Like A Good Neighbor?

Maybe not. Here’s an interesting blog post from Eric Goldman that may serve as a warning to parties in litigation not to reach too far in the discovery process. In a case arising from a car accident, State Farm made a discovery request for “an e-mail address and password for Defendant to examine [plaintiff’s] Facebook account.” State Farm really didn’t offer any reason why it was entitled to the information, other than it “wanted insight into what the [plaintiff] is thinking.” This explanation didn’t suit the court, which found it “so far outside the realm of discoverable information” that the court concluded it was intended to “intimidate and harass plaintiff.” And for that, not only did State Farm not get the discovery it wanted, it was ordered to pay the plaintiff’s legal fees in resisting the discovery request. I wonder if the plaintiff posted anything about it on his Facebook page.