WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE: RECENT CASE ADDS
PRISON TIME TO THE LIST OF SANCTIONS FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF
ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION
Looking for even harsher sanctions for failing to preserve
electronically stored information (ESI)? How about prison? A recent
case again underscores the duty to preserve ESI that has any
potential for relevance to pending or likely litigation, as well as
the need to avoid game-playing in discovery of ESI.
Doing Hard Time
Courts have warned for years about the perils of playing games
with e-mails and other ESI while suit is pending or anticipated.
Mark Pappas may learn his lesson the hard way-- behind bars. A
federal Magistrate Judge in Maryland recently filed an 88-page
opinion that chronicles Pappas's evasions and orders a variety
of sanctions, the strongest of which is a two-year prison term for
contempt of court if he does not pay money sanctions to the
opposing party within 30 days of the fixing of that
