It is axiomatic that parties to a litigation can find themselves on the hook for fees and sanctions when spoliation is found, but the case of Logtale, Ltd. v. IKOR, Inc. in the Northern District of California highlights the principle that counsel can be sanctioned as well, when counsel is found to have neglected their duty to ensure a client’s search for responsive documents and information is complete. In this case the defendants and their counsel were each assessed a portion of a $1.4 million sanction award.
Neither counsel nor their clients can take discovery obligations lightly - attorneys need to ask the right questions in order to fully understand the landscape of their clients' data to ensure that their own representations of compliance are true and accurate. Anything less than that exposes both the client and counsel to potential liability.
All the salient details can be found in the always interesting ELL blog.
http://ellblog.com/another-reminder-that-attorneys-are-responsible-for-the-e-discovery-behavior-of-their-clients/
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