How likely is this scenario?
A client company is involved in a bet-the-company litigation. The partner in charge knows that cases have been lost because of mishandled e-mail, and he has made sure to entrust the hosting of electronic discovery to a vendor that he believes is reliable and that has given the firm great references. The partner thinks all is covered — but is it? When the partner reads in the morning paper about a major financial institution betting so heavily on subprime mortgages that it is now insolvent, he hardly expects that it could affect the firm’s biggest case. Then the vendor stops returning the partner’s calls. The partner learns that the insolvent institution was the vendor’s biggest customer, and that the vendor is now shedding personnel and is on the market for sale to stave off its own bankruptcy. With court deadlines for production fast approaching and no progress on the data, what are the partner’s options?
