Sanction motions and awards for e-discovery violations across the country have climbed dramatically in recent years and have now hit “historic highs,” according to a study published in the Duke Law Journal.
The study identified 401 cases filed in federal court before Jan. 1, 2010, with written opinions involving sanction motions or sanction awards. It found that not only have e-discovery sanction cases climbed annually since 1981, the increase in both sanction motions and awards since 2004 has been “significant.”
In 2009, there were more sanction cases (97) and more sanction awards (46) than in any previous year.
Lawyers say the study, the most comprehensive effort they have seen attempt to quantify trends in what is a rapidly expanding and increasingly complicated area of litigation, confirms much of what they have witnessed in their own practices.
“E-discovery is a big issue, it’s an enormous undertaking and it’s incredibly expensive,” said John A. Tarantino of Adler, Pollock & Sheehan in Providence, R.I. “Even if you proceed in good faith, you still can have problems.”
Violations prompting the most sanctions were a failure to preserve evidence, which was cited in 131 of the 230 cases in which sanctions were handed out, followed by a failure to produce evidence, cited in 73 cases.
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Source: wislawjournal.com
By: Christina Pazzanese
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