Table of Contents:
- The revolution in discovery
- The rise and consequent miniaturization of the computer
- The connectivity revolution
- The new digital realm of information
- The new information complex
- The impact on the practice of law
- The response of the rule makers
- Meet the new rules
- The new concept of electronically stored information and recognition that information exists within enveloping systems
- The form of information is dynamic
- Conforming amendment to rule 33(d)
- Early attention to e-discovery matters, disclosures
- The new concept of accessibility
- The new retrieval procedure
- The safe harbor
- Changes to rule 45
- Brief background on the rule amendment process
- The process for amending the rules-- The standing committee and the judicial conference
- The Supreme Court and congressional review
- Where we are now in the process
- Preservation of evidence and sanctions for spoliation
- Public commentary on publication draft
- Legal background on the duty to preserve evidence
- The reasonableness standard
- Tailoring by means of rule 26
- Backup tapes
- Metadata
- Parties must take affirmative steps to preserve electronic evidence
- Stipulated agreements and preservation letters
- Preservation orders
- Litigation holds
- Technical issues concerning preservation
- Sanctions for spoliation
- The Coleman-Morgan Stanley saga
- Caution to practitioners : the moral of Morgan Stanley
- The new meaning of the rule 26(f) conference
- Public comments about early discussion of issues
- Suggestion of technical experts presence
- New rule 26(f) and note after public comment
- Changes made after publication and comment
- Advocates must explore the relevant information systems
- The wisdom of prompt action
- How to cure nervousness about preservation orders
- Practical obstacles to gathering systems information
- The possibility of proprietary IT architecture
- Beware, lack of information will foster motion practice
- The desirability of an early privilege waiver agreement
- What to ask for : the network architecture and the people running IT
- The IT people
- Network diagram
- Server/router list
- Workstation and laptop list
- ASPs
- Other relevant information to ask for
- Anticipating a not reasonably accessible response
- Why ask for network diagram, server list, workstation and laptop list, and ASPs?
- The difficulty of gathering evidence in a distributed system
- Issues regarding form of production
- Public commentary applauding discussion of form of production
- Negative comments about native format
- New rule 34(b) and advisory committee note
- The concept of direct access or entering a computer system
- Case study about form of production
- Native files and the existence of metadata
- The concept of differing views of file information
- Authenticity issues and the importance of metadata
- Considerations on choice of forms of production and processing native files to achieve different forms
- Collection and forensics
- The world of processing
- Choices about form of production
- Native file linking in electronic discovery databases
- Image linking in electronic discovery databases
- How to produce the information
- The thorny issue of accessibility
- Support for the two-tier system in commentary
- Opposition to the two-tier system in commentary
- New discovery rubric deemed unnecessary and redundant
- Objections to lack of particularity requirement
- Predictions of an explosion in motion practice
- General confusion about meaning of the term reasonably accessible
- Comments on the identification requirement
- Cost shifting and sharing
- Proposed rule 26(b)(2) after revisions
- The committee's revisions in light of the substantial public comment
- Balancing test for cost shifting for discovery of inaccessible information
- The notion of sampling to test the assertion of inaccessibility
- More detail and particularity on the identification requirement
- Evaluating claims of not reasonably accessible
- Factors for consideration in the accessibility analysis
- Evolving case law on cost shifting and regulations regarding accessibility
- The danger of generalizing determining reasonably accessible vs. not reasonably accessible based on media
- Regulatory requirements/industry standards
- Auditors mandated retention of records
- Have the rules changed on forensic examination of hard drives?
- The new retrieval procedure
- Public commentary
- The support and opposition of a certification requirement
- The reasonable time issue for notice
- New rule 26(b)(5)(b) after public comment
- Changes to the rule after public comment
- Ability to custom tailor agreements under rules 26(f)(4) and 16(b)(6)
- Expansion to trial-preparation materials
- Reasonable steps to retrieve disseminated information
- Reasonable time requirement disappears
- The difficulty of sequestration and retrieval in the new information paradigm
- The new safe harbor provision
- Public commentary about the proposed safe harbor
- Absence of evidence of a sanctions problem
- Onslaught of preservation orders?
- The state of mind issue
- Changes to the rule after public comment