Welcome to legal advice
Friday, April 20, 2007
New Federal E-Discovery Rules
New federal rules regarding e-discovery have recently gone into effect on December 1, 2006. “E-discovery” is a legal buzzword covering all kinds of electronic data contained in backup tapes, hard drives, e-mails, Word files, spreadsheets, Blackberry data, and much more.
The proposed Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, in particular Rules 16 and 26(f), require that both the parties and their counsel become intimately familiar with the data storage and retention procedures in place at a corporate entity before the first initial scheduling conference, or else risk being subjected to costly discovery expenses or even outright sanctions.
Furthermore, parties to litigation in Federal Court will now be responsible for producing a large amount of electronic data for the other side. As you can imagine meeting this new discovery requirement will require both legal and technical expertise, given the numerous forms that electronic data takes.
The best way to prepare yourself for these changes is to consult with your litigation counsel and with your information technology professionals preferably sooner than later. Establish a plan for handling e-discovery before the new federal rules go into effect, or you may risk violating them.
Some basic steps in planning for e-discovery should include developing litigation hold policies, as well as procedures for producing e-discovery with your counsel.
Also, your counsel must meet with your information technology officer or consultants before the first scheduling conference in a federal case. Your attorney will be asked to agree to a timeline for, and the scope of, e-discovery in that conference. Woe to you if your counsel does not know what technological architecture and resources you have in place! Such a misstep could lead to excessive e-discovery costs, to monetary sanctions, or to allowing a jury to consider a damaging adverse inference.
While not everyone is an IT expert, everyone can understand that preparation is the key to success in litigation. E-discovery will soon become a standard in federal practice, and the states will probably follow. By devoting some preparation time and by providing guidance, your workplace can make a smooth transition into this new era of litigation.
This commentary is not intended as legal advice. For advice on a specific case, you should contact the attorney directly. Pursuant to Rule 3:07 of the Supreme Judicial Court Rules of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this communication may be considered advertising.
The proposed Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, in particular Rules 16 and 26(f), require that both the parties and their counsel become intimately familiar with the data storage and retention procedures in place at a corporate entity before the first initial scheduling conference, or else risk being subjected to costly discovery expenses or even outright sanctions.
Furthermore, parties to litigation in Federal Court will now be responsible for producing a large amount of electronic data for the other side. As you can imagine meeting this new discovery requirement will require both legal and technical expertise, given the numerous forms that electronic data takes.
The best way to prepare yourself for these changes is to consult with your litigation counsel and with your information technology professionals preferably sooner than later. Establish a plan for handling e-discovery before the new federal rules go into effect, or you may risk violating them.
Some basic steps in planning for e-discovery should include developing litigation hold policies, as well as procedures for producing e-discovery with your counsel.
Also, your counsel must meet with your information technology officer or consultants before the first scheduling conference in a federal case. Your attorney will be asked to agree to a timeline for, and the scope of, e-discovery in that conference. Woe to you if your counsel does not know what technological architecture and resources you have in place! Such a misstep could lead to excessive e-discovery costs, to monetary sanctions, or to allowing a jury to consider a damaging adverse inference.
While not everyone is an IT expert, everyone can understand that preparation is the key to success in litigation. E-discovery will soon become a standard in federal practice, and the states will probably follow. By devoting some preparation time and by providing guidance, your workplace can make a smooth transition into this new era of litigation.
This commentary is not intended as legal advice. For advice on a specific case, you should contact the attorney directly. Pursuant to Rule 3:07 of the Supreme Judicial Court Rules of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this communication may be considered advertising.
# posted by gopi @ 6:09 AM 
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]