[co-author: Sarah DeAgostino]
In
Luzuriaga v. FDR Servs. Corp., 2020 NY Slip Op 07185 (2d. Dep’t 2020), the Appellate Division, Second Department of the New York State Supreme Court recently affirmed a lower decision to grant a defendant’s request for an adverse inference charge after the plaintiff’s wife “accidently” deleted or spoliated 39 out of 271 photographs from the plaintiff’s phone. The photographs had been the subject of an earlier document request and were relevant to the dispute. This case serves as a stark warning to litigants both about the fragility of electronic data and the need to preserve such data in litigation.