On February 1, 2013, a California District Court issued an order granting Defendant’s motion for more than $2.8 million in fees associated with a “computer assisted, algorithm-driven document review” of almost 12 million records – mostly in the form of Electronically Stored Information (ESI). The court awarded the defendant attorney’s fees and TAR-related costs under federal patent law and for misappropriation claims under California’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act based on its finding that the plaintiff acted in bad faith by bringing “objectively baseless claims.”
The Court further found that the “decision to undertake a more efficient and less time-consuming method of document review” was “reasonable under the circumstances”. In addition, considering the nature of Plaintiffs’ claims, there was a “significant discovery and document production”. Thus, the Court found “the requested amount of $2,829,349.10 to be reasonable”.
Gabriel Tech. Corp. v. Qualcomm Inc., Case No. 09-cv-1992, 2013 WL 410103 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 1, 2013) is available at http://www.ballardspahr.com… Open PDF