Do E-Discovery Rules Create Potential Conflicts Between Attorneys and Their Own Clients?
A federal judge’s decision castigating both attorneys and their client in the Qualcomm patent litigation highlights the potential for conflict between attorneys and their clients created by the new federal e-discovery rules. The e-discovery rules place great burdens on both counsel and clients to produce information stored in electronic form. Counsel has a duty to protect the client’s interest and to make sure that discovery complies with the rules. But what if the discovery doesn’t comply? When responsive electronic information is not produced, the interests of the client and counsel may come into conflict, with counsel attempting to shield herself from the wrath of the court by claiming that she was not made aware by her client of the existence of the responsive information. These issues arose in the ongoing Qualcomm litigation, where, according to the court, counsel tried to fend off allegations of noncompliance by claiming that the client kept counsel “in the dark” about the existe
