The US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina recently held that even text messages are subject to the duty to preserve electronically stored information (ESI). In Shaffer v. Gaither, the plaintiff asserted claims against her former boss – a US District Attorney – for constructive dismissal based on sexual harassment and

Is a defendant entitled to rummage through the desk drawers and closets in a plaintiff’s home as part of discovery in a civil case? Most would agree this is beyond the scope of standard discovery.

A United States District Court Judge used this logic to limit the discovery of plaintiff’s social media accounts when the

Rule 37(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, also known as the “Safe Harbor Rule” of electronic discovery, governs the consequences of a party’s failure to preserve discoverable Electronically Stored Information (ESI). Currently, Rule 37(e) provides:

Absent exceptional circumstances, a court may not impose sanctions under these rules on a party for failing to