Electronic Discovery and Evidence

2006 Workplace E-Mail, Instant Messaging & Blog Survey: Bosses Battle Risk by Firing E-Mail, IM & Blog Violators

2006 Workplace E-Mail, Instant Messaging & Blog Survey: Bosses Battle Risk by Firing E-Mail, IM & Blog Violators. "E-mail mismanagement continues to take a hefty toll on U.S. employers, with costly lawsuits—and employee terminations—topping the list of electronic risks. As recent court cases demonstrate, e-mail can sink businesses—legally and financially. Last year, the inability to produce subpoenaed e-mail resulted in million dollar—even billion dollar—lawsuits against U.S. companies. In fact, 24% of organizations have had employee e-mail subpoenaed, and 15% of companies have gone to court to battle lawsuits triggered by employee e-mail. That’s according to the 2006 Workplace E-Mail, Instant Messaging & Blog Survey from American Management Association (AMA) and The ePolicy Institute. . . ."

Governor Must Turn Over E-mails

Judge: Ky. Governor Must Turn Over E-Mails. "Some of Gov. Ernie Fletcher's electronic records may be released to prosecutors investigating the hiring practices of his administration, a judge ruled.  Prosecutors can have access to Fletcher's e-mails from his Capitol office computer, the governor's mansion and his Blackberry, according to a Thursday ruling by Special Judge William Wehr. However, the governor's attorneys may screen certain electronic documents to determine if they should be withheld because of attorney-client or executive privilege, the ruling said. A grand jury has been investigating whether administration officials broke state law by basing rank-and-file personnel decisions on political considerations instead of candidates' qualifications. . . "

Saving E-Mail Outside the Corporate Network

Is Email Putting Your Company At Risk? "Before you hit send, you may want to think twice about the content of your email. Chances are if it is a joke, gossip, or even information about your company, you could be putting yourself and your company at risk. . . "

Smoking E-mails

KPMG's tax shelters weren't too bright. Its internal memos on the shelters were really dim-witted. "In April 2002 a KPMG executive sent an internal e-mail to 33 recipients reporting, matter-of-factly, that the firm had just given a purposely incomplete list of tax shelter clients to the Internal Revenue Service. This prompted another KPMGer to e-mail vice chairman Jeffrey Stein: "Given the sensitivity of this situation, should we be putting all this in print?" Good question.  Stein and seven other former KPMGtax advisers have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit tax fraud. Much of the government's case--which led KPMGto admit to criminal wrongdoing and agree to pay $456 million--is built on e-mails that would make any defense lawyer cringe. "The e-mails are smoking guns . . . "

E-mail Provides Impeachment Evidence

Federal Court Turns When E-mails Contradict Deposition Testimony. "When Qantum Communications cut a preliminary deal to buy two radio stations from businessman Ronald Hale, the private investment firm thought it had a lock on the properties because Hale said he wouldn't entertain any other suitors. But in April, Hale sold one of the stations to rival Cumulus Media Inc., prompting Qantum to cry foul. In an effort to stop the sale in Miami federal court, Qantum lawyers sought to prove that Hale had violated a so-called "no shop" clause in the sales contract. During the course of discovery, the lawyers say, they found the evidence they needed: a series of e-mails that show Hale had been discussing a sale to Cumulus as early as 2004, well within the period of their client's "no shop" clause. . . ."

Jury Awards 1.45 Billion in Morgan Stanley E-mail Case

Jury Tallies Morgan's Total at $1.45 Billion. "Morgan Stanley suffered another legal setback yesterday as a Florida jury ordered it to pay $850 million in punitive damages to the financier Ronald O. Perelman, who contended he was defrauded by the investment bank in a 1998 deal. Philip J. Purcell, Morgan Stanley's chief executive, said the firm would appeal. The decision brings to $1.45 billion the sum owed to Mr. Perelman and casts more unflattering light on Morgan Stanley's reputation at a time that it is fighting a punishing campaign by eight retired executives who are calling for the ouster of Philip J. Purcell, its chief executive. While the $850 million did not approach the maximum $1.8 billion that the jury could have bestowed under Florida law, it was significantly higher than the $604 million in compensatory damages awarded to Mr. Perelman on Monday. . . "

E-mail Improprieties - Class Action Suit

Morgan Stanley Hit With Class Action Alleging Discovery Improprieties. "A new class action lawsuit in Florida alleges that Morgan Stanley committed violations of discovery rules in as many as 1,000 securities arbitration cases across the country. Coral Springs, Fla., lawyer Darren C. Blum filed the suit on behalf of Miami firefighter Robert Quintana, his wife, Alina, and other Morgan Stanley clients said to be in their situation. . . "

Zubulake Awarded 29 Million Dollars

UBS Must Pay Ex-Saleswoman $29.3 Mln in Sex Bias Case. "UBS AG, Europe's largest bank, must pay $29.3 million in damages for discriminating against Laura Zubulake, a former saleswoman who sued the firm for sex bias. . . Bank Discarded E-Mails  . . Before jurors began deliberating on Monday, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin instructed them to assume that e-mails UBS discarded after Zubulake filed her EEOC complaint would have hurt the bank's case.

Workers Grow Wary of Office E-Mails - radio broadcast

Radio broadcast - Workers Grow Wary of Office E-Mails. "NPR's Frank Langfitt reports that employers are cracking down on certain types of e-mail by their employees. Some have already lost their jobs as workers are learning that their e-mail conversations could be violating company policy. . . "

Your Company's E-mail - Lawsuit Waiting to Happen!

E-mailers beware: 'Private' messages may be anything but.  "Millions of fingers would freeze in mid-typing right now if everyone in the world could keep in mind what a minefield e-mail can be. Consider what Tom Ryan, an information technology director, discovered when he downloaded software to analyze a week's worth of employee e-mail at his Southern California high-tech firm. He found employees swapping pornography. Employees forwarding racist jokes. Employees running . . ."