Apologies for my absence. I was attending a conference in Puerto Rico, a country which had a downside (every house and shop seems surrounded by bars in deference to the crime rate) and two considerable upsides (the siesta and the fact that many bars sell superb mojitos by the pitcher!).
Back to business . . . remember the Qualcomm attorneys who were accused of all manner of ESI misconduct? My earlier post may be found at http://ridethelightning.senseient.com/2007/08/quaking-in-thei.html
Well, they've had their day in court to explain their actions to the judge. From the standpoint of the attorneys, it probably wasn't their happiest hour. Thanks to my old friend David Isom for making sure I updated the status of this case!
On October 12th, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major made it eminently clear that she was not happy with the attorneys from the Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder and Heller Ehrman firms. The attorneys' failure to turn over hundreds of thousands of relevant documents during discovery, according to the judge, represented "gross misconduct on a massive scale." She asked, "If there isn't some kind of sanction, there's no deterrence. How can this possibly be tolerated in the age of digital evidence?" Good question judge.
Counsel for the attorneys said their clients couldn't explain their actions because of privilege issues, as Qualcomm refused to waive the attorney client privilege. They asked the court to order the privilege waived, but the court refused. This left a conundrum in which the truth was shrouded by fog and Qualcomm appeared bent at pointing fingers at its former counsel and former counsel appeared bent on pointing fingers at Qualcomm. The only thing that seemed clear, at the end, is that ESI misconduct, on a grand scale, took place. Judge Major indicated that she would issue a written opinion, but did not say when. Though most folks hope she displays a "no tolerance" policy towards ESI misconduct, she has quite a Gordian knot to unravel in light of the circumstances!
E-mail: snelson@senseient.com Phone: 703-359-0700
