The Simplified
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A collection of simple, easy to understand analyses and resources on e-discovery case law.
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It’s Not “Unjust and Not Speedy” Under Rule 1
Kissing Camels Surgery Center v. Centura Health Corporation
D. Colo. January 22, 2016
Why This Case Is Important
Re-emphasizes the importance of having ESI be produced as it is ordinarily maintained or in a reasonably useable (searchable) form when a large volume of data is produced.
Overview
This antitrust dispute between ambulatory surgery centers examined production requests after the defendant asked the plaintiff to go through the terabyte of data (conservatively, millions of pages) it had produced and identify which documents were responsive to its requests.
The court ruled the defendant made no attempt to tailor definitions of requests, often using broad and vague language; however, the court admonished the plaintiffs for using boilerplate language of their own, ignoring the specificity required by the amended Rule 34.
Ruling
Hard Copy v. ESI
The court concluded that subparagraph (E)(i) of Rule 34 applies only to the production of hard-copy documents, while subparagraph (E)(ii) exclusively governs the production of ESI.
Functionally Analogous
The option to produce ESI in a reasonably usable form is functionally analogous to producing hard-copy documents organized and labeled to correspond to the request because ESI in a searchable format can enable a party to locate pertinent information, regardless of any index or labeling provided by the responding party.
No Ordinary Case
Despite acknowledging the ESI at issue was searchable, the court still ordered the surgical center to provide additional information identifying information already produced because it was "no ordinary case."
relevant resources
General resources related to e-discovery and production best practices
E-Book
2016 E-Discovery Preparedness Guide
E-Book
Master's Guide to E-Discovery E-Book
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Recent Case Law room