Small et al v. University Medical Center of Southern Nevada

Filing 152

ORDER Appointing as as Special Master Daniel Garrie 6506 3rd Ave, Suite C, Seattle WA 98117. Defendant shall have until 3/28/2014 to deposit $25,000 with the Clerk of the Court who shall maintain a Master's trust account. See Order for details. Signed by Magistrate Judge Peggy A. Leen on 03/14/2014. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - CC: Finance - AC)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEVADA
DANIEL SMALL, et al.,

:
Plaintiffs,
:
:
vs.
:
:
UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER OF
:
SOUTHERN NEVADA
:
Defendant,
:
_________________________________________ :

Case No. 2:13-cv-00298-APG-PAL
ORDER

This Order memorializes the oral rulings made at the informal E-Discovery Special
Master hearing held on March 10, 2014.
The court has been conducting at least monthly status, case management and dispute
resolution conferences in this case since June 25, 2013. Counsel entered into a stipulated
Electronically Stored Information Protocol on March 18, 2013 (Stipulation Dkt # 77) , which the
court approved in an Order (Dkt #79) entered March 20, 2013. Although the stipulation was
drafted and proposed by former counsel for Defendant UMC, UMC has repeatedly claimed that
it has not been able to comply with its terms, and that the terms of the protocol and order are too
onerous. As a result, the parties have had multiple, prolonged ESI disputes. UMC has yet to
produce responsive ESI discovery in accordance with the stipulated ESI protocol its counsel
proposed. After multiple hearings and orders to correct the problems the court finally indicated at
a hearing on January 21, 2014 that if UMC had not resolved its ESI collection and production
problems by the following hearing the court would appoint a Special Master. See Minutes, ( Dkt
# 143).
At the February 11, 2014 status and dispute resolution conference the court found that
UMC had yet to comply its ESI discovery obligations and indicated that a Special Master would
be appointed. The court gave counsel two weeks to meet and confer in an effort to agree on a
mutually acceptable candidate to serve as Special Master. The parties submitted two names and
the court selected Daniel Garrie. See Order (Dkt # 149). The parties having had notice and an
opportunity to be heard, the Court now APPOINTS as Special Master Daniel Garrie 6506 3rd
Ave, Suite C, Seattle WA 98117.

This appointment is made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 53 and the inherent authority of the
Court. As Rule 53 requires, the Court sets out below the duties and terms of the Special Master
and reasons for appointment, and ORDERS the Special Master to “proceed with all reasonable
diligence.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 53(b)(2).
The Special Master is hereby directed to proceed with all reasonable diligence to perform
the duties set forth herein, as well as any additional duties which the Court in its discretion may
provide by further order.
SPECIAL MASTER’S DUTIES
1. 

The  Special  Master  is  directed  to  resolve  the  parties’  multiple  ESI  discovery 
disputes discussed in the Joint Status Report (Dkt. #148).   

2. 

The  Special  Master  shall  undertake  an  investigation  that  is  limited  to  the 
custodians  identified  by  the  parties  in  prior  proceedings.  In  performing  this 
investigation,  the  Special  Master  will  be  allowed  to  engage  and  direct  additional 
resources as he may reasonably deem necessary.   

The investigation will generate a report that the Special Master will file with the
Court. The report will address the scope of the collection and the processes used to
perform the collection. It will also include a detailed chain-of-custody for all
evidence items collected to date by Defendants. It will also provide the following
information: (i) a detailed description of the computer hardware (e.g., laptop,
tablets, desktops), systems, networks, applications, and software used, owned, or
controlled by University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (“UMC”) from July 1,
2010 to the January 1, 2013; (ii) an accounting of all electronic mail applications,
personal and office applications, and messaging applications, and how they were
used by the identified custodians; (iii) a list of computers or devices, computer
networks, or other hardware that may have been used to generate, receive, or
store any data relevant to the subject matter of this litigation; (iv) a detailed
description of all backups performed on computer systems and the identity of any
backups currently in existence, including their physical locations, their custodians,
their dates of creation, contents, and media types. The report will also identify any

backup media and data that has been erased, copied over, destroyed, or otherwise
altered since the commencement of this litigation.
3. 

The  Special  Master  shall  issue  specific  findings  of  fact  concerning  whether  UMC 
withheld,  deleted,  destroyed  or  permitted  to  be  destroyed,  information, 
documents and electronically store information (“ESI”) that it was legally obligated 
to  maintain  in  connection  with  this  lawsuit,  and  whether  any  such  information, 
documents or ESI that formerly existed either in usable or reasonably retrievable 
form  was  withheld,  deleted  or  overwritten  by  UMC.    Should  the  Special  Master 
determine  that  UMC  did  not  retain  and  safeguard  responsive  documents, 
information  or  ESI  in  usable  or  reasonably  retrievable  form,  then  the  Special 
Master  shall  undertake  a  further  investigation  to  determine  whether    such 
documents,  information  or  ESI  are  responsive  and  can  be  recovered  or 
reconstituted, and recover such responsive ESI.  

4. 

The Special Master shall examine the adequacy of UMC’s efforts to preserve and 
retain information, documents and ESI related to the claims at issue in this lawsuit, 
including  but  not  limited  to  the  adequacy  of  UMC’s  document  retention  policies 
and  procedures,  the  existence  of  any  directives  to  UMC  employees  to  keep  and 
maintain documents, including ESI, and/or not to destroy documents including ESI 
(i.e.,  litigation  hold  notices  or  orders),  and  any  other  affirmative  preservation 
efforts  made  by  UMC  (collectively  “UMC’s  retention  practices”).  The  Special 
Master  shall  make  specific  findings  concerning,  among  other  things:  a  timeline 
detailing UMC’s retention practices; a determination as to the adequacy of UMC’s 
retention practices and the litigation hold notice or order; a finding as to whether 
the scope of UMC preservation efforts were reasonable and in good faith; and the  
extent  to  which  UMC  or  its  counsel  audited  document  and  data  retention 
compliance,  or  otherwise  took  affirmative  steps  to  ensure  all  relevant  evidence 
was preserved. 

5. 

The  Special  Master  shall  examine  whether  UMC’s  actions  in  defending  this  case 
contributed  in  any  way  to  the  alleged  failure  to  maintain  relevant  evidence, 
including  but  not  limited  to  an  examination  of  Defendant’s  pre‐litigation 

communications about the scope of their claims, and the date that Defendant first 
became aware of potential document preservation issues. 
6. 

The Special Master shall examine whether UMC’s current preservation efforts are 
reasonable and comply with UMC on‐going preservation obligations.   
REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

During the course of the Special Master investigation and review of the evidence and
arguments of the parties, the Special Master shall prepare and file on the docket, a weekly status
update. The Special Master also shall file a Report and Recommendation containing findings of
fact and conclusions of law concerning the disposition of the multiple ESI discovery disputes
discussed in the Joint Status Report (Dkt. #148).
The parties will be provided twenty (14) days from the filing of the Report and
Recommendation in which to file objections to the Report. The Special Master’s findings of fact
and conclusions of law will be reviewed de novo by the Court.

SPECIAL MASTER AUTHORITY
The Special Master shall have the authority to regulate the proceedings necessary to
perform the assigned duties, and to take all appropriate measures to perform fairly and efficiently
the assigned duties. The Special Master may hold hearings, issue subpoenas to third-parties
found to possess relevant information and/or responsive ESI, and may impose any non-contempt
sanction provided by Rule 37 or 45 against any party by written order, and may recommend to
the Court contempt sanctions against a party and sanctions against a nonparty.
SPECIAL MASTER COMMUNICATION WITH COURT AND PARTIES
At an informal hearing conducted in chambers with counsel for the parties, their
representative and consultants On March 10, 2014 the court inquired whether counsel would
prefer that all communications with the Special Master be in the presence of both sides and on
the record, recorded by stenographic or other means. Both sides agreed that it would be more
efficient and cost effective to allow informal ex parte communications. The parties having
consented, the Special Master shall be empowered to communicate on an ex parte basis with a
party or the Court as and to the extent the Special Master determines necessary to maintain the
confidentiality of trade secret or proprietary information, if any, concerning the operations of

UMC systems. The Special Master may communicate with the Court ex parte on all matters as
to which the Special Master has been empowered to act.
TIME LIMITS
The Special Master shall prepare and file his Report and Recommendation with the Court
within ninety (90) days of the date of this Order, unless he or a party can show to the Court
reasonable cause for requiring additional time.
COMPENSATION
Defendant shall have until March 28, 2014 to deposit $25,000 with the Clerk of the
Court who shall maintain a Master’s trust account. The $25,000.00 shall be retained in the
Master’s trust account pending authorized disbursement necessitated by fees and expenses
incurred by the Master appointed herein.
The Master shall submit statements to the Court, with copies to the parties, detailing the
work done, the hours spent, routine costs incurred, and other expenses, including outside
consultants as may be required. The Master shall also submit a proposed order directing
disbursement by the Clerk of Court. The Defendant shall be responsible for

fees, costs and

expenses incurred by the Master within the scope of this appointment.
In the event that the sums in the Master’s trust account should become inadequate to
cover the anticipated fees and expenses of the Master, the Master may request the Court to order
the deposit of additional sums by the parties. The Defendant shall have 14 days from the order,
to deposit the additional sums into the Master’s trust account.
The Court sets the rate of the Master’s compensation at $385 per hour. The Master shall
also be reimbursed for reasonable expenses including amounts incurred in employing other
persons to provide clerical, secretarial and stenographic assistance. Upon final termination of the
case, the Court shall enter an Order charging all costs and expenses of the Master.

SO ORDERED:

Peggy A. Leen
United States Magistrate Judge

Dated this 14th day of March, 2014.