Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM OPINION ROBERT E. PAYNE, Senior District Judge. This matter is before the Court on the Plaintiff E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company’s (“DuPont”) MOTION FOR SANCTIONS RELATING [sic] KOLON’S SPOLIATION OF EVIDENCE (Docket No. 393). DuPont alleges that, upon learning of the filing of this action by DuPont, key executives and employees of Kolon Industries, Inc. (“Kolon”) deliberately deleted relevant evidence and then engaged in prolonged efforts to conceal that conduct. Because the record shows that to be true, and, for the reasons that follow, the motion will be granted. STATEMENT OF BACKGROUND FACTS 1. Background of the Litigation On February 3, 2009, DuPont filed a Complaint against Kolon claiming that Kolon, a South Korean company, and its United States subsidiary, Kolon USA, Inc., “engaged in concerted and persistent actions to wrongfully obtain DuPont’s trade secrets and confidential information about [DuPont’s] KEVLAR[ ] aramid fiber.” Compl. ¶ 1. “DuPont designs, manufactures, and sells complex science-based materials,” including Kevlar, which is “an innovative high strength” para-aramid fiber “used in ballistics applications and protective apparel by the military and law enforcement and used to strengthen various items such as automotive and industrial products.” Id. ¶ 2. “DuPont protects certain information relating to its KEVLAR[ ] aramid fiber products as trade secrets.” Id. In sum, DuPont’s Complaint against Kolon alleges trade secret misappropriation, theft of confidential business information, conspiracy, and other business torts related to Kevlar. This action against Kolon was prompted in the first instance by the activities of Michael Mitchell (“Mitchell”), a former DuPont employee who had worked in sales and technical positions from 1982 until February 2006, when DuPont terminated his employment. Mitchell’s last position at DuPont related to sales and marketing of Kevlar. After the termination of his employment, Mitchell, in violation of DuPont internal policies and agreements between him and the company, kept numerous documents and files containing DuPont proprietary information related to Kevlar. Shortly after the termination of Mitchell’s employment with DuPont, Kolon approached Mitchell about the possibility of a consulting arrangement. Only a year earlier, in 2005, Kolon had announced that it would enter the para-aramid fiber market with its product, Heracron, to compete directly with Kevlar. For several years before entering the market, Kolon had sought to develop a para-aramid product, but had encountered difficulties. Thus, in order to assure its successful entry into the market, Kolon began searching actively for individuals with an understanding of Kevlar’s technology and marketing. Eventually, after a year or so of negotiations, Mitchell and Kolon entered into a formal consulting arrangement in April 2007 relating to the production and marketing of Heracron. Kolon also engaged other former DuPont employees as consultants during the relevant time period in which DuPont alleges Kolon misappropriated DuPont trade secrets, including Edward Schulz, George Hoover, and Atsushi Sumida. At one point, it also attempted to engage a DuPont employee who then was currently employed by DuPont. Over the course of Kolon’s relationship with Mitchell, he admittedly ferried from DuPont to Kolon at Kolon’s invitation much information which DuPont alleges to be trade secrets or confidential business information. DuPont learned of Mitchell’s consulting arrangement shortly after he executed it, and, in late spring 2007, DuPont began to investigate Mitchell’s actions. Shortly thereafter, it reached out to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) and the Department of Commerce, each of whom launched its own investigation. 2. Events Precipitating this Motion In February 2010, Kolon produced to DuPont nearly 1.2 million pages of discovery. During its review of the production, DuPont discovered hard copies of a series of “screenshots” taken in the days following the filing of the Complaint by three Kolon employees, Chang-Bae Lee (“C.B. Lee”), Yoon-Suk Choi (“Y.S. Choi”), and Oh-Hwan Kim (“O.H. Kim”). The screen-shots taken by C.B. Lee and Y.S. Choi appeared to mark numerous files on the screenshots taken of their personal email accounts with instructions such as “Delete,” “Need to Delete,” “Remove All,” and “Get Rid Of.” The screenshot taken by O.H. Kim showed the results of a search for documents containing any variation of the word “consult.” Armed with these screenshots and suspiciously low document production totals for other key Kolon employees,, DuPont, in a letter to Kolon dated July 9, 2010, explained its concerns, and requested Kolon to advise of any other known destruction or attempted destruction of documents or email by Kolon employees. DuPont also sought confirmation that Kolon’s Rule 30(b)(6) witness on document preservation would be able to address DuPont’s concerns. Pl.’s Ex. 17 to Posb-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Letter from B. Riopelle to J. Randall (July 9, 2010). Kolon’s counsel ignored the letter. On July 30, 2010, DuPont deposed Kolon’s Rule 30(b)(6) witness on document preservation, Jong-Tae Park. Mr. Park provided evasive and incomplete testimony on the subjects of document preservation and the meaning of the screenshots. Pl.’s Ex. 18 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Dep. Jong-Tae Park 412:1-433:21. Unable to ascertain from Mr. Park or Kolon’s counsel whether, and to what extent, Kolon employees had engaged in the deletion of information from computers or destroyed documents in the days after this action was instituted, but knowing about the information on the screenshots, DuPont filed the pending motion on August 19, 2010. That marked the beginning of a long, and oftentimes tortuous, journey on the part of DuPont to get to the bottom of the alleged deletion of files and email items by key Kolon employees in the days after DuPont filed its Complaint. That task was complicated by the numerous objections (many of which lacked substantive merit) lodged by Kolon and by its overall obfuscatory conduct throughout the ensuing proceedings. DuPont’s initial allegations of spoliation rested on three categories of evidence: (1) the computer screenshots; (2) suspiciously low document production totals from other key Kolon custodians, which DuPont argued was strong circumstantial evidence of spoliation of other additional, but unknown, documents; and (3) deposition testimony of Kolon employees, which assertedly showed that Kolon failed to instruct key employees on their preservation duties, and, thus, that Kolon’s production efforts were, on the whole, inadequate. In its response to DuPont’s motion, Kolon did disclose that a former Vice-President of the Heracron division, Jong-Hyun Choi (“J.H. Choi”), had deleted DuPont documents from his computer in the days following DuPont’s Complaint. However, Kolon characterized J.H. Choi’s actions as “isolated” and “not representative of Kolon and its efforts to preserve and gather documents.” Def.’s Mem. in Opp’n, at 17. After reviewing the parties’ initial papers, the Court ordered targeted discovery into the apparent spoliation of evidence. That discovery included a special interrogatory, depositions, and forensic analysis by an independent third-party. Order, Sept. 21, 2010, Docket No. 595. Eventually, after needlessly dragging its heels, asserting trivial, or meritless objections, and wrangling over details of the depositions and the meaning of “independent” forensic analyst, Kolon responded to DuPont’s interrogatory and produced seven Kolon employees in Richmond, Virginia for depositions over several days in October 2010. DuPont engaged Stroz Friedberg (“Stroz”) to perform “a forensic analysis of the servers and personal computers imaged” by Kolon. Id. at 2. To date, Stroz has conducted deletion analyses of the computer data associated with thirteen Kolon employees, out of the twenty-one employees whose personal computers were imaged by Kolon, one file server, and the deleted emails retrieved from the “dumpster” of Kolon’s Microsoft Exchange servers for the same thirteen custodians. In October 2010, Stroz received data from the computers of the six Kolon employees (Ju-Wan Kim (“J.W. Kim”), O.H. Kim, Y.S. Choi, C.B. Lee, J.H. Choi, and Young-Soo Seo (“Y.S. Seo”)) who were the subjects of DuPont’s initial motion papers. Stroz issued reports setting forth its findings in late October and early November 2010. The parties then filed supplemental briefs in early November 2010. On November 9, 10, and 11, 2010, the Court held an evidentiary hearing that addressed, inter alia, the pending motion. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Court ordered further forensic analysis of the computer data of seven other custodians, including Dae-Sik Kang (“D.S. Kang”), and of Kolon’s Microsoft Exchange server “dumpster” data. Stroz received the computer data for D.S. Kang and issued a report on November 29, 2010. Also, in late November 2010, Stroz received the computer data of the remaining six custodians: In-Sik Han (“I.S. Han”), Kyeong-Hwan Roh (“K.H. Ron”), Jae-Bum Park (“J.B. Park”), Hee-Seung Choi, Kyung-Su Yoo, and Kwan-Sik Lee (“K.S. Lee”). Stroz issued a report on December 20, 2010, in which it noted that, apart from its findings related to the deletion of files from the hard drives of these employees, it could not perform a complete analysis of possible email destruction without information extracted from Kolon’s Microsoft Exchange server “dumpster.” Indeed, it became obvious that Kolon had not complied with the Court’s instructions to counsel (at the end of the November evidentiary hearing) to expedite the remaining production and analyses of the dumpster data and custodian images. In late December 2010, Stroz received dumpster data, but only for six custodians. Stroz issued another report on January 11, 2011. Thereafter, on January 12, 2011, Stroz received the dumpster data associated with the remaining seven custodians, and issued another report on January 24, 2011. However, in that last report, Stroz advised that, because Kolon had failed to provide any logs or documentation relating to the extraction and recovery of the emails in the dumpsters, Stroz was unable to independently confirm: (1) the actual source of the emails; (2) the precise method of their recovery; (3) whether they represent all emails for the thirteen custodians from Kolon’s Microsoft Exchange Server deleted after February 1, 2009; or (4) the type and timing of the backups made by Kolon’s backup tapes. PL’s Ex. 34 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Stroz Friedberg (“SF”) Second Report Regarding Kolon “Dumpster” Data, at 3. The Court re-convened the evidentiary hearing on February 2 and 3, 2011, after which the parties filed post-hearing briefs. The issue is now ripe and ready for decision. 3. Background Information for Spoliation Analysis In its reports, Stroz categorized deleted electronically stored information (“ESI”) as either (1) recoverable files, or (2) unrecoverable files. According to Stroz, “recoverable files” are retrievable and viewable by forensic software “because, in the Microsoft Windows operating system, a deleted file does not truly ‘disappear,’ at least initially.” SF Supplemental (“Suppl.”) Report Regarding Deletion Activity, at 4. Rather, “the computer leaves the deleted file untouched, but makes the space the file occupies available to be overwritten by new, active files.” Id. Consequently, “[a] deleted file [ ] can be recovered and reviewted until it is overwritten.” Id. Once overwritten, though, the original deleted file is gone. “Traces that may remain include any portion of the file that did not get overwritten, as well as an index entry in the computer’s catalogue that points to where the file used to reside in the computer.” Id. “Because the content of the original ‘overwritten’ file is gone, such files are not searchable using keywords.” Id. For all practical purposes, these overwritten files are lost. In this case, metadata also provides critical information respecting when deletions likely occurred and the types of documents deleted. The metadata identifies three relevant events: (1) the “File Created” date; (2) the “Last Written” date, which reflects the date the deleted file was last edited; and (3) the “Last Accessed” date, which reflects the likely time frame for deletion. 4. The Conduct of Key Kolon Employees Following DuPont’s Complaint Kolon has admitted that, in the days after DuPont filed its Complaint, Kolon employees engaged in conduct (holding a meeting wherein the attendees discussed identifying documents on their computers for later deletion, marking email items for possible deletion, deleting folders that contained DuPont proprietary information) that Kolon “has reason to understand, beyond the mere presence of files in unallocated space, was in response to this litigation.” PL’s Ex. 1 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Def.’s Second Supplemental Resp. to DuPont’s Interrog. Pursuant to the Court’s Order of Sept. 21, 2010 (“1/31/11 Suppl. Interrog. Resp.”), at 2-3. Kolon noted, correctly in the Court’s view of the record, that the computer of “virtually every custodian” from which documents are collected in response to litigation “will include items in unallocated space that may-have been deleted for a host of reasons unrelated to litigation.” Id. at 3. Kolon also stated that, in this case, the hard drives of twenty-one custodians that were imaged in February and March 2009 “contained items in their unallocated space that were apparently placed in unallocated space after Kolon learned of this litigation,” and that some undisclosed number of the custodians “may have” done so “in response to the litigation.” Id. “Placed in unallocated space” is another way of saying that custodians deleted items. See, e.g., id. (explaining that the “computer of virtually every custodian ... will include items in unallocated space that may have been deleted ” (emphasis added)). DuPont filed its Complaint in this Court on February 3, 2009. Because South Korea is in a time zone different from that in which the Complaint was filed, the Complaint apparently came to Kolon’s attention on February 4, 2009. Kolon’s legal department issued a litigation hold order on February 6, 2009, but it was issued only to certain upper-level employees, four of whom, Y.S. Seo, I.S. Han, K.H. Roh, and J.T. Park, are custodians whose computer hard drives and dumpster data have been analyzed by Stroz. The hold order instructed the recipients to retain and preserve records — both electronic and hard copy — respecting Heracron and Mitchell. Although the text advised that recipients might want to provide the order to other personnel, there is nothing in the record showing that the contents, or the subject matter, of the hold order was communicated to the other employees whose conduct formed the basis for this motion. Kolon issued a second hold order on February 10, 2009 to all employees of Kolon Industries, Inc. and Kolon USA, Inc. Def.’s Ex. 24 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Opp’n. Written in English, but distributed mostly to non-English speaking employees, the second order advised employees that DuPont had filed a lawsuit against Kolon in the United States, claiming that Kolon “has or is trying to misappropriate trade secrets and confidential business information from duPont relating to duPont’s KAVLAR [sic] aramid fiber manufacturing process,” is “working with ... Michael Mitchell to take duPont’s trade secrets,” and is “trying to recruit other DuPont employees to work for Kolon so that Kolon can misappropriate duPont’s trade secrets.” Id. The second hold order instructed employees to preserve hard copy and electronic documents related “in any way to the development, manufacture, marketing ... competitive analysis, sale or revenues of Kolon’s aramid fiber products, or the hiring of or communications with any potential employees” or Mitchell. Id. In addition, it advised that Kolon’s computer and email systems should be backed up and explained that Kolon’s attorneys would be coordinating with employees to collect documents. According to Kolon, the leader of the Heracron Business team further “explained the importance of the litigation hold and instructed members of the Business team not to delete any documents.” Pl.’s Ex. 3 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Def.’s Objections & Resp. to DuPont’s Interrog. Pursuant to the Court’s Order of Sept. 21, 2010 (“10/4/10 interrog. Resp.”), at 4. A. Stroz’s Overall Conclusions Respecting Deletion by the Thirteen Custodians Stroz concluded that, after February 1, 2009, Kolon employees deleted a total of 17,811 files and email items. This included 12,836 unique email items, of which 9,010 were keyword-responsive email items. The employees deleted 4,975 electronic files. Of that group, 1,918 files were overwritten, 78 files were partially overwritten, and 145 files were encrypted, totaling 2,141 overwritten or otherwise inaccessible files, of which 991 are likely relevant to this litigation, according to DuPont. The number of deleted files could very well be much greater because 134 of the overwritten files are email containers, so-called DBX container files, which “could potentially have contained hundreds of emails.” PL’s Ex. 37 to Post-Hr’g Mem., in Supp., SF Second Suppl. Report Regarding Deletion Activity, at 2. DBX files cannot be opened to determine the volume or titles of emails inside each container, but the available metadata show the titles of the deleted DBX files, their size, and the date of deletion. Of the remaining 2,834 accessible files, I,669 were keyword-responsive. That is: they contain words that DuPont’s counsel determined were relevant to issues in this case or that reasonably could be expected to lead to the discovery of relevant information. The metadata also indicates that many of the deleted files were last written, or last edited, years earlier. That evidence indicates that Kolon employees did not engage in regular deletion of new files in the course of their day-to-day business activities over the years, but, instead, that, in February 2009, they deleted relevant pre-existing files, dating as far back as 1997. Against that macro-background, the Court considers below the conduct of the individual employees following the filing of DuPont’s Complaint on February 3, 2009. B. The Meeting Led by Young-Soo Seo and the Deletion of Email Items by Chang-Bae Lee and Y.S. Choi Y.S. Seo was the General Manager of Kolon’s Heracron Business Center. He had “sustained involvement” in Kolon’s recruitment and relationship with Mitchell, and was involved in Kolon’s broader efforts to recruit “consultants” who possessed knowledge about Kevlar. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. v. Kolon Indus., Inc., 268 F.R.D. 45, 52 (E.D.Va.2010). Shortly after learning of this action, Y.S. Seo gathered members of the Heracron Business Team, i.e., the sales team, still present at work that day for a meeting, during which the employees discussed “identifying documents on their computers that they may want to consider deleting at a later date.” PL’s Ex. 3 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., 10/4/10 Interrog. Resp., at 4.; see also Pl.’s Ex. 5 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., C.B. Lee Dep. 83:11-16 (recalling that, during the meeting, Y.S. Seo said that the Business Team members were to search their computers for documents or materials concerning DuPont because there “might be a possibility that [such materials] may end up getting deleted” at some point in the future). Present at the meeting were C.B. Lee and Y.S. Choi. C.B. Lee was a member of the Heracron Business Team and former researcher, and Y.S. Choi was a supervisor in the Heracron Business Team. C.B. Lee testified that Y.S. Seo “never gave any orders that documents be destroyed or deleted,” though “he did allude to the possibility that some may get deleted hereinafter in the future.” PL’s Ex. 5 to PosbHr’g Mem. in Supp., C.B. Lee Dep. 83:22-25. During his deposition, Y.S. Seo claimed that he had “no recollection of mentioning the possibility of deleting any document” but, “in the passing, we might have discussed of the possibility of returning the documents, so I think that was the extent of the discussion we had.” PL’s Ex. 6 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Y.S. Seo Dep. 33:13-18. Y.S. Seo also said that he recalls “instructfing] the people to look for any documents relating to Michael Mitchell or DuPont.” Id. 34:9-11. Rounding out the inconsistent recollections of the subject matter of the meeting is Y.S. Choi, who testified that Y.S. Seo “gathered around those of us who still happened to be there and said, okay, guys, why don’t we try to gather up related files.” PL’s Ex. 4 to Posb-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Y.S. Choi Dep. 72:22-73:2. Taking the deposition testimony as a whole, the Court finds that, contrary to his deposition testimony, Y.S. Seo discussed in the meeting the deletion of documents and email items related to DuPont and Mitchell. That analysis of the deposition testimony is confirmed by the record of events that occurred shortly after the meeting. For example, after the meeting, C.B. Lee and Y.S. Choi created screenshots in which they identified documents related to DuPont and Mitchell and marked them with instructions such as “Delete,” “Need to Delete,” and “Remove All.” PL’s Ex. 4 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Y.S. Choi Dep. 95:10-13; Ex. 7, Y.S. Choi Screen-shots; Ex. 8, C.B. Lee Screenshots. C.B. Lee created his screenshots on February 6, 2009; and thereafter, between February 6 and 9, 2009, continued to identify on his computer documents for deletion. Using C.B. Lee’s format, Y.S. Choi created his screenshots on February 7, 2009; and, between February 7 and 8, 2009, he identified documents for deletion. Among the documents that Y.S. Choi marked for deletion was an email from Y.S. Seo identified as “FW: RE: Mr. K meeting Summary” that had been sent to the “Heraeron Business Team” on August 31, 2007. Mr. K was Kolon’s pseudonym for Michael Mitchell. He also marked for deletion emails entitled “RE: FW: RE: Mr. K meeting summary,” “Mr. K’s consulting summary — Chungin,” “Mr. K’s consulting summary — Gumi Factory,” and “Mr. K meeting summary,” all sent to him from J.W. Kim and received on August 30-31, 2007. Among the items marked for deletion in C.B., Lee’s screenshots was a folder entitled, “[CVC]’s Directives,” that C.B. Lee marked, “Need to delete folder.” The “CVC,” or Chief Vision Creator, is Woong-Yeul Lee, Chairman of Kolon. C.B. Lee also marked for deletion, among others, files entitled “Mr. Sumida^Question (090203).xls” and “consulting report (070320).xls.” Mr. Sumida is a former employee of DuPonL-Toray, a joint venture for producing para-aramid fiber. He was later retained as a consultant to Kolon. Both C.B. Lee and Y.S. Choi testified during depositions that they did not delete anything at the time they were marking the screenshots. See Pl.’s Ex. 4 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Y.S. Choi Dep. 94:20-95:1 (“I wasn’t marking things for being candidates — you know, subject to deletion. Rather, I was marking off related or relevant files.”); Ex. 5, C.B. Lee Dep. 87:10-11 (explaining that the marking of the email items was “not for deletion purposes”). And, Kolon previously declared that “there [was] no forensic evidence whatsoever that any of the files identified by [C.B.] Lee” had been deleted. Def.’s Opp’n to Pl.’s Suppl. Br. in Supp., at 11. Forensic analysis by Stroz, however, confirms that C.B. Lee and Y.S. Choi deleted email items after February 3, 2009 and after receiving the second litigation hold order on February 10, 2009. C.B. Lee deleted 395 unique email items in February 2009, and, according to the keywords counsel provided to Stroz, 365 of these were unique keyword-responsive email items. The overwhelming majority of these email items relate to Kolon’s consulting relationship with Mr. Sumida, the former DuPont-Toray employee who has a substantial amount of knowledge about para-aramid fiber, including Kevlar. Examples of deleted relevant email items include: • February 20, 2007 email from C.B. Lee to Mr. Sumida attaching questions regarding pulp, Kevlar, Nomex, DuPont’s Ireland plant, Toray-DuPont, etc. for Mr. Sumida’s upcoming consultation. There is an attachment to the email that contains a spreadsheet of Mr. Sumida’s eleventh consultation meeting agenda. • September 27, 2007 email chain between C.B. Lee and J.W. Kim discussing whether to ask Mr. Sumida about the current status of Kevlar and its current price. J.W. Kim states: “I think it might be a difficult task for Mr. Sumida, however we should first ask and see.” • November 2006 email from C.B. Lee to I.S. Han, Y.S. Seo, J.B. Park, K.S. Lee, and D.S. Kang forwarding answers from Mr. Sumida to questions posed by their team. • December 2008 email chain from C.B. Lee to Mr. Sumida and I.S. Han regarding Mr. Sumida’s visit to the Gumi plant and Kolon’s problems with developing aramid. • October 30, 2007 email from J.W. Kim to C.B. Lee with file name, “Inquiry-Important!,” requesting consultant to check on sales for DuPont, Teijin, and Technora. • May 26, 2008 email from K.H. Roh to C.B. Lee, et al., forwarding Mr. Sumida’s consultation meeting minutes. • October 28, 2008 email from D.S. Kang to K.S. Lee and O.H. Kim forwarding an attachment that contained DuPont’s 2003 spreadsheet related to staff organization and production analysis. • September 2007 email from I.S. Han to Jae-Young, C.B. Lee, et al., entitled “[CONFIDENTIAL] Regard securing consultant,” regarding retaining consultants and consulting methods. • September 17, 2008 email from D.S. Kang to Y.S. Seo, et al., entitled “[[D]company consultation summary] — Confidential,” regarding notes from a conversation with “D’s” General manager that included organizational structure, marketing strategy, and T and H’s company status. • June 7, 2007 email from J.B. Park to Y.S. Seo, C.B. Lee, K.S. Lee, D.S. Kang, Y.S. Choi, et al., entitled “6/6 U.S. business trip mid-report,” regarding information from U.S. business meeting with Mr. K that included notes on DuPont production, personnel, types of product, MRG, marketing strategy, and manufacturing. • March 15, 2007 email with schedule attached for March 18-21, 2007 consultation with Mitchell, listing topics such as “DuPont, Teijin Status,” “Aramid Market Status & Forecast,” and “Technical Session,” and including a detailed “Questionnaire” covering technical topics for the meeting. Pl.’s Ex. 29 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Summary of Relevant Recovered Files and Email Items for C.B. Lee, Entries 49, 53, 87,135,187,195, 207, 297, 363, 411, 414-15. The email items date back as far as June 2006 — only a few months after Kolon first approached Mitchell — and continue up through the end of 2008, thereby spanning the entire relevant time period at issue in DuPont’s Complaint. In addition, C.B. Lee deleted an August 30, 2006 confidential email that he received from Jae-Young Kim entitled, “Technology Consultation Report (Reference).” PL’s Ex. 44 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp. The email contained two attachments. The first attachment is a summary report that appears to make reference to three consultants, Messrs. Sumida, Schulz, and Hoover, and that provides the “progress status” of each consultant, including the number of times the consultant has met with Kolon employees, the date of the next consultation meeting, a description of the consultant’s special area of consultation, the “results” of the consultant’s meetings with Kolon to that point, and Kolon’s future utilization plans with respect to the consultant. DuPont is referred to in the “results” portion of the report. The second attachment contains more detailed reports for each consultant. In what appears to be Mr. Sumida’s report, for example, Kolon notes that it obtained information related to: (a) Toray-Du-Pont/DuPont’s “process/product”; and (b) a comparison of Kolon’s “equipment/process/condition” with that of Toray-DuPont. In what appears to be Mr. Hoover’s report, Kolon notes, for example, that it: (a) obtained DuPont’s “core facility information” and DuPont’s schematic dimensions of its polymerization reactor, spinning dis-solver, spinning pack, and spindle; (b) confirmed DuPont’s filament operation method, winder maker, and the type of its heat treatment equipment; and (c) planned to “[s]eareh on engineers” from DuPont in the United States related to production/operation or materials. Finally, in what appears to be a report on Mr. Schulz’s consultations, Kolon observes that Mr. Schulz possessed valuable information about the whole Kevlar process. Furthermore, the report notes that Kolon: (a) obtained, for example, DuPont’s “polymerization/spinning information” to compare to its own process; (b) confirmed the authenticity of information about DuPont that it had obtained thus far; and (c) learned that DuPont “takes molecule weight distribution seriously.” Id. The report also notes that Kolon needed to apply the latter piece of information to its work site. The consultations and information obtained by Kolon from Messrs. Sumida, Hoover, and Schulz and evidenced in these two attachments are highly relevant to DuPont’s claims of alleged trade secret misappropriation. Indeed, DuPont claims that these two deleted attachments contain “direct evidence of extensive theft and use of DuPont’s trade secrets.” Pl.’s Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., at 18. Stroz’s analysis also concluded that, during February 2009, Y.S. Choi deleted 251 unique email items, of which 202 were unique keyword-responsive email items. Some of the deleted email items date as far back as December 2008. Stroz also found that Y.S. Seo deleted 38 email items, of which 30 were keyword-responsive. C. Oh-Hwan Kim “Consult” Screenshot As Manager in the Quality Assurance Unit of the Heracron Technology Team, O.H. Kim was responsible for “ensuring that Kolon’s Heracron product met a high standard of quality.” DuPont, 268 F.R.D. at 52. Therefore, he “had some involvement in Kolon’s dealings with Mitchell during the period in which DuPont alleges that Kolon stole its trade secrets, including soliciting meeting topics, attending meetings, and corresponding with Mitchell.” Id. When O.H. Kim heard about DuPont’s lawsuit, he became “curious as to what documents he had on his computer that might relate to the lawsuit.” PL’s Ex. 3 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., 10/4/10 Interrog. Resp., at 5. To that end, “[o]n February 9, 2009, Mr. Kim searched the files on his computer for a variation of the term ‘consult,’ ” id., and created a screenshot reflecting his efforts to identify relevant files, PL’s Ex. 10 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., O.H. Kim Screenshot. Among others, the search located the following documents: “Consulting questions.pcm,” “Questions for Mr. K, consultantxls,” and “Mr. [k consultant] question materials.[xls].” Id. After conducting its analysis, Stroz concluded that O.H. Kim deleted 7 files, none of which were keyword-responsive. He also deleted 184 unique email items — dating as far back as September 2008 — of which 132 were keyword-responsive. D. Jae-Bum Park Deletions J.B. Park, a General Manager in Kolon’s Heracron Business Center, initially was Mitchell’s primary contact at Kolon. In fact, he and Y.S. Seo “arranged Mitchell’s original visit to Korea, [and] he negotiated Mitchell’s contract.” DuPont, 268 F.R.D. at 53. He also attended the meeting that Y.S. Seo led shortly after DuPont filed its Complaint. He left Kolon in March 2009, and for some time the circumstances surrounding his departure were unclear to DuPont and the Court. See id. (noting that, while Kolon asserts his current whereabouts to be unknown, he is rumored to be in Canada). DuPont later learned through documents provided as a result of this motion that J.B. Park left Kolon and moved to Canada a few months after DuPont filed its Complaint. At some point, on or after February 9, 2009, J.B. Park began deleting files from his computer. Overall, he deleted a total of 1,341 files and email items. He deleted 560 files, of which 308 were overwritten and 4 were unsearchable due to encryption, yielding a total of 312 unrecoverable files. Of the remaining 248 recoverable files, 35 were keyword-responsive. Stroz further determined that J.B. Park deleted 781 unique email items, of which 505 were unique keyword-responsive emails. Examples of relevant recovered files and email items include: • Document last modified on March 6, 2008 containing test results that compare the physical properties of various aramid fiber products, including Kevlar and Heracron. • Document last modified on August 19, 2008 and labeled “delete immediately after reading” and “protected as trade secret of Kolon,” containing “June '08 Strategic Meeting Minutes” that included notes respecting research into raw material development, experimental tasks of 3000 denier development, discussion of color control research, “air entanglement problem,” and competitive intelligence on competitors, including DuPont and Teijin. It also contained a chart entitled, “Countermeasure to secure core technology chart,” which frequently states “Use Mr. K.” • PowerPoint presentation last modified on May 13, 2008 providing physical property information for various Heracron products, and attaching charts that compare physical properties of Heracron products with Kevlar and Twaron products. Attachments last modified on January 31, 2008 related to the same. • December 29, 2008 presentation describing Kolon’s development of Heracron, the “polymerization process,” and the molecular structure of Heracron and its properties compared to Kevlar for various deniers. Attachments related to the same. For example, this PowerPoint presentation compared Kevlar and Heracron in some of the following categories at HF200 lOOODenier: density, decomposition temperature, strength at break, elongation at break, and finish oil content. • Report from October 2003 business trip to “investigate supply/demand” and “understand competitor (including DuPont) company’s aramid technology and marketing trend.” • February 16, 2009 email from K.S. Lee to J.B. Park forwarding and attaching the November 2008 strategy meeting minutes, which were labeled “delete immediately after reading,” and contained information respecting development of 3000 denier, competitive intelligence on DuPont demand-supply status, and projected 2010 expansion. Pl.’s Ex. 29 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Summary of Relevant Recovered Files and Email Items for J.B. Park, Entries 1, 15, 3-11, 22-25, 43, 74-75; PL’s Ex. 56 to Posb-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., at Strozl99284. Of the files that J.B. Park deleted in February 2009, 312 are unrecoverable because they are either overwritten or encrypted. Stroz cannot run a keyword search of the unrecoverable files, but the file names and metadata show the relevance of some of these files to the litigation: • Document entitled, “(20080814) Sharing of Company H’s patent status and the need to share information (Strategie meeting material).ppt” (last accessed on February 9, 2009 but last written on August 19, 2008). • Document entitled, “Fabric defects.xls” (last accessed February 13, 2009 but last written on March 21, 2008). • Document entitled, “Comparative comparison of fabric (080326).xls” (last accessed on February 13, 2009 but last written on April 4, 2008). • Document entitled, “Heracron Strategy by Vision.docx” (last accessed on February 9, 2009 but last written on July 14, 2008). Pl.’s Ex. 30 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Entries 301, 335, 338, 344. E. Ju-Wan Kim Deletions Mitchell’s primary contact at Kolon after J.B. Park was J.W. Kim. One of J.W. Kim’s responsibilities was to retain pararamid “consultants” allegedly as part of Kolon’s efforts to misappropriate technology. In discharging that responsibility, Kim once sent detailed questions respecting Teijin’s manufacturing process to a former Teijin employee whom Kolon was attempting to recruit as a “consultant.” After Teijin learned of the communication, its counsel sent a letter to Kolon describing Kim’s efforts as “straightforward evidence of Kolon’s asking questions related to trade secrets and offering money to have those trade secrets disclosed.” PL’s Ex. 18 to Mot. for Sanctions, Letter from J. Schwartz of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher to H. Lee of Kolon Industries, Inc. (Feb. 28, 2008). As a member of the Heracron Business Team, J.W. Kim attended the meeting led by Y.S. Seo shortly after DuPont filed its Complaint. On February 11, 2009, a day after receiving a litigation hold order and instruction concerning the importance of the order and employees’ obligations to preserve relevant materials, J.W. Kim “created a folder entitled ‘delete’ to identify documents on his computer.” PL’s Ex. 3 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., 10/4/10 Interrog. Resp., at 4. Kolon insists that “[tjhere is no indication that any of the documents identified by ... [J.W.] Kim were deleted as a result of the identification activity.” Id. Stroz’s analysis, however, establishes that J.W. Kim did delete files and email items after February 3, 2009. The available metadata reveals that he began deleting files on February 10, 2009, continuing on February 13, 26, and 27. In total, he deleted 1,417 files and email items. He deleted 245 files, of which 121 were overwritten. Of the remaining 124 recoverable files, 53 were keyword-responsive. Forty-six of the overwritten files are DBX container files, deleted on or after February 26, 2009, and the size of which was over 720 megabytes — the equivalent of 72,000 pages of email. One of the overwritten DBX container files was entitled “Inbox.dbx,” which suggests that J.W. Kim deleted his entire email inbox, the size of which was over 115 megabytes, or approximately 11,500 pages of email. In addition, J.W. Kim deleted 1,172 unique email items, of which 929 were unique keyword-responsive email items. Examples of relevant recovered files and email items include: • November 22, 2007 email from Mitchell to “Kolon” (no email address), providing updated DuPont and Teijin retail pricing, but including likely actual prices based on Mitchell’s explanation that major purchasers never pay the retail price because of the rebate system. • PowerPoint template comparing Heracron properties to “K” properties. • Email chain from September 24, 2007 — February 17, 2009 between J.W. Kim, D.S. Kang, and Mitchell, et al., in which Mitchell advises regarding pricing for Heracron products “to get business.” • Email chain from July 8, 2008 — February 24, 2009 between J.W. Kim, Y.S. Seo, and Heracron Business Team regarding security efforts at Heracron facilities, and an August 8, 2008 attachment thereto, wherein Kolon indicates that the purpose of the “policy is to strengthen the security of our manufacturing technology to prevent leak our [sic] technology asset out to outside of our company.” • June 2008 meeting minutes listing Y.S. Seo, J.B. Park, K.S. Lee, Y.S. Choi, O.H. Kim, I.S. Han, J.Y. Lee, and S.Y. Yeo as participants, wherein numerous technical details about Kevlar were discussed with an attachment appended thereto entitled, “Attachment: Bullet resistant usage [Product Mix] comparison,” that compares technical properties of Heracron, Kevlar, and Twaron. • February 21, 2008 email chain between J.W. Kim, Mitchell, and Y.S. Seo in which J.W. Kim asks questions, on behalf of “Mr. Han,” such as: “How does the competitor treat or manage waste sulfur? Do they only make gypsum? Don’t they do concentration or neutralization together with making gypsum? If they only turn waste sulfur into gypsum, what made them decide to do so? I wonder what the background was.” Mitchell provides answers based on knowledge about DuPont’s Spruance Plant in Virginia and Maydown Plant in the United Kingdom. • February 23, 2008 email from' Mitchell regarding market overview of MRG for Y.S. Seo and that also includes Mitchell’s questions related to his continued role with Kolon going forward. Pl.’s Ex. 29 to PosNHr’g Mem. in Supp., Summary of Relevant Recovered Files and Email Items for J.W. Kim, Entries 1, 7,19, 55-56, 67, 77, 78; PL’s Ex. 59 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., at Strozll0625 — translated, Stroz203678-9. J.W. Kim also deleted files that are now partially or completely overwritten. Though their contents are lost, potentially relevant overwritten files, based on file names and metadata, include: • Document entitled, “2008 Heracron Business Plan — 1203.ppt” (last accessed February 12, 2009 but last written January 7, 2008). • Document entitled, “Heracron 6-l.ppt” (last accessed February 12, 2009 but last written October 8, 2007). • Document entitled, “Pricelistxls” (last accessed February 12, 2009 but last written August 13, 2008). • DBX container entitled, “Competitor.dbx” (last accessed and last written on February 26, 2009). • DBX container entitled, “Inbox.dbx” (last accessed and last written on February 26, 2009). • DBX container entitled, “Outbox.dbx” (last accessed and last written on February 26, 2009). Pl.’s Ex. 30 to PosNHr’g Mem. in Supp., Entries 349, 397, 400, 414, 419, 421. F. Jong-Hyun Choi Deletes Folder Containing DuPont Proprietary Information From early 2006 until the end of 2007, J.H. Choi was the Vice-President in the Industrial Materials and Tire Cord Divisions of 'Kolon. He was, in effect, the senior executive within the hierarchy of Kolon’s Heracron business. In late 2007, he transferred out of this division to a separate division unrelated to Heracron.. However, before his transfer, J.H. Choi oversaw the entire Heracron Business Unit, directing and managing the “employees engaged in Heracron product development and manufacturing.” DuPont, 268 F.R.D., at 51. Part of his management included directing “Kolon’s industry intelligence-gathering efforts.” Id. To that end, he presented to Kolon’s Chairman on February 22, 2006, the plan to seek out “consultants,” and he oversaw the recruitment of, and solicitation of information from, the consultants. Consequently, he is a key witness in the ease. Indeed, J.H. Choi executed Mitchell’s consulting agreement on Kolon’s behalf in spring 2007 and attended meetings with Mitchell in Korea. In sum, he “worked with Mitchell during the time period at issue in [this] litigation and had responsibility in securing information from Mitchell.” Id. On February 10, 2009, J.H. Choi received the second litigation hold order directing employees to preserve relevant materials. Notwithstanding his receipt of this notice, J.H. Choi deleted a folder containing 283 Heracron “consulting documents” that had been copied to his computer in March 2007 when he was managing the Heracron division. In fact, Kolon has admitted this conduct, explaining in its initial response to DuPont’s motion that “[s]hortly after the litigation was filed, ... it appears that Mr. Choi— in derogation of the document preservation notices that were distributed — attempted to delete documents.” Def.’s Mem. in Opp’n, at 17. At the time, however, Kolon sought to minimize J.H. Choi’s conduct, stating that his actions “are not representative of Kolon and its efforts to preserve and gather documents.” Id. The Stroz analysis confirmed that J.H. Choi deleted the folder after February 1, 2009. Deleted were 237 files, 211 of which were keyword-responsive. Four files are overwritten, and thus were not searchable by keyword. He also deleted 173 unique email items, of which 120 were unique keyword-responsive email items. The folder containing the files that J.H. Choi deleted from his computer contained 283 Heraeron “consulting documents.” DuPont claims that these documents are some of the most important documents in this case. Indeed, this is not surprising given the events that led to the documents being uploaded on J.H. Choi’s work computer. In March 2007, Mitchell traveled to Korea for a meeting with Kolon. With him, he brought a CD containing DuPont proprietary documents that he then used during a presentation to Kolon executives and employees on March 20, 2007. At some point, the meeting broke for lunch, during which time one of the Kolon employees at the meeting directed another employee surreptitiously to make a copy of the CD. The Kolon employee made the copy and returned the CD to Mitchell’s laptop computer. Pl.’s Ex. 12 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Def.’s First Suppl. Resp. to Special Interrog. of the Court, ¶ 36. Mitchell later returned and continued his presentation, never realizing that Kolon had copied the documents from the CD. He would later testify that he never authorized anyone to make a copy of anything on his laptop during that trip. Pl.’s Ex. 13 to PosWHr’g Mem. in Supp., Mitchell Dep. 238:10-14. The documents were uploaded to J.H. Choi’s computer on March 23, 2007. The titles of those documents reflect that they contain DuPont proprietary information, and thus are extremely relevant to the litigation: “AFS Town Hall Jun 29 04 Appendix.ppt,” “Belts & Hoses Growth Sheetxls,” “_US price volume projection 2001 v3.xls,” “Product Data.xls,” “Bogaz Den Economics.xls,” “Maydown 03 Item Economics.xls,” “Maydown Denier Economics V2.xls,” and “Spruance Denier Eeonomics.xls.” Pl.’s Ex. 14 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Entries 6, 8, 25, 88, 113, 115, 116, 119. All told, the folder contained numerous documents related to pricing and customers, and numerous spreadsheets related to Denier Economies. J.H. Choi explained that he deleted the documents after learning that DuPont had filed this action because he “did not want to get involved” “in some lawsuit for some documents that [he] didn’t even look at.” Pl.’s Ex. 11 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., J.H. Choi Dep. 187:7-9. Shortly after deleting the files, J.H. Choi notified Kolon officials about what he had done. Kolon claims to have produced 208 of the files from the unallocated space of J.H. Choi’s hard drive. It also asserts that any copies of files it was unable to recover from his hard drive were collected and produced to DuPont from other sources within Kolon. G. Kyeong-Hwan Roh Deletions K.H. Roh has worked at Kolon for over twenty years. At the time DuPont filed its Complaint, he was the head of the Heraeron Technology Team. In that position, K.H. Roh was involved in Kolon’s efforts to obtain information about Kevlar. In fact, “[h]e attended at least fifteen meetings from May 2006 to August 2008 that involved DuPont’s Kevlar product or production processes, and was involved in recruiting at least one then-current and one former DuPont employee to ‘consult’ about DuPont’s products and production.” DuPont, 268 F.R.D. at 52. Befitting his position as head of the Technology Team, on February 6, 2009, K.H. Roh received the first litigation hold order. The Stroz analysis shows that K.H. Roh deleted a total of 940 files and unique email items. He began deleting documents on February 17, continuing on February 20 and 23, and then deleting even more documents, mere seconds apart, for several minutes, on February 27. In total, he deleted 512 files after February 1, 2009, of which 128 were deleted from the “Recycle Bin.” Furthermore, 283 files were overwritten and 145 were “protected” with a type of encryption or rights-management software and therefore could not be searched by Stroz. Of the remaining 84 files, 11 were keyword-responsive. Seventy of the overwritten or protected files had file names that were keyword-responsive. The metadata indicates that K.H. Roh targeted older documents for deletion, with last written dates in June 2005, March 2007, November 2007, December 2007, among others. K.H. Roh also deleted 60 email items from his Exchange Email container — specifically his EDH-2.pst file, which is akin to the recycle bin — and 40 of those email items were keyword-responsive. After analyzing the dumpster data for Roh’s deleted files, Stroz concluded that he deleted another 368 email items, of which 298 were keyword-responsive. Examples of relevant, deleted, but subsequently, recovered email items and files include: • Document from March 28, 2005 containing detailed plans for establishing laboratory for “Polymer IV measurement and other general analysis,” including “pulp analysis.” • Email chain among J.T., Park, I.S. Han, Y.S. Seo, et al., sending a request from the CEO to make a list of all former Kolon employees who have worked on the production, research, and business teams at Heracron, and then to track their current job location continuously in order to “prevent our former employee[s] [from] contacting] Hyo Sung in any circumstances.” • January 30, 2009 email chain among K.H. Roh, Jae-Yuk Yoo, and SeongAn Hong, in which Mr. Noh (Roh) states: “As for the Heracron, unlike [PET] or [Nylon], ... the quality of raw material itself is very important [Know-How]. Although our company searched all over for the raw materials of [DuPont] and [Twaron], we still haven’t obtained those.... At the current stage, we can’t provide our company’s raw material to Ihara.... Preparation of secrecy agreement is needed at the time of providing raw material [sample].” • Email chain among K.H. Roh, JaeYoung Kim, et ah, regarding secrecy agreement with TSK machinery company ahead of visit to TSK related to modifications to the Gumi plant to transform wasted sulfuric acid to gypsum, and noting that information “such as material balance or Machine size” would not be discussed for purposes of secrecy. • December 24, 2008 — January 5, 2009 email chain between K.H. Noh, Kyeong-Su Yoo, Young-Su Seo, D.S. Kang, O.H. Kim regarding results of customer’s quality tests of Heracron filament, and noting that Heracron had same abrasion resistance but lower tensile modulus and friction coefficient than customer’s “existing product” and discussing comparison of Heracron’s qualities to those of Kevlar and Twaron. PL’s Ex. 29 to Posh-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Summary of Relevant Recovered Files and Email Items for K.H. Roh, Entries 4, 13, 15, 18, and 36. Examples of relevant, deleted and overwritten or protected files, based on the file names and metadata only, include: • Document entitled, “P-Mix Rev070927.xls” (last accessed on February 27, 2009 but last written on September 27, 2007). • Document entitled, “Our company and other companies’ Aramid TGA-Air. pdf.” (last accessed on February 27, 2009 but last written on June 14, 2008). • Document entitled, “CVC report_Productiomppt” (last accessed on February 27, 2009 but last written on March 28, 2008). • Document entitled, “DuPont_aramid.hwp” (last accessed on February 27, 2009 but last written on June 13, 2005). • Document entitled, “Mr. K consulting_10708Important.doc” (last accessed on February 27, 2009 but last written on December 9, 2007). • Document entitled, “The 6th Mr. Sumida Consultation Minutes (To be sent to Production Team_080526).hwp” (last accessed on February 27, 2009 but last written on June 13, 2008). • Document entitled, “November Strategic Meeting Minutes Revised.xls” (last accessed on February 27, 2009 but last written on December 11, 2007). • Document entitled, “Company D Raw Material Cost 070323.xls” (last accessed on February 27, 2009 but last written on March 23, 2007). Pl.’s Ex. 30 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Entries 59, 69, 92, 93, 96, 104, 128, 150. H. In-Sik Han Deletions I.S. Han has worked at Kolon for over 25 years. In February 2009, he was the Deputy Vice-President of the Heracron Research Institute, a position he still holds. As head of the Research Institute, he was “responsible for directing Kolon’s research efforts as they related to improving its Heracron product.” DuPont, 268 F.R.D. at 51. In that role, he had “considerable involvement” with Mitchell during the relevant time period. Id. When DuPont filed its initial motion papers, it noted that I.S. Han had produced only 57 documents, including marginally relevant materials such as press articles and Google alerts. Kolon claimed that I.S. Han received a document hold — which he did on February 6, 2009 — after which he “no longer continued to purge his e-mail inbox of messages that may have been related to DuPont’s lawsuit.” Def.’s Mem. in Opp’n, at 14. The Stroz analysis shows that, after February 1, 2009, I.S. Han deleted 688 files, of which 306 were overwritten. Of the remaining 382 files, 110 were keyword-responsive. Only one of the overwritten files was keyword-responsive. The meta-data associated with the files deleted indicates that, during a 32-minute period on February 6, 2009, he deleted nearly 400 files that were “Last Accessed” during this time. Then, on February 26, 2009, he deleted, second-by-second, in the course of only a few minutes, an additional 256 files. After analyzing I.S. Han’s dumpster data, Stroz found that I.S. Han deleted 395 unique email items, of which 371 were keyword-responsive. Examples of relevant recovered files and email items that Han deleted include: • Email chain between Byoung-Joon Lee, I.S. Han, Y.S. Seo, et al., attaching “Heracron terminated/registered roster” and discussing the CEO’s instruction to list all former Kolon employees who worked on Heracron for the purpose of preventing these former employees from contacting Hysoung, and attachment thereto. • Email chain among Jae-Young Lee, 1.5. Han, et al., summarizing and forwarding resumes of “Mr. R and Mr. S.” • February 6, 2009 email from Heiri Lee to I.S. Han, Y.S. Seo, K.H. Roh, and Jong-Tae Park, et al., consisting of litigation hold order regarding “all records concerning Kolon Heracron business and/or Mr. Mitchell’s work related documents.” • December 2008 email from I.S. Han to Dae-Sik Kim, Jae-Young Lee and Jae-Young Kim regarding a consultation meeting with Mr. Sumida. • December 3, 2008 email from I.S. Han to Suk-Jung Song labeled, “confidential,” that references an attachment entitled, “Response to Dr. Han.doc,” which is a “reply from President Chang-Ho Lee of U.S. regarding the [Heracron] consultation, North America sales, carbon consultation,” and stating “Let’s delay the consultations for the time being.” • November 17, 2008 email chain among 1.5. Han, Mr. Sumida, et al., regarding Mr. Sumida’s upcoming visit to Seoul. • December 2008 email chain between 1.5. Han and C.B. Lee requesting that 1.5. Han attend the “consultation meeting with Mr. Sumida from the [prepeg] explanations next week,” with 1.5. Han responding, “[0]f course I will attend.” • October 2008 email chain among I.S. Han, Mr. Sumida, et al., in which Teruo Koseki sends I.S. Han a document entitled, “Revised Formula of Polymerization Rate.xlsx.” • July 2008 email chain between I.S. Han, Dae-Su Kim, Jae-Young Lee, Jae-Young Kim regarding the “presidentas] directive [to] ‘summarize/report the technical [Consulting] progress and results so far’ at the [R & D] discussion meeting on 2008, 6, 27” and the president’s request for “all technical [Consulting] results that were done and completed since 1/1/2004” and “status of the ongoing technical [Consulting].” • November 2008 email chain between I.S.Han, Mr. Sumida, and JoonYoung Yoon respecting proposed schedule and content for Mr. Sumida’s next consultation in Seoul, including discussion of pilot plant, results of tests for polymerization, oxidation, evaluation facility of tensile test of CF, etc. Pl.’s Ex. 29 to Post-Hr’g Mem. in Supp., Summary of Relevant Recovered Files and Email Items for I.S. Han, Entries 1-2, 7, 9, 20, 21, 27, 35, 43, 45, 48. I. File Server 4 Deletions Each employee also had access to the “Administrator” account on File Server 4, which, after the litigation started, Kolon’s counsel had imaged at the same time it imaged the employees’ hard drives. Stroz concluded that 7,311 email items were deleted from File Server 4, of which 5,129 were keyword-responsive. Stroz’s analysis also found that, after February 1, 2009, 2,673 files were deleted from File Server 4, of which 890 files were overwritten. Of the remaining 1,783 files, 1,230 were keyword-responsive. Stroz also determined that 291 Microsoft Outlook DBX container files on File Server 4 had been deleted, of which 134 were overwritten. Deletions of the DBX containers would have included deletion of any active emails located in the DBX container files. Stroz noted, however, that any deleted emails in these DBX container files may not have been necessarily deleted after February 1, 2009; rather, an email item could have been deleted earlier and simply resided in the DBX deleted items container until the DBX container itself was deleted at some point after February 1, 2009. One of the topics addressed at the November evidentiary hearing was the deletions from File Server 4. At that time, Kolon offered two declarations of D.S. Kang to account for the deleted files and email items. In these declarations, D.S. Kang recounted that, on February 3, 2009, he uploaded back-up copies of files from his desktop computer to File Server 4, and then transferred those files from File Server 4 to his newly-purchased laptop. He claims to have done so because he was going to be transferred for work from Korea to the United States and could not take his desktop computer with him. Thus, he “dragged and dropped” work-related files from his desktop to the file server, and then copied those same documents from the file server to the laptop. He then claims to have deleted the backup copies of the files on File Server 4. He did not delete the files from his desktop computer. To support his version of events, Kolon produced a receipt for purchase of the new laptop. It also presented a service ticket from Kolon’s IT Department documenting D.S. Kang’s request for IT assistance after the laptop performed sluggishly subsequent to the first transfer. To troubleshoot the laptop’s performance issue, Kolon’s IT department installed a new operating system onto the laptop before returning it to D.S. Kang, who then proceeded to re-copy the same files he copied previously onto the laptop. D.S. Kang is unsure, however, whether he used File Server 4 during this transfer, and believes he may have used a USB drive instead to facilitate the transfer. After reviewing this evidence at the November evidentiary hearing, the Court ordered Kolon to produce an image of D.S. Kang’s laptop to Stroz to be analyzed in conjunction with his desktop image and the File Server 4 image. Stroz then conducted further analysis to assess the veracity of D.S. Kang’s version of the source and reason for the deletions from File Server 4. It issued its finding in a report on November 29, 2010. Stroz found the existence of 3,094 files on D.S. Kang’s desktop that had files names that matched the names of the files Stroz previously identified as deleted from File Server 4. Stroz had concluded previously that 2,673 files and 7,311 email items were deleted from File Server 4. In the November 29, 2010 report, Stroz determined that “the forensic evidence is consistent with there being a mass copy in early February 2009 of files from Kang’s desktop computer to File Server 4, similar to the process Kang describes in his declarations.” SF Suppl. Report Regarding Deletion Activity, at 9. Stroz further determined that “[tjhese files were not subsequently deleted from the desktop, which also is consistent with Kang’s declaration.” Id. However, because Kolon’s IT department reformatted the laptop on February 11, 2009, there was “insufficient evidence to determine whether the files were subsequently transferred from File Server 4 to the laptop” before the reformatting. Moreover, the evidence “does not appear to support Kang’s claim that, after the reformatting, he re-copied onto the laptop all of the same files he previously transferred from his desktop,” though there was evidence supporting a smaller mass copy onto the laptop, post-reformatting, of some files that