Discovery Debacle: How Not to Duplicate Qualcomm's E-Mail Issues
After some $10 million in court-ordered penalties, attorney sanctions and a switch of both in-house and outside counsel, it is clear that Qualcomm Inc. didn’t handle its discovery obligations in a patent dispute with Broadcom Corp. in an optimal manner.
But despite these severe sanctions over 46,000 e-mails that Qualcomm failed to produce prior to a scheduled 2007 trial, the mistakes the company and its lawyers made are all-too-easily repeated by others, warns Corporate Counsel.
“For in-house counsel and their outside firms, this case is a wake-up call,” the magazine states, offering suggestions for improved discovery procedures that can help others avoid the same pitfalls.
Among them: Don’t outsource e-discovery. Document the document search. Encourage outside counsel to delve deeper for evidence, even if it doesn’t help the client’s case. And don’t aggravate the judge.
An earlier article in the National Law Journal by Jerold Solovy and Robert Byman of Jenner & Block urges junior lawyers to keep senior lawyers informed, and senior lawyers to deal with problems that require resolution.
“All you lawyers, young and old, don’t rely entirely on your client’s IT people to help you get to the right answer. Don’t blindly take your client’s word for it when they say they don’t have or can’t find stuff. Probe, inquire, investigate. If you see a warning flag, if you see something that suggests the previous production is incomplete, go back, re-inquire,” their article concludes.
“Oh, and tell the judge the truth …. “
Read the full article in Corporate Counsel. Read the full article in the National Law Journal.
Previous coverage:
Metropolitan Corporate Counsel: ” San Francisco Compliance Conference Features Akin Gump, Ernst & Young And Fios”
ABAJournal.com: “Will Qualcomm Sue Its Lawyers?”
ABAJournal.com: “Six Lawyers Referred to Calif. Bar for Qualcomm Discovery Abuse”
ABAJournal.com: “Sanctions Will Deter Discovery Abuse, Qualcomm Magistrate Says”
ABAJournal.com: “Qualcomm Laptop Becomes Focus in Sanctions Case”
ABAJournal.com: “E-Discovery Trips Up Lawyers”
