Want to know more about metadata than Tina Fey knows about Sarah Palin?

December 15th, 2008 | By Steve Puiszis

Aguilar v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division, 2008 WL 5062700 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 21, 2008)

If your answer to this post’s headline is yes, then here is the case you have been yearning for. In the holiday spirit of “one-stop shopping,” one district court recently attempted to explain everything you ever wanted to know about metadata but were afraid to ask.

The district court in Aguilar v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division explains not only what metadata is, but also talks about its various types – application metadata, system metadata and embedded metadata.

The opinion notes that not all metadata is necessarily useful or discoverable and discusses when production of the various types of metadata may be warranted. The court even mentions how the Sedona Principles’ position on metadata has changed over time – and luckily for us, Sedona has not changed its position on metadata as frequently as Illinois’ Lt. Governor has changed his position on how a new Senator from Illinois should be selected.

As an added bonus, the court also explains what native files are (and no, fighting-Illini fans, it has nothing to do with the Chief) as well as “load files” for TIFF production. Importantly, the court traces a series of decisions and concludes that where the metadata is not requested upfront with the initial discovery request, courts are less inclined to grant belated requests for metadata, after collection efforts have begun or data has been produced.

If you want to be able to impress your lawyer friends at cocktail parties with your IT knowledge or simply be able to smoke that know-it-all associate the other side sends to the next discovery scheduling conference who has a nasty habit of asking for native files and metadata, then hunker down with Aguilar.

Leave a Comment »

---