District Court Upholds Judge Peck’s Predictive Coding Order Over Plaintiff’s Objection

In a decision that advances the predictive coding ball one step further, United States District Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. upheld Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck’s order in Da Silva Moore, et. al. v. Publicis Groupe, et. al. despite Plaintiff’s multiple objections. Although Judge Carter rejected all of Plaintiff’s arguments in favor of overturning Judge Peck’s predictive coding order, he did not rule on Plaintiff’s motion to recuse Judge Peck from the current proceedings – a matter that is expected to be addressed separately at a later time. Whether or not a successful recusal motion will alter this or any other rulings in the case remains to be seen.

Finding that it was within Judge Peck’s discretion to conclude that the use of predictive coding technology was appropriate “under the circumstances of this particular case,” Judge Carter summarized Plaintiff’s key arguments listed below and rejected each of them in his five-page Opinion and Order issued on April 26, 2012.

■ the predictive coding method contemplated in the ESI protocol lacks generally accepted reliability standards,

■ Judge Peck improperly relied on outside documentary evidence,

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Source: eDiscovery 2.0

By: Matthew Nelson