E-Discovery Dispute Yields Formal Recusal Request in 'Da Silva Moore'

http://ow.ly/amk8o

An article by Sean Doherty posted on law.com on the LTN webpage.

The article discusses the Da Silva Moore case, in which U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck had requested a protocol from the parties regarding the use of predictive coding technology during the attorney review process.

The article states, "The e-discovery dispute in Monique da Silva Moore, et al. v. Publicis Group SA, et al. (Case No. 11-CV-1279), in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, took one step closer to a reality show on April 13, when plaintiffs filed a formal motion to recuse or disqualify Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck.

The case gained notoriety from Peck's approval of a protocol for e-discovery that included predictive coding technology using Recommind's Axcelerate product. After plaintiffs had previously submitted a letter to Peck requesting him to recuse himself from the case, they filed a motion (.pdf) with a supporting memorandum (.pdf), which included over 200 pages of exhibits."  Links to the referenced .pdf files and the exhibits are provided in the article.

The essence of plaintiff's arguments is based on an allegation of bias against Judge Peck, since he has written articles and provided remarks in public speeches advocating the use of predictive coding workflows.  The plaintiff's allege that Judge Peck is biased toward the defendant's proposal seeking the use of a specific service provider's technology, and the plaintiff's claim that further expert testimony (and perhaps "Daubert" hearings) should be required to formalize the use of predictive coding by the parties.