MP Nexlevel of California, Inc. v. CVIN, LLC
MP Nexlevel of California, Inc. v. CVIN, LLC
Case No. 1:14-cv-00288-LJO-GSA (E.D. Cal. 2016)
March 2, 2016
Grosjean, Erica P., United States Magistrate Judge
Summary
MPN and CVIN agreed to resolve their discovery disagreements by having CVIN review and produce the responsive emails contained within the Missing PST Files, as well as conduct a supplemental search of all emails in its possession, custody or control using the MPN search terms. The search terms included character strings, fuzzy strings, and domain names, which were important for providing evidence of the entities' involvement in the case and for identifying and locating relevant documents.
MP NEXLEVEL of California, Inc., MP Nexlevel,
v.
CVIN, LLC dba VAST NETWORKS, CALAVERAS COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, SEBASTIAN ENTERPRISES, INC., VOLCANO COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, STAGELINE COMMUNICATIONS, INC., THE PONDEROSA TELEPHONE COMPANY, SIERRA TEL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, VARNET, INC., CAL-ORE TELEPHONE CO., DUCOR TELEPHONE COMPANY, CONSOLIDATED COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC., MOHAVE INVESTMENT, LLC, SIERRA TEL BROADBAND, SUREWEST FIBER VENTURES, LLC, VARCOMM, INC, VOLCANO TELECOM, INC. and DOES 1 to 100, Defendants.
CVIN, LLC, Counter and Cross-Claimant,
v.
MP NEXLEVEL OF CALIFORNIA, INC, WESTERN SURETY COMPANY, ROES 1 through 50, inclusive, Cross-Defendants.
MP NEXLEVEL OF CALIFORNIA, INC., Third-Party Plaintiff,
v.
APEX DIRECTIONAL DRILLING, LLC; AND JK COMMUNICATIONS & CONSTRUCTION, INC. dba KLEVEN CONSTRUCTION, GEORGE VALENTINEZ, dba ALLIED PLUS LOW VOLTAGE Third-Party Defendants
v.
CVIN, LLC dba VAST NETWORKS, CALAVERAS COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, SEBASTIAN ENTERPRISES, INC., VOLCANO COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, STAGELINE COMMUNICATIONS, INC., THE PONDEROSA TELEPHONE COMPANY, SIERRA TEL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, VARNET, INC., CAL-ORE TELEPHONE CO., DUCOR TELEPHONE COMPANY, CONSOLIDATED COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC., MOHAVE INVESTMENT, LLC, SIERRA TEL BROADBAND, SUREWEST FIBER VENTURES, LLC, VARCOMM, INC, VOLCANO TELECOM, INC. and DOES 1 to 100, Defendants.
CVIN, LLC, Counter and Cross-Claimant,
v.
MP NEXLEVEL OF CALIFORNIA, INC, WESTERN SURETY COMPANY, ROES 1 through 50, inclusive, Cross-Defendants.
MP NEXLEVEL OF CALIFORNIA, INC., Third-Party Plaintiff,
v.
APEX DIRECTIONAL DRILLING, LLC; AND JK COMMUNICATIONS & CONSTRUCTION, INC. dba KLEVEN CONSTRUCTION, GEORGE VALENTINEZ, dba ALLIED PLUS LOW VOLTAGE Third-Party Defendants
Case No. 1:14-cv-00288-LJO-GSA
United States District Court, E.D. California, Fresno Division
March 02, 2016
Grosjean, Erica P., United States Magistrate Judge
STIPULATION RE DISCOVERY DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN LAINTIFF MP NEXLEVEL OF CALIFORNIA, INC. AND DEFENDANT CVIN, LLC [Discovery Motion — L.R. 251]
WHEREAS, a dispute exists between Plaintiff MP Nexlevel of California, Inc. ("MPN") and Defendant CVIN, LLC ("CVIN") regarding the sufficiency of the efforts undertaken by CVIN to date to search for and produce responsive, relevant emails and CVIN's compliance with the Stipulation for Preserving and Producing Electronic Evidence (the "ESI Protocol");
WHEREAS, CVIN conducted electronic searches of its records to identify and produce responsive, non-privileged emails in response to MPN's discovery requests, employing certain search terms (the "Prior CVIN Productions");
WHEREAS, MPN has challenged the sufficiency of CVIN's search terms and search efforts underlying and relating to the Prior CVIN Productions, and requested that CVIN conduct supplemental searches of its emails utilizing additional search terms identified by MPN and make a supplemental production in accordance with the ESI Protocol;
WHEREAS, counsel for MPN and CVIN participated in informal discovery conferences with the Court on December 18, 2015 and January 13, 2016, and have separately engaged in meet and confer communications, in an effort to resolve the disputes between them relating to the Prior CVIN Productions without resort to formal motion practice;
WHEREAS, during the January 13, 2016 informal discovery conference CVIN disclosed to MPN and the Court that pst (email) files (the "Missing PST Files") that should have been included in the materials provided by CVIN to its counsel for review and production were unintentionally omitted from the corpus of documents heretofore reviewed for responsiveness and production to MPN, necessitating a supplemental search and production of responsive emails from the Missing PST Files;
WHEREAS, following the January 13, 2016 informal discovery conference and with the benefit of the Court's guidance provided therein, counsel for CVIN and MPN have met and conferred regarding the scope and timing of supplemental searches and a supplemental production by CVIN in accordance with the ESI Protocol, including the collection and production by CVIN of custodian and "other custodian" information; and
WHEREAS, MPN and CVIN have agreed to resolve their present discovery disagreements in accordance with the terms set forth herein,
NOW THEREFORE, MPN and CVIN stipulate and agree as follows:
1. CVIN shall review and produce the responsive emails contained within the Missing PST Files (hereinafter "Supplemental Email Production"). The Missing PST Files, and the corresponding responsive emails, will be de-duplicated against the emails previously produced by CVIN. CVIN represents that the Missing PST Files are comprised of email searches conducted using the CVIN search terms attached hereto as Exhibit A and performed at the CVIN server level; that this prior search did not capture "Custodian" and "Other Custodian" information; and that "Custodian" and "Other Custodian" information cannot be extracted from the Missing PST Files. Consequently, the production of responsive communications from the Missing PST Files will indicate that the "Custodian" is the CVIN Email Server. The emails subject to the Supplemental Email Production shall generally include those responsive, non-privileged emails generated from and after January 1, 2010 including, without limitation, (1) emails generated between February 21, 2014 and June 19, 2014, but only to the extent those emails relate to the completion of Segment 19 of the Project following MPN's termination, (2) emails generated between February 21, 2014 and May 30, 2015, but only to the extent those emails relate to the completion of Segment 27 of the Project following MPN's termination, (3) any alleged defects in the work performed by MPN and/or any MPN subcontractors, and (4) any alleged damages claimed by CVIN against MPN.
2. CVIN will conduct a supplemental search of all emails in its possession, custody or control (the "Supplemental Email Search"). The emails subject to the Supplemental Email Search shall generally include those emails generated from and after January 1, 2010 including, without limitation, (1) emails generated between February 21, 2014 and June 19, 2014, but only to the extent those emails relate to the completion of Segment 19 of the Project following MPN's termination, (2) emails generated between February 21, 2014 and May 30, 2015, but only to the extent those emails relate to the completion of Segment 27 of the Project following MPN's termination, (3) any alleged defects in the work performed by MPN and/or any MPN subcontractors, and (4) any alleged damages claimed by CVIN against MPN. CVIN represents that the Supplemental Email Search will be run against the entirety of CVIN's email database retrieved at the custodian level. Before conducting the Supplemental Email Search, CVIN will run a de-duplication process to identify email communications previously produced by CVIN, capture and produce to MPN "Custodian" and "Other Custodian" data for all such previously produced email communications, and exclude the previously produced email communications from the Supplemental Email Search. All remaining email communications will then be searched utilizing the MPN search terms attached hereto as Exhibit B. CVIN shall conduct the Supplemental Email Search and produce responsive email communications in full compliance with the ESI Protocol, including collecting and producing "Custodian," "Other Custodian" and other information and metadata required by the ESI Protocol (the "MPN Email Search Production"). CVIN and MPN shall cooperatively work together to establish an agreed upon search protocol for the Supplemental Email Search; provided, however, that any such effort shall not relieve CVIN of the obligation to complete the searches required and produce documents in accordance with the ESI Protocol by the deadlines specified herein.
3. CVIN shall produce the Supplemental Email Production and MPN Email Search Production on a rolling basis. CVIN shall complete the Supplemental Email Production by no later than March 25, 2016, and the MPN Email Search Production by no later than April 29, 2016.
4. MPN and CVIN preserve all rights with respect to privilege objections and confidentiality issues under the terms of the case Protective Order.
5. MPN preserves its right to later challenge the sufficiency of CVIN's production of emails pursuant to this Stipulation, by initiating the required meet and confer, and following any Court Orders or other directions on the procedures for raising and resolving discovery issues with the Court. However, said challenge will not be based on the adequacy of the search terms — either those used by CVIN (Exhibit A) or submitted by MPN (Exhibit B) — or CVIN's searches and productions, to the extent said searches and production comply with the ESI Protocol and this Stipulation. Further, nothing herein shall limit MPN's right to challenge the scope of CVIN's production of documents and the sufficiency of CVIN's discovery responses in this matter.
ORDER
The foregoing Stipulation of the parties is hereby approved, and the items listed in Paragraphs 1-5 of the Stipulation above shall be the Order of the Court.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
EXHIBIT A
CVIN SEARCH TERMS
MP Nexlevel Email Search Terms
RELATIVE SEGMENT NUMBER 8 10 12 13 14 15 18 19 21 22 25 26 27 30
Amador x
American River x
BLM x x
BNSF x x x x x
Board x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Bureau x x x
Caltel x
Caltrans x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Ceres x
CID x x
Coloma x
Columbia x
Cool x
Corcoran x x
COS x
CSLC x
CVEPB x x x x x x x x
Delano x
Denair x
Ducor x x
Earllmart x
El Dorado x x
El Dorado COE x
El Dorado Library x
Farmersvillc x
Fiddletown x
Fish" "Game x x
Garden Valley x
Genesee x x
Georgetown x
gocomp 1 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Golden Stale x
Grass Valley x
Hanford x
Hughson x
Kern x
Kings x
Kings COE x
Kings OPS x
Lernoore x
Level 3 x x
Lindsay x
MikET
Madera x
Madera COE x
Madera OPS x
MID x x
Modesto x
MP Nexlevel x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
MPN x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
mpnexlevel x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Nevada x
Nevada COE x
Nevada Library x
Placerville x
Plymouth x
Porter x
PortervIlle x
Railamerica x x x x
Reclamation x x x
Red Mule x
San Joaquin x x x x x x
Sandrinl x
Santa Fe x x
seg X x x x x x x x x x x x x x
segment X x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Sequoias x
Sierra Northern Railway x
SJVAPCD x x x x x x
SJVRR x x x x x
Sonora x
Stanislaus x x
Strathmore x
Sturtz x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
TCOE x x x
TID x x
Time Warner x
tong x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
tony.sturtz x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
TUD x
Tulare x x x x x
Tulare COE x x
Tulare Huh x
Tulare Library x
Tulare OPS x
Tuolumne x
Tuolumne COE x
Turlock
UPRR x x x x x x x
Visalia x x
Volcano x
Water x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Waukena x x
West Hills x
Westhills x
Wiltel x x x
zayo x x
EXHIBIT B
MPN REQUESTED SEARCH TERMS
Term Terms and Methodology
Strings1'2
MPN/MPN 1 Terms without quotation
Personnel: marks or Boolean qualifiers
MPN MPN No Stemming, Character should be run as standalone
String terms, no stemming,
Coby Hanson, "Coby Hanson", No Stemming, Character character strings
Coby, chanson Coby, chanson String
Travis Wilde, "Travis Wilde", No Stemming, Character
twilde, Travis, twilde, Travis, String
Wilde Wilde
Louis George "Louis George No Stemming, Character 2 Each term or string,
Menard Menard", lmenard String separated by a comma in
Rob Pribyl "Rob Pribyl", No Stemming, Character the Terms and Strings
rpribyl, pribyl String column, should be run as a
Linda Sturtz "Linda Sturtz", No Stemming, Character separate term
Linda, lsturtz String
Curtis Rykhus "Curtis Rykhus", No Stemming, Character
crykhus, rykhus String
Mike Aydt "Mike Aydt", No Stemming, Character
mikea String
Richard (Dick) "Richard No Stemming, Character
Sanfilippo Sanfilippo", "Dick String
Sanfilippo",
rsanfilippo,
sanfilippo
Engineering/Con
sulting
Companies:
AECOM AECOM, No Stemming, Character
aecom.com String
Carlton "Carlton /2 No Stemming, Character
Engineering Engineering", String
Carlton
CCI Systems "CCI /2 Systems", No Stemming, Character
CCI String
Compliance One "Compliance /2 No Stemming, Character
One", String
"gocomp1.com "
Compliance "Compliance /3 No Stemming, Character
Solutions Solutions" String
Engineering "Engineering /2 No Stemming, Character
Associates Associates", String
engineeringassociates.com,
EA
Gateway "Gateway No Stemming, Character
Engineering, Engineering", String
gatewayeng "Gateway /2
Eng!",
gatewayeng,
gateway
GrassRoots GrassRoots, No Stemming, Character
grassrotsenv.com String
K&B Engineering "K&B No Stemming, Character
Engineering", String
K&B
Lane Engineering "Lane /2 No Stemming, Character
Engineering" String
LightRiver LightRiver No Stemming, Character
String
Yamabe Yamabe No Stemming, Character
String
Almendariz Almendariz, No Stemming, Character
almendarizconsulting.com String
Bennett "Bennett /2 No Stemming, Character
Trenchless Trenchless", String
bennettrenchless.com,
bennett
Subcontractors
Vendors:
Accu Bore "Accu /2 Bore" No Stemming, Character
String
Alvarion Alvarion No Stemming, Character
String
Apex Apex No Stemming, Character
String
Baileys "Baileys /2 No Stemming, Character
Trenchless Trenchless", String
Baileys
McKuin McKuin, "McKuin No Stemming, Character
(William/Bill /3 Pipeline", String
McKuin, McKuin "William
Pipeline) McKuin", "Bill
McKuin"
Bridge Masters, "Bridge Masters", No Stemming, Character
bridgemasters bridgemasters String
Capitol Barricade "Capitol Fuzzy 1, No Stemming,
Barricade", Character String
capitalbarricade,
capitolbarricade
Cenvalley, Cenvalley, No Stemming, Character
Central Valley "Central Valley String
Engineering & Engineering &
Asphalt Asphalt"
Doumit Doumit No Stemming, Character
String
Downing "Downing No Stemming, Character
Diversified Diversified", String
Downing
EDX Wireless EDX No Stemming, Character
String
J. Fletcher "Fletcher /2 No Stemming, Character
Creamer, JFC, Creamer", String
JCF jfcson.com, JFC,
JCF
Henkels & "Henkels /3 No Stemming, Character
McCoy McCoy", String
henkels.com,
henkels
Horizon "Horizon No Stemming, Character
Underground Underground" String
JB Excavating "JB Excavating" No Stemming, Character
String
JK "JK /3 No Stemming, Character
Communications, Communications", String
Kleven, klevcon Kleven, klevcon
KRC Safety, "KRC Safety", No Stemming, Character
krcsafey krcsafey String
Nuvision, nuvision Nuvision, nuvision No Stemming, Character
String
Patriot "Patriot No Stemming, Character
Environmental Environmental", String
patriot
Ventura "Ventura No Stemming, Character
Directional, Directional", String
venturadrilling venturadrilling,
ventura
Youngdahl Youngdahl No Stemming, Character
String
A-D "A-D No Stemming, Character
Technologies, Technologies", String
Arnco Arnco
SCWW SCWW No Stemming, Character
String
Sierratrafficmarkings Sierratrafficmarkings No Stemming, Character
String
Usan Usan No Stemming, Character
String
Uscsupply Uscsupply No Stemming, Character
String
Inspectors/Inspe
ction Companies:
ITC Service ITC, callitc No Stemming, Character
Group, ITC, String
callitc
Addakid Addakid No Stemming, Character
String
Iseger Iseger, "Bryon No Stemming, Character
Iseger" String
Hanley, drhanley 19, No Stemming, Character
drhanley 19@aol.com "Dennis Hanley", String
hanley
Lovelady, Lovelady, No Stemming, Character
Fiberoptikid Fiberoptikid, "Jeff String
Lovelady"
Bill Brown, ohiobill, ohiobil No Stemming, Character
ohiobill String
Paul Newman "Paul Newman", No Stemming, Character
newmanpau133 String
Midgley Midgley, "Harry No Stemming, Character
Midgley" String
Veresh Veresh, "Jeff No Stemming, Character
Veresh" String
Mosher Mosher, "John No Stemming, Character
Mosher" String
Buckley Buckley No Stemming, Character
String
Chamberlain rchamberlain, No Stemming, Character
"Ron String
Chamberlain",
chamberlain
Runge Runge, "Mike No Stemming, Character
Runge" String
Jerry Berg, Gerald "Jerry Berg", No Stemming, Character
Berg "Gerald Berg" String
Jesse Day, jessday "Jesse /2 Day", No Stemming, Character
jessday, String
jessday@foothill.net
Vali Cooper, "Vali Cooper", No Stemming, Character
valicooper valicooper, "vail String
cooper"
Rickard, jprikard jprikard, "Jason No Stemming, Character
Rickard", rickard String
Hitchko Hitchko, "Kevin No Stemming, Character
Hitchko" String
Shayne Pope, "Shayne /2 Pope", No Stemming, Character
shaynepope Shayne, String
shaynepope
Matranga Matranga, "Steve No Stemming, Character
Matranga" String
Kidd, stacy.kidd, "Stacie No Stemming, Character
stacy.kidd@gmail.com Kidd", "Stacy String
Kidd"
Sauer Sauer, csauer No Stemming, Character
String
Eric Cate, eric.ca8, "Eric No Stemming, Character
eric.ca8@gmail.com Cate" String
Kevin Guillory, klguillory, "Kevin No Stemming, Character
klguillory@aol.com Guillory" String
Terri King, tkinggirl, "Terri No Stemming, Character
tkinggirl@gmail.com King" String
Terrial King, tkingguy, "Terrial No Stemming, Character
tkingguy@gmail.com King" String
Allen LeHew, allen.tlehew, No Stemming, Character
allen.tlehew@gmail.com "Allen /3 LeHew" String
Sam Lewis, slewis.jr14, "Sam No Stemming, Character
slewis.jr14@gmai1.com Lewis" String
Mike Rostad, mrostad, "Mike No Stemming, Character
mrostad@charter.net Rostad" String
CVIN Member
Entities/Related
Entities:
Cal Ore, calore "Cal Ore", calore No Stemming, Character
(domain name) String
Calaveras Calaveras No Stemming, Character
String
CENIC CENIC No Stemming, Character
String
Consolidated "Consolidated No Stemming, Character
Communications Communications" String
Mohave "Mohave No Stemming, Character
Investment Investment" String
Peak to peak "Peak to Peak", No Stemming, Character
peaktopeaktelcorn String
Ponderosa Ponderosa No Stemming, Character
String
Sebastian Sebastian No Stemming, Character
String
Sierra Tel "Sierra Tel" No Stemming, Character
String
Stageline Stageline No Stemming, Character
String
Surewest Surewest, No Stemming, Character
"Surewest Fiber" String
Varcomm Varcomm No Stemming, Character
String
Varnet Varnet No Stemming, Character
String