Anthony J. Edlefsen v. IHC Health Services, Inc.

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Utah denied Anthony J. Edlefsen’s motion seeking information about IHC Health Services, Inc.’s preservation of electronically stored information. The court held that Rule 26(f) does not require particular disclosures about preservation protocols and that the requested information constituted disfavored “discovery on discovery” absent a reasonable basis to doubt the sufficiency of IHC’s preservation efforts.

Holdings

1. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) requires the parties to discuss issues concerning preservation of discoverable information, but it does not require particular disclosures about a party's preservation protocols.
2. Discovery seeking details about a party's discovery-preservation process is disfavored absent reasonable doubt about the sufficiency of the party's discovery response or preservation efforts.
3. A party has a pre-existing legal obligation to preserve information it knows or should know is relevant to imminent or ongoing litigation, and a preemptive order compelling preservation is not necessary merely to impose that obligation.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Rule 26(f) or another legal authority required IHC to disclose details about its ESI preservation protocols.
2. Whether plaintiff could obtain preservation-protocol information as discovery on discovery absent reasonable doubt about the sufficiency of IHC's preservation efforts.

Disposition

other