The Rising Importance of Mobile Data in EDiscovery

The Rising Importance of Mobile Data in EDiscovery

According to an eDiscovery Assistant article by Kelly Twigger, courts are making it clear that mobile data in eDiscovery is now central in courts as a source of evidence. Traditionally, emails and corporate documents were the primary sources of electronically stored information (ESI), but text messages, WhatsApp chats, and Slack conversations have become just as, if not more, important. 

Twigger cites recent case law demonstrating that failing to preserve mobile data can result in severe sanctions, adverse inference rulings, and even case-determinative outcomes. 

In Safelite v. Lockridge, a defendant’s failure to preserve text messages due to an auto-delete setting led to sanctions, with the court ruling that even individual defendants must ensure proper preservation. Similarly, in Maziar v. City of Atlanta, a city’s failure to retain text messages forced the case to trial, showing that even seemingly minor deletions can derail early case resolution. The stakes are even higher in cases like Jones v. Riot Hospitality Group, where intentional deletion of text messages led to outright case dismissal under Rule 37(e)(2).

These rulings make it clear that attorneys must actively manage mobile discovery. Twigger suggests best practices, including identifying relevant mobile data early, disabling auto-delete functions, using forensic collection tools, and explicitly addressing mobile data in ESI protocols. 

Courts expect proactive compliance when it comes to mobile data in eDiscovery, and litigators who embrace these measures will gain a strategic advantage, while a failure to act can have costly and case-determining consequences.