You can do everything “right” on relevance and still lose the evidence that proves your case. That’s the uncomfortable lesson from FTC v. Uber Technologies, where the court looks at a massive transaction-level data request, calls it “a doozy,” agrees it’s relevant, and then denies it because of timing, burden, and the realities of the final weeks of fact discovery.
We walk through the Uber One allegations and why the plaintiffs wanted granular structured data, including ride and Uber Eats fields, discounts, and a data dictionary, to compare members and non-members using a difference in differences analysis. Then we slow down and trace the discovery timeline: early pricing requests that get narrowed, late-arriving productions, new facts revealed through interrogatory answers, and a joint letter brief filed with about six weeks left. If you litigate in fast-moving dockets where discovery disputes are decided on short letter briefs, this story will feel painfully familiar.
From there, we turn the ruling into an eDiscovery playbook you can use right away: put a dated timeline directly where the judge decides the issue, treat burden as a fact you must prove (not a vibe), and make late requests realistically grantable through sampling and phased discovery. We also dig into the leverage you can get from Rule 30(b)(6) testimony about how databases are built and what it actually takes to pull a random sample, especially when proportionality under Rule 26(b)(1) depends on what can be done before the cutoff.
If you’re facing a motion to compel, structured data production, or a shrinking discovery schedule, this one will sharpen your strategy. Subscribe, share this with your team, and leave a review with the discovery fight you want us to break down next.
Thank you for tuning in to Meet and Confer with Kelly Twigger. If you found today’s discussion helpful, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. For more insights and resources on creating cost-effective discovery strategies leveraging ESI, visit Minerva26 and explore our practical tools, case law library, and on-demand education from the Academy.
