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Court Denies Access to Defendant's e-Records in Overbroad Request
The Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts sought compliance with a subpoena duces tecum served on the defendant in connection with a proposed merger agreement. The defendant contended that nothing remained to be litigated and that it complied properly with all outstanding requests from the secretary. Inter alia, the secretary sought an order requiring the defendant, at its own expense, to permit a vendor the opportunity to “search all e-mail, servers, archives, discs, back-up tapes, hard drives (of all computers of Gillette and Gillette personnel), and all back-up systems thereof, and all other data bases of Gillette necessary to investigate and accomplish retrieval, preservation and copying of the documents.” In denying the secretary's proposed order, the court noted several factors making the effort impossible to comply with, including the size of the defendant's organization, the volume of computerized information, the defendant's e-mail retention policy and the effort required to conduct a privilege review. Galvin v. Gillette Co., 19 Mass.L.Rptr. 380 (Mass. Super. 2005).
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Each stage of an attorney's career offers opportunities for a curriculum that addresses both the individual's and the firm's need to drive success.
A defendant in a patent infringement suit may, during discovery and prior to a <i>Markman</i> hearing, compel the plaintiff to produce claim charts, claim constructions, and element-by-element infringement analyses.