Digital Forensics Dispatch

Discoverability of Text Messages and Emails: What Happens if you Fail to Preserve?

January 13, 2022

The Law firm Carpenter Wellington, PLLC recently published an article about the discoverability of text messages and emails during the litigation process, which can be found here. While their focus in the article is about startups and businesses having policies to protect the company from liability, they do bring up several court cases where text message and email preservation were paramount.

One such case is Regas Christou v. Beatport. This case involved two nightclub owners, where one, Mr. Christou, filed several antitrust and monopolization claims against the other owner. In the discovery process, the other owner, Mr. Roulier, was given a preservation order to preserve all data potentially relevant to the case.

Even with the preservation order in place, Roulier did not take measures to follow that order and lost his cellphone. Sanctions for spoliation were filed and ultimately the court sided with Christiou finding that Roulier failed to preserve potentially relevant text messages.

It is crucial that data is preserved especially when a court has issued a preservation order. We are familiar with orders for preservation of evidence here at Sensei Enterprises, Inc. and our digital forensics examiners can assist with the preservation of various types of electronic mediums, including text message data and emails.

Contact us for assistance with device and data preservation services at 703.359.0700.

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