Blog Entries tagged 'Litigation'

In Case You Missed It: LotusNotes and Accessibility

james.crane@altep.com — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 02:00:00 +0100

In Parkdale Am., L.L.C. v. Travelers Cas. and Sur. Co. of Am., Inc. (2007 WL 4165247), the Western District Court in North Carolina decided that relevant emails in LotusNotes format should be produced despite Plaintiffs' objections that it would cost $20,000 to convert them to a searchable format.

The Court found that because the emails were from a key custodian, and the amount at stake dwarfed the cost of the discovery burden, Plaintiffs' objection bas [...]

Poetic Justice in Action

james.crane@altep.com — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:00:00 +0100

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I always enjoy when a judge provides entertainment in his opinion, either in the way of comedy, emotion, or just plain wit. In a recent case in the U.S. District Court of Washington, Judge Ronald Leighton granted a Motion for a More Definite Statement in a complaint alleging racketeering against GMAC Mortgage.

Judge Leighton was not impressed with the 465 page lawsuit and set out his conclusion in a limerick:

"Plain [...]

Five Reasons Companies Should NOT Conduct Their Own Forensic Investigations

james.crane@altep.com — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Corporate counsel is always dealing with the challenges of controlling costs and providing their corporate client with the most defensible position. One question that always comes up is "why shouldn't we just collect our own data?" It's a good question. Many corporations have an IT department staffed with talented and available personnel.

The short answer is that sometimes, in-house IT is the "logical" choice [...]

Even the Greatest Thinkers Are Not Always Right

james.crane@altep.com — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Aristotle thought that earthquakes were caused by subterranean winds. OK, so he was a little off, according the USGS - tectonic plate movement simply fell outside his realm of experience. Like Aristotle, though, many attorneys think their methods are as good as it gets. What we attorn [...]

Massachusetts Sues H&R Block Over Subprime Mortgages

james.crane@altep.com — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Whether the subprime mortgage situation is a crisis is the subject of debate. What we are able to do to help stem the increase in foreclosures is worth examining. What is clear, is that states are taking the problem very seriously and are aggressively going after lenders associated with subprime loans. On June 3 rd, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley joined in the subprime fray, filing a 59 page Complaint against Option One Mortgage Corp. and its parent H&R Block [...]

The Subprime Mortgage Fallout

james.crane@altep.com — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:00:00 +0100

We can expect that litigation over subprime mortgages is going to increase into the near future. Plaintiff firms have either already brought actions or are putting together their playbook. Additionally, attorneys general in New York, Ohio, and Massachusetts have sued lenders and appraisers. The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division are also active in this area. Corporate counsel across nearly every industry should examine the issues [...]

ABA Corporate Counsel Committee Annual CLE Seminar Report

james.crane@altep.com — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:00:00 +0100

The ABA Section of Litigation put together a great event in Scottsdale, Arizonalast week. The programs were interesting and I met many outstanding attorneys. The event opened with the General Counsel Forum discussing some of the challenges of advising corporations, maintaining the legal department, and working with outside counsel. Cornell Boggs, General Counsel of Coors Brewing Company, had some riveting commentary about being solicited by law firms hoping to represent Coors. In a nutshell, if [...]

Quick Primer on De-duplication

james.crane@altep.com — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:00:00 +0100

I still get asked questions about de-duplication: What is it? Why is it important? So, in order to please those folks, as well as those who have not asked yet, here’s a quick summary.

De-duplication is the process of reducing a data population by identifying and removing duplicate emails and/or non-email files. The digital signatures (MD5 hash codes) of each file are compared against each other and matches are marked as duplicates. Files marke [...]