In Clearvalue, Inc., et. al. v. Pearl River Polymers, Inc., et. al., 560 F.3d. 1291 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 24, 2009), the Court of Appeals and Circuit Judge Schall, writing for the majority affirmed the district court's award of monetary sanctions for plaintiffs' discovery misconduct, but reversed and remanded the district court's order striking plaintiffs' pleadings, entering judgment for the defendants and awarding attorney's fees.  The appellate court further held that the district court abused its discretion in using its inherent powers when plaintiffs' discovery misconduct falls squarely under FRCP 37.

In Anthropologie, Inc. v. Forever 21, Inc., et. al., 2009 WL 690239 (S.D.N.Y.), Magistrate Judge Michael Dolinger, granted plaintiff's motion requiring production of several categories of documents and authorizing plaintiff to copy and inspect the hard drives of defendant Forever 21.

In Zungoli v. United Parcel Service, Inc., et. al., 2009 WL 1085440 (D.N.J. Apr. 22, 2009), U.S. District Court Judge Wigenton denied in part and granted in part defendants' motion for summary judgment and further denied defendants' request for spoliation sanctions for plaintiff's failure to retain cover letters sent to subsequent potential employers.

In Asher Assoc., LLC, et. al.  v. Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40136 (D. Colo. May 12, 2009), U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig B. Shaffer granted (in part) plaintiffs' motion for a determination of spoliation of evidence and sanctions related to defendant's failure to preserve and improper destruction of an electrical submersible pump (ESP) system that represented "[t]he central piece of evidence in th[e] litigation."

In Realnetworks, Inc., et. al. v. DVD Copy Control Assoc., Inc., et. al., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38221(N.D. Cal. May 5, 2009), U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel granted, in part, defendants' motion for sanctions for spoliation of evidence.

In In the Matter of the Judicial Settlement of the Account of Salem Tamer, et. al., 2009 NY Slip Op. 29160 (Apr. 20, 2009), New York State Trial Court Judge Anthony Scarpino granted a trustee objectant's motion authorizing him to produce documents electronically, provided the document production included an index of the documents.

In Preferred Care Partners Holding Corp., et. al. v. Humana, Inc., 2009 WL 982460 (S.D. Fla. Apr. 9, 2009), U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrea Simonton granted plaintiffs' motion for spoliation sanctions in connection with defendant's deletion of more than 10,000 pages of unproduced electronic documents at the direction of counsel.

In Fendi Adele S.R.L., et. al. v. Filene's Basement, Inc., et. al., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32615 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 24, 2009), U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Dolinger granted plaintiffs' motion seeking monetary sanctions for defendants' (and their counsel's) lackluster efforts to search for and produce relevant and responsive documents and electronically stored information.

In Mintel, Int'l Group, Ltd. V. Neergheen, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32738 (N.D. Ill., Apr. 17, 2009), U.S. District Court Judge Robert Dow ruled that more expert testimony was needed before ruling on plaintiff's spoliation motions.

In Forest Labs, Inc. et. al. v. Caraco Pharmaceutical Labs, Ltd., et. al., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31555 (ED. Mich. Apr. 14, 2009), Senior U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman granted defendants' motion for a hearing on spoliation of evidence finding plaintiffs failed to abide by their duty to preserve electronic backup tapes containing information related to plaintiffs' drugs.