Remote Discovery Hearing Looms in MDL vs. Social Media Firms
U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson for Northern California in Oakland scheduled a remote discovery hearing for Wednesday at 10 a.m. PDT in the multidistrict litigation that seeks to hold the major social media companies accountable for adolescents’ mental health problems,…
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said a text-only clerk’s notice Monday (docket 4:22-md-3047). Rule 502(d) discovery disputes abound between the sides, which is why they asked for a virtual hearing for the court to help resolve them, said the parties’ joint statement Friday. Rule 502(d) in federal courts preserves attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine protections for documents produced in discovery. The plaintiffs’ position is that their proposed discovery order “hews closely” to Rule 502(d) and the Northern District of California’s “model language,” said the statement. The plaintiffs think the defendants’ proposal “overreaches and unnecessarily creates opportunities for strategic, selective waivers,” it said. The defendants stand by their proposed discovery order as one that “seeks to establish a single, efficient procedure for resolving claw backs of any privileged or otherwise protected material disclosed in this case, while minimizing future disputes” over the scope or terms of discovery, said the statement. The defendants think their proposal doesn’t promote gamesmanship, but “reflects the practicalities of litigation,” it said.