural rules governing the sufficiency of a privilege log.
“Court Sanction for Plaintiff’s Use of Prompt-Injection”
A Connecticut court sanctioned a self-represented litigant for repeatedly concealing AI prompt-injection instructions in court filings. In Elliott v. New York Bariatric Group, LLC, the court distinguished the familiar risk of unreliable AI output from...
Another A.I. Protective Order – Part 10
U.S. v. Dygdon provides another example of an AI protective order governing discovery materials. The consent order bars certain AI uses and requires confidentiality, no model training, restricted third-party access, and deletion at the end...
Maryland’s Digital Media Rules
Maryland’s rules establish specific procedures for handling digital media in court proceedings, motions, and appeals, including approved storage platforms, record preservation, access, and the treatment of audio, audiovisual, and video exhibits.
Absolute Judicial Immunity Applies Even IF a Judge’s Decision Was “Wholly” Made by AI
Plaintiff, T. Matthew Phillips sued the Hon. Mari D. Parlade, a State-court Judge, asserting that Judge Parlade had used A.I. to decide his case. The federal court dismissed the case based on absolute judicial immunity. ...
How Does an “Attorney’s Eyes Only” Order Apply to an Unrepresented Party?
A New York federal court ordered that Attorney’s Eyes Only material produced in redacted form to an unrepresented defendant must come with a detailed redaction log, so they can meaningfully decide whether to challenge the...
It May Be an Abuse of Discretion to Grant Summary Judgment for a Defendant Before Deciding a Plaintiff’s Sanctions Motion
Michael D. Berman examines Smith v. Polk Co., where the court addressed two spoliation sanctions motions before granting summary judgment. Applying Shaw v. Foreman, the court recognized that a sanctions motion involving evidence significant to...
Discovery Is Quietly Reorganizing Itself Around AI
A panel of eDiscovery and legal-tech leaders from HaystackID’s most recent webcast reports that AI-assisted review has moved from experimentation to default practice far faster than technology-assisted review did a decade ago, reshaping early case...
Condominium Construction Defect Litigation Leads to Search and Custodian Rulings
Michael D. Berman examines a Vermont federal court’s order requiring a condominium association to disclose its keyword search methodology in detail, while rejecting a developer’s bid to force ESI collection from every current and former...