The Case of the Vanishing Emails

A subcontractor brought suit against a prime contractor for failing to pay the agreed amount. The contractor claimed that the subcontractor did substandard work and did not meet deadlines. The subcontractor argued that all changes had been agreed upon. The subcontractor knew that the contractor used email extensively to communicate with his secretary.

We made a forensic image of the computer system of the contractor and examined it for email traffic : email visible to the typical user as well as email that had been deleted. We produced the material to the contractor's attorney to be reviewed for privilege. The opposing counsel then produced any materials responsive to discovery requests. Providing findings to the opposing counsel for review and production is a common approach in e-discovery cases to protect the opposing side's trade secrets, privileged communication, and other sensitive data.

In the words of the subcontractor's counsel, "When those [deleted] emails started rolling in, I got a quick call asking about settlement."

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