Defendants Want Social Media, Plaintiffs Want E-Discovery

In civil lawsuits, particularly those involving individuals as plaintiffs and businesses as defendants, lawyers on either side are turning to new discovery tools that they can use against their opponent without much fear of retribution.  Specifically, a defendant seeks a plaintiff’s social media.  Embarrassing and risky for the plaintiff, perhaps, but likely the defendant-corporation has no social media to be concerned about.  11618616-businessman-with-magnifying-glass-and-suitcase-vector

On the other hand, the plaintiff can serve e-discovery on the defendant: in that situation, the individual plaintiff likely has little to none but the defendant corporation is now scrambling with retention policies, multiple devices, and gobs of data.

Are social media and e-discovery treated the same by the courts?

This article, Defendants Want Social Media, Plaintiffs Want E-Discovery, from the April 2013 Palm Beach Bar Bulletin discusses these (developing) legal trends.

E-discovery
Privacy Guide for Your Apple iOS 15 Devices

Take 5 minutes to run through the settings on your iOS 15 (iPhone and iPad) security settings to ensure you are not leaking data. This article, originally published in the Palm Beach Bar Association Bulletin, explains the steps in a single page article so you can protect your devices and …

E-discovery
ESI, e-Discovery & Other Tech Issues for Mediators (Florida Dispute Resolution Center Conference 2021)

Thank you to the Florida Dispute Resolution Center for inviting me to speak at the 29th Annual Conference this year. This session focused on: Venmo & recent Florida Bar ethics opinion Defining ESI terms Rules of eDiscovery Steps of eDiscovery (preservation letter, litigation hold, duties, spoliation) 4 recent 2021 eDiscovery …

Defamation
What is the Proper Venue for an Alleged Defamatory Facebook Post in Florida? (James Lowery III v. Shane McBee)

A Martin County resident alleged posted a defamatory Facebook post which was read by a third party in neighboring Palm Beach County. Where is the proper venue? According to James Cullen Lowery, III v. Shane McBee, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal held that “there was no“injury” to Plaintiff until …