By Sean T. Carnathan, Litigation News Associate Editor November 29, 2010
Serious spoliation can carry serious consequences, including the possibility of jail time for the culpable party. In a recent order, Magistrate Judge Paul W. Grimm, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, provided an exhaustive review of what the court found to be a four-year campaign of spoliation of evidence in a case involving alleged violations of copyrights and patents, and unfair competition. Victor Stanley, Inc. v. Creative Pipe, Inc. The court also painstakingly detailed its various options when imposing sanctions.
Extreme Sanctions As a result of the defendants’ spoliation of evidence, the court not only awarded the plaintiff a partial default judgment but also determined that the defendants’ willful acts of spoliation constituted civil contempt. These actions included the “permanent deletions of countless” pieces of electronically stored information by one of the individual defendants.
O’Connor, Carnathan and Mack LLC is a commercial litigation law firm located in Burlington, Massachusetts that helps companies and individuals resolve complex business disputes, insurance coverage disputes, and personal injury claims. Our legal team includes top-flight commercial litigation attorneys as well as dedicated personal injury lawyers. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies as well as closely-held businesses and astute individuals. We believe every client deserves the finest representation possible for a fee they can afford. Accordingly, we offer our services at rational hourly rates and on a contingency fee basis, devise our strategies to fit the amount at stake, and are open to creative alternative fee arrangements as well. Our attorneys serve clients in Middlesex County and Suffolk County, as well as throughout Massachusetts and New England. Contact us to learn more.
Sean Carnathan
Jail Time for Spoliation?
Jail Time for Spoliation?
By Sean T. Carnathan,
Litigation News Associate Editor
November 29, 2010
Serious spoliation can carry serious consequences, including the possibility of jail time for the culpable party. In a recent order, Magistrate Judge Paul W. Grimm, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, provided an exhaustive review of what the court found to be a four-year campaign of spoliation of evidence in a case involving alleged violations of copyrights and patents, and unfair competition. Victor Stanley, Inc. v. Creative Pipe, Inc. The court also painstakingly detailed its various options when imposing sanctions.
Extreme Sanctions
As a result of the defendants’ spoliation of evidence, the court not only awarded the plaintiff a partial default judgment but also determined that the defendants’ willful acts of spoliation constituted civil contempt. These actions included the “permanent deletions of countless” pieces of electronically stored information by one of the individual defendants.
Read the rest of Attorney Carnathan’s article at the American Bar Association’s Litigation News section >>
O’Connor, Carnathan and Mack LLC is a commercial litigation law firm located in Burlington, Massachusetts that helps companies and individuals resolve complex business disputes, insurance coverage disputes, and personal injury claims. Our legal team includes top-flight commercial litigation attorneys as well as dedicated personal injury lawyers. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies as well as closely-held businesses and astute individuals. We believe every client deserves the finest representation possible for a fee they can afford. Accordingly, we offer our services at rational hourly rates and on a contingency fee basis, devise our strategies to fit the amount at stake, and are open to creative alternative fee arrangements as well. Our attorneys serve clients in Middlesex County and Suffolk County, as well as throughout Massachusetts and New England. Contact us to learn more.