E-Discovery
From lawbrain.com
E-Discovery (electronic discovery) is how electronic data is requested, located, acquired, and then searched in the course of civil or criminal litigation. E-discovery covers a broad range of data including audio files, photographs, animation, software, email, and online documents.
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Overview
Electronic data is extremely searchable, rich with useful hidden data (metadata), and is often challenging to completely delete. Metadata is information about the data itself.[1] contains easily ascertainable attributes such as the time an email was written, the IP address it was sent from, and when a document was last edited. However, metadata can also show past changes to a file, users who have worked on a document, and comments that were added during the editing process--even if removed afterwards. Metadata software can allow access to some of these advanced functions of hidden data, which the user likely did not realize could be accessed later. Exposure of metadata can be an overarching concern to legal departments in the course of matters such contract negotiations, intellectual property litigation, and employment lawsuits.
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and e-Discovery
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) apply to e-Discovery. Common FRCP rules such as Rule 16B and 26(F)--the Meet and Confer Rule, Duty of Disclosure, Privilege Claims, Forms of Production, Rule 37--Safe Harbor are FRCP Rules that also apply to e-Discovery.
State E-Discovery
E-Discovery is not wholly a federal courts phenomena however. Over half the states in the U.S. have adopted e-discovery procedures for state court cases.[2] California is one such state with adoption of its Electronic Discovery Act.[3] In this Act, a party will not be sanctioned by the courts if they are unable to produce electronically stored information that has been lost, damanaged, altered or overwritten, if such action occured as a result of routine, good faith operation of the electronic system holding such information.[4]
E-Discovery Software
Considering the ease of organizing and searching electronic data, many firms opt for software to collect, sift through, and organize e-Discovery data. it is no wonder that there are many options for e-Discovery software.[5] The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure specify rules for discovery and E-Discovery. Other major topics in E-Discovery include legal holds and Sedona Conference.
References
- ↑ [http://www.llrx.com/features/metadata.htm
- ↑ http://blogs.findlaw.com/technologist/2009/09/states-embrace-electronic-discovery.html
- ↑ http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_0001-0050/ab_5_bill_20090629_chaptered.pdf
- ↑ http://blogs.findlaw.com/technologist/2009/07/e-discovery-california-gets-into-the-act.html
- ↑ http://blogs.findlaw.com/technologist/2009/09/top-5-latest-ediscovery-developments.html
External Links
Related Resources on FindLaw
- Interactive Guide to Electronic Discovery
- FYI: Electronic Discovery
- Electronic Discovery from the Department of Labor
- Free copy of eDiscovery for Dummies
- Potential Jail Time For Electronic Discovery Abuse and Spoliation of Evidence
Related Blogs on FindLaw
- How to Budget for eDiscovery Costs - eDiscovery & Records ...
- How to Budget for eDiscovery Costs. By Neetal Parekh on September 25, ... Just as with any project, once the eDiscovery actually kicks off you will likely want to ... [?]
- Building eDiscovery Teams - eDiscovery & Records Management ...
- It makes sense considering that they come from different backgrounds and have different goals and responsibilities when it comes to eDiscovery. ... [?]
- In House: eDiscovery & Legal Tech Archives
- As e-discovery compels more corporate legal departments to work in collaboration with their IT department, a need for a document management platform arises. ... [?]
- eDiscovery & Records Management - Legal Technology - Technologist
- Technologist features eDiscovery & Records Management news and information and the latest legal technology for attorneys and legal professionals [?]
- e-Discovery 101 for the In-House Attorney - eDiscovery ...
- From the halls of software companies and the conference rooms of legal technology firms, e-Discovery is coming in-house. The... - eDiscovery & Legal Tech [?]
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See Also
Contributors
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