Judge Grimm Goes Social

Paul W. Grimm, United States District Judge

Bryant Bell

Judge Grimm is a judicial superstar when it comes to e-discovery. His opinions have helped shape our interpretation of digital data as evidence, and he continues to be on the forefront of issues regarding ESI. He has yet again stepped to the plate to address a simmering e-discovery issue. In a recent article he provides thorough analysis and guidance on social media and the evidentiary authentication as an important development for social-media evidence discovery. Judge Grimm succinctly summarizes his article as follows:

Given the ubiquitous use of digital devices to communicate on social media sites, there is little chance that such evidence will cease to be highly relevant in either criminal or civil cases... Hopefully, this Article can shed some light on the nature of the confusion and offer useful suggestions on how to approach the authentication of social media evidence. It is a near certainty that the public appetite for use of social media sites is unlikely to abate, and it is essential for courts and lawyers to do a better job in offering and admitting this evidence. We hope that reading this Article will be their first step toward this goal.

When Duty to Preserve Meets Personal Social-Media Accounts

Bryant Bell

Here is a case where the Court ruled that the jury could draw an adverse inference against a plaintiff for his failure to preserve potentially relevant evidence. In this case it was spoliation of potentially relevant information contained on his Facebook account. Now, in my opinion, I believe that this plaintiff got the short end of the Court’s understanding and the Defendant’s counsel’s manipulation of social media as evidence.

Gatto v. United Air Lines, Inc.: Was the Baggage Handler Injured or Not?

The case, Gatto v. United Air Lines, Inc., et al., Case No. 10-cv-10909-ES-SCM (D.N.J. Mar. 25, 2013) was a personal-injury claim by the plaintiff, Frank Gatto, who was injured while unloading baggage from a United Airlines aircraft. Gatto claimed that the injuries he sustained, "rendered him permanently disabled" and limited his physical and social activities to the extent that he was no longer able to work.