Government Sanctioned for Failure to Preserve Documents
Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.26.12
In United States ex rel. Baker v. Community Health Sys., Inc, No. 05-279-WJ-ACT (D.N.M. Oct. 3, 2012), the U.S. District Court in New Mexico upheld sanctions against the government for failing to preserve electronically stored information in a False Claims Act case, ordering the government to produce certain privileged materials. This case provides valuable reminders that the government's duty to preserve evidence may arise long before it intervenes and that merely issuing a litigation hold is not in and of itself sufficient to satisfy the duty to preserve, but parties also must take diligent steps to implement and monitor compliance with preservation obligations.
Insights
Client Alert | 2 min read | 11.14.25
Claim construction is a key stage of most patent litigations, where the court must decide the meaning of any disputed terms in the patent claims. Generally, claim terms are given their plain and ordinary meaning except under two circumstances: (1) when the patentee acts as its own lexicographer and sets out a definition for the term; and (2) when the patentee disavows the full scope of the term either in the specification or during prosecution. Thorner v. Sony Comput. Ent. Am. LLC, 669 F.3d 1362, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2012). The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Aortic Innovations LLC v. Edwards Lifesciences Corp. highlights that patentees can act as their own lexicographers through consistent, interchangeable usage of terms across the specification, effectively defining terms by implication.
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.14.25
Microplastics Update: Regulatory and Litigation Developments in 2025
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.13.25
