Law Commons^™

The Missing Links: Why Hyperlinks Must Be Treated As Attachments In Electronic Discovery, Lea Malani Bays, Stuart A. Davidson

University of Cincinnati Law Review

This Article sheds light on a unique but centrally important “twenty-first century” issue involving electronic discovery in federal civil litigation that is just beginning to percolate in federal district courts. Historically, courts have held that a document attached to or enclosed with another document must be produced together when produced in response to a discovery request, as that is how the document was “kept in the usual course of business” and how it is “ordinarily maintained or in a reasonably usable form,” as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have required for decades. Today, parties are pushing back on whether …

Book Review: Commercial Litigation In New York State Courts (5th Ed.) Edited By Robert L. Haig, Kathryn C. Cole

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Every New York commercial litigator needs as an arrow in her quiver Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts (“Treatise”). Now in its Fifth Edition, this renowned Treatise not only analyzes in-depth the procedural law and the substantive commercial law of New York, but it is replete with invaluable “nuggets of wisdom” and critical guidance for the “attainment of objectives” during a litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants. What began as a three volume resource first published in 1995, the Treatise now boasts ten volumes, 156 chapters (28 of which have been added since the Fourth Edition), and has …

Georgia’S Approach To Proportionality And Sanctions For The Spoliation Of Electronically Stored Information, Matthew Daigle

Georgia State University Law Review

The rapid evolution and implementation of technology in society has resulted in the increasing use of data as evidence in court. While the scope of discovery is limited by, among other things, the burden imposed on the producing party, the sheer magnitude of electronic evidence compared to its physical counterpart necessitates a different framework for evaluating such a burden. Without limiting factors, the discoverability of electronically stored information (ESI) exposes producing parties to liability disproportionate to the value of a case. While the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have evolved to address the discovery of ESI, the Georgia Civil Practice …

Electronic Discovery In Civil Litigation: Avoiding Surprises In Cost Shifting Decisions, Genevieve H. Harte

Seton Hall Circuit Review

No abstract provided.

The Convergence Awakens: How Principles Of Proportionality And Calls For Cooperation Are Reshaping The E-Discovery Landscape, Tevor Gillum

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Electronic Discovery Bibliography, Paul Richert

Akron Law Review

ELECTRONIC DISCOVERY BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Discoverability Of E-Mails: The Smoking Gun Of The Modern Era, Michael J. Martin

University of Massachusetts Law Review

The discoverability of e-mails is an area of law that every modern day lawyer must be familiar with in order to avoid the risk of being sanctioned. Over the past years, courts have awarded sanctions to moving parties at a steadily increasing pace. These sanctions have included adverse jury instructions, default judgements, attorney's fees, large monetary fines, and in one instance, a jail sentence. Courts have sent the message that improper conduct will not be tolerated in this developing area of law by not hesitating to order sanctions. Thus, it is essential that modern day lawyers become acquainted with the …

How To Avoid The Death Of Your Case By Two Billion Paper Cuts: Encouraging Arbitration As An Alternative Way To Resolve Costly Discovery Disputes, Tzipora Goodfriend-Gelernter

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This article analyzes the costly effect of electronic information on discovery practice and advocates for the arbitration of discovery disputes. Part II discusses the background of electronic discovery, the evolution of our reliance on ESI (electronically stored information) as part of our modern day discovery practice, and the benefits and detriments of electronic discovery. Part III discusses the effects of our reliance on electronic discovery and the implications of those effects on litigating parties. It examines how the increasingly computer-based world of discovery has increased the cost of litigation disputes significantly and proposes using the patent arbitration model as a …

Electronic Data Discovery Sanctions: The Unmapped, Unwinding, Meandering Road, And The Courts’ Role In Steadying The Playing Field, Ahunanya Anga

San Diego Law Review

This Article highlights a growing problem for litigants who are involved in electronic data discovery (EDD). The world of litigation today encompasses massive amounts of electronically produced documents. It is estimated that ninety-nine percent of new information is created and stored electronically. The litigation practice generally, as it relates to electronic discovery (e-discovery) particularly, has mushroomed into a chaotic process. The technological age has radically impacted the federal discovery process. The purpose of the 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) was, among other things, to address problems associated with electronically stored information (ESI) that arise during …

Bleeding Data In A Pool Of Sharks: The Anathema Of Privacy In A World Of Digital Sharing And Electronic Discovery, Derek S. Witte

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Risk Aversion, Risk Management, And The "Overpreservation" Prolbem In Electronic Discovery, Kenneth J. Withers

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Keeping The Inference In The Adverse Inference Instruction: Ensuring The Instruction Is An Effective Sanction In Electronic Discovery Cases, William G. Lambert

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Social Media And Electronic Discovery: New Technology, Same Issues, Jesse C. Rowe

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Discovery Stays, Gideon Mark

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In federal civil litigation, unless a discretionary stay is granted, discovery often proceeds while motions to dismiss are pending. Plaintiffs with non-meritorious cases can compel defendants to spend massively on electronic discovery before courts ever rule on such motions. Defendants who are unable or unwilling to incur the huge up-front expense of electronic discovery may be forced to settle non-meritorious claims. To address multiple electronic discovery issues, Congress amended the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in 2006 and the Federal Rules of Evidence in 2008. However, the amendments failed to significantly reduce costs and failed to address the critical issue …

Electronic Discovery- Sedona Canada Is Inadequate On Records Management - Here's Sedona Canada In Amended Form, Ken Chasse

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

A paper record can exist without its records system; an electronic record cannot. To use, corrupt, or destroy a paper record, one needs physical access to the records system wherein it is stored. But to use, corrupt, or destroy an electronic record one merely needs electronic access to its records system, from anywhere. Therefore any set of rules or principles for controlling the use of electronic records for any purpose, including electronic discovery, should incorporate the established policies and practices of electronic records management.

As to cost, rules of electronic discovery are needed with which to punish par- ties with …

Sampling: Making Electronic Discovery More Cost Effective, Milton Luoma, Vicki Luoma

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

With the huge volumes of electronic data subject to discovery in virtually every instance of litigation, time and costs of conducting discovery have become exceedingly important when litigants plan their discovery strategies. Rather than incurring the costs of having lawyers review every document produced in response to a discovery request in search of relevant evidence, a cost effective strategy for document review planning is to use statistical sampling of the database of documents to determine the likelihood of finding relevant evidence by reviewing additional documents. This paper reviews and discusses how sampling can be used to make document review more …

A Discussion Of The Seventh Circuit's Electronic Discovery Pilot Program And Its Impact On Early Case Assessment, Tina B. Solis

Northern Illinois University Law Review

In response to the skyrocketing costs of electronic discovery, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Electronic Discovery Committee has enacted a pilot program called the Principles Relating to the Discovery of Electronically Stored Information ("Principles"). The Principles' purpose is to reduce the burden and cost of discovery in litigation brought on primarily by the use of electronic stored information in today's world. The Principles emphasize cooperation and proportionality. As a result, counsel and their clients must not only understand the identity and location of a client's ESI prior to the initial status conference but also meet and confer with opposing …

Enforcement Of U.S. Electronic Discovery Law Against Foreign Companies: Should U.S. Courts Give Effect To The Eu Data Protection Directive?, Kristen A. Knapp

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

Enforcing discovery against companies located in foreign nations is not a new phenomenon. The U.S. Supreme Court took up the conflict between U.S. discovery rules and foreign non-disclosure law in a 1958 case. Despite more than fifty years to reach a settled jurisprudence regarding how to enforce U.S. law against foreign domiciled companies, there has yet to be a clear articulation of a standard applicable in all cases. Currently, there are two main sets of rules under which U.S. courts may enforce discovery laws against foreign companies, and if necessary impose sanctions for non-compliance: the Hague Convention and the U.S. …

Book Review: E-Discovery In Canada, Robert J. Currie

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

It is not hyperbolic to say that the proliferation of electronically stored information (ESI) is probably the most prominent change-harbinger and potential havoc-wreaker in civil litigation today — second only, perhaps, to the spiralling costs of litigation itself. Indeed, the practical and legal difficulties associated with the storage, gathering, preservation, disclosure and evidentiary use of ESI have the potential to act as a Trojan Horse, causing what would previously have been ordinary cases to implode under their weight. Increasing recognition of this is evident; electronic discovery (e-discovery) cases have begun to emerge in the reports, a successful co-operative effort by …

Avoiding Sanctions At The E-Discovery Meet-And-Confer In Common Law Countries, Milton Luoma, Vicki Luoma

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The rules of civil procedure in common law countries have been amended to better deal with the requirements of electronic discovery. One of the key changes in case management is the scheduling of a meet-and-confer session where the parties to litigation must meet early in the case before any discovery procedures have begun to exchange information regarding the nature, location, formats, and pertinent facts regarding custody and control of a party’s electronically stored information (ESI). Failure to abide by the rules and participate in good faith at the meet-and-confer session can have dire consequences for the parties and lawyers involved. …

Reasonableness In E-Discovery, Debra Lyn Bassett

Campbell Law Review

Issues of reasonableness arise regularly throughout American law. Reasonableness is a concept central to tort law, which imposes a reasonable person standard in ascertaining duty. Criminal guilt turns on a reasonable doubt standard. And in civil discovery, the concept of reasonableness features prominently: discovery's scope reaches information that is reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, and discovery cannot be unreasonably cumulative or duplicative. Reasonableness standards require judges to undertake an objective, rather than subjective, evaluation. E-discovery specifically has two significant overarching reasonableness components: reasonable accessibility for production and reasonable care in preservation and disclosure. The interpretation …

Proportionality In Discovery: A Cautionary Tale, John L. Carroll

Campbell Law Review

"There has been widespread criticism of the abuse of discovery."' That statement comes not from a recent edition of the Defense Research Institute newsletter but from the Advisory Committee notes to the 1980 amendment that gave us the Rule 26(f) conference. Discovery abuse and the increase in the cost of litigation that flows from such abuse has been a constant theme emerging from analysis of the civil justice system.

Waving Goodbye To Waiver? Not So Fast: Inadvertent Disclosure, Waiver Of The Attorney-Client Privilege, And Federal Rule Of Evidence 502, Elizabeth King

Campbell Law Review

Waiver of the attorney-client privilege due to inadvertent disclosure is an important issue that courts and litigants have grappled with for a long time. With electronic discovery becoming increasingly common, and with electronic privilege reviews replacing paper reviews, the issue takes on greater importance. The risk of inadvertently disclosing privileged or protected information is heightened in electronic discovery because of the very nature of electronic information. For example, although a party makes an effort to segregate and delete privileged information from a computer drive prior to producing the electronic documents to the opposing party, the deleted files may still be …

Federal Rule Of Evidence 502: Stirring The State Law Of Privilege And Professional Responsibility With A Federal Stick, Henry S. Noyes

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporate Cooperation Through Cost-Sharing, Nicola Faith Sharpe

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Applying a game-theoretic approach based on the classic prisoners' dilemma provides valuable insights into corporate managers' decision-making incentives under existing discovery rules. It demonstrates that the fee structure imposed by current discovery rules leads to inefficiency and motivates corporate litigants on either side of a controversy to employ abusive discovery practices, although each party would benefit from cooperation. Using this framework, this Article shows how a cost-sharing regime can motivate litigants to engage in cooperative discovery and, as a consequence, facilitate more efficient and less abusive discovery practices. To date, scholars, who have posited that cooperative behavior in the discovery …

The Philip F. Reed Lecture Series, Panel Discussion, Sanctions In Electronic Discovery Cases: Views From The Judges, Hon. John M. Facciola, Hon. Elizabeth D. Laporte, Hon. Loretta A. Preska, Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Preserving Attorney-Client Privilege In The Age Of Electronic Discovery, Anthony Francis Bruno

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Managing Electronic Discovery: Views From The Judges, Lee H. Rosenthal, James C. Francis, Daniel J. Capra

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rule 37(F) Meets Its Critics: The Justification For A Limited Preservation Safe Harbor For Esi, Thomas Y. Allman

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Electronic Discovery Sanctions In The Twenty-First Century, Shira A. Scheindlin, Kachana Wangkeo

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

At the federal level, the Civil Rules Advisory Committee has responded to the "unique and necessary feature of computer systems--the automatic recycling, overwriting, and alteration of electronically stored information"--with a proposed amendment to Rule 37. The proposed Rule 37(f) would shield litigants from sanctions for the destruction of electronic data if the party "took reasonable steps to preserve the information after it knew or should have known the information was discoverable in the action" and "the failure resulted from the loss of the information because of the routine operation of the party's electronic information system." The safe harbor provision would …