A recent Dallas Court of Appeals case, MRT, Inc. v. Vounckx, provides some insights on electronic discovery in Texas.

The case essentially involves two main entities: MRT, Inc. and Inter-University Micro-Electronics Center ("IMEC"), though several other related parties and entities were involved.  Basically, IMEC through its agent, Roger Vounckx, persuaded MRT and the several related individuals and entities to invest in a new technology, PhotonLink, which purportedly provided faster and more efficient computer chip communication.

When the investment proved unsuccessful, MRT sued IMEC for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of fiduciary duty.  During the litigation, MRT served IMEC with requests for production, but did not confer with IMEC beforehand to ascertain how it stored its information electronically.  The requests sought any computer generated or stored information relevant to the lawsuit. 

At depositions, MRT’s counsel learned that IMEC had some computer back up tapes it had not produced.  These tapes were apparently used for retrieval if the data base became corrupted and not for archival preservation.  Because IMEC delayed producing the tapes, MRT filed a motion to compel.  IMEC objected to production because: (1) extracting information from the tapes was too burdensome given there was no indication relevant information was stored on the back up tapes, which would take hours to search; and (2) IMEC had destroyed the back up tapes related to the relevant time period after MRT had sued it.

The trial court denied MRT’s request for a continuance to review the backup tapes and it denied its spoliation motion.  MRT lost at trial and appealed.

Did IMEC improperly withhold the backup tapes?  Did IMEC spoliate evidence when it destroyed the backup tapes after MRT filed the lawsuit?  Read the extended entry to learn what the court decided.  Or if you would rather read the opinion, you can get it HERE.

Continue Reading Electronic Discovery: Duty to Preserve and Produce Electronic Documents