You seem to be assuming Google will lose. Seems more likely that they will win and the article author is wrong when he says
"From the outside it appears very, very difficult to imagine that Google will get away with what it's done."
There is no law compelling you to write down every word, thought or discussion that takes place in the office. Google was subject to litigation holds. That means you can't destroy evidence if it might be relevant, it doesn't imply some sort of unlimited obligation to create endless documents containing every word uttered by every employee 24/7. How would that even work? The author's inability to imagine Google's lawyers successfully making this argument reflects poorly on their imaginative skills, not Google.
"From the outside it appears very, very difficult to imagine that Google will get away with what it's done."
There is no law compelling you to write down every word, thought or discussion that takes place in the office. Google was subject to litigation holds. That means you can't destroy evidence if it might be relevant, it doesn't imply some sort of unlimited obligation to create endless documents containing every word uttered by every employee 24/7. How would that even work? The author's inability to imagine Google's lawyers successfully making this argument reflects poorly on their imaginative skills, not Google.