In a family law motion between separated spouses, the moving party sought relief after the other spouse admitted surreptitiously copying private emails, documents, and text messages from his computer and sharing some of that material with her legal team and accountant.
The court held that a forensic audit was necessary before admissibility and privilege issues could be properly determined, and applied the framework governing unauthorized access to privileged information.
An independent third-party solicitor, Heuristica Discovery Counsel LLP, was appointed to conduct an expanded eDiscovery review, with the spouse who copied the material ordered to pay the upfront costs subject to reapportionment at trial.
The court also granted a temporary restraining order preventing further dissemination of the surreptitiously obtained information and required disclosure of all recipients.
