Discovery Resources

On June 29, 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed California’s Electronic Discovery Act into law.  Because the Act contains an urgency provision, it is effective as of June 29, 2009.

Here’s the Electronic Discovery Act in its entirety.

…. Tip of the hat to Michael J. Eng at the Electronic Discovery Navigator

by James D. Palmatier is a Partner at Galbraith, Palmatier & Assoc., LL

Federal Rule of Evidence 502 (“Rule 502”) was signed into law in September 2008 .  According to the Advisory Committee notes to Rule 502, the Rule is designed to provide a predictable consequence for the unintentional disclosure of information protected by the attorney-client privilege and attorney work-product doctrines, and to reduce the costs associated with the discovery phase of litigation .  Rule 502, related case law and recent developments in tools used for electronic document management all point to several cost effective and prudent steps that may help avoid waiver.  To be successful in the discovery phase a continue…

Abbott’s motion states:

“DOJ kept the lawsuit under seal for more than eleven years, conducting one-sided discovery against Abbott, but did nothing to preserve evidence in its own possession or control. “ Continue reading….

Kim Newman is a partner in O’Melveny’s Washington, DC office and a member of the Business Trial and Litigation and Electronic Discovery and Document Retention Practices recently wrote about sanctions that were imposed on outside counsel for Plaintiff Bray & Gillespie Management LLC for a “pattern of withholding and concealing information concerning discoverable material” from both the Court and opposing counsel.

The problems began with a failure to Object to the Request for ESI in Native Format and then failure to produce it. Continue reading….

To regain a class’s focus on a certain subject that they may not have been studying hard enough otherwise, teachers will often use a Pop Quiz.  Ronald Hedges, former United States Magistrate Judge in the District of New Jersey, is a believer in the pop quiz as well.  In the most recent New Jersey Law Journal, Hedges writes:

“Time for a pop quiz. Can you name the most important of the so-called “e-discovery” amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure adopted in 2006? Candidates include, among others, Rule 26(b)(2)(B), which introduced the concept of “not reasonably accessible” electronically stored information; Rule 26(b)(5)(B), which established a uniform procedure among the United continue…

“The use of good project management skills during an e-discovery process can help you navigate your way through a mass of information.” This article, which discusses the role of Project Management in  e-discovery is from Legalweek.com, an online journal which is dedicated exclusively to commercial lawyers in the UK and major international jurisdictions.  The authors even reference The Ramones, which certainly adds flair to an article about eDisclosure, as it’s known there.
Read more here

“You know things are bad when the lawyers withdraw.”  So begins an interesting post from Steven Puiszis, Editor-in-Chief of the Practical Ediscovery blog. He continues, “In MeccaTech (MTI), the magistrate judge observed: “Misconduct of this magnitude is a rare occurrence.” It was determined through discovery that one of the defendants employed a consultant to intentionally erase items from his computer before he left MTI’s employment in attempt to shield his activities from discovery.” Read more about ediscovery going very badly here

“The critical elements of a successful legal-hold strategy include broad-based management, transparent technological infrastructure and cross-departmental collaboration. Here are five steps to consider for organizations to improve their legal-hold process.”  Continue reading….

By Fernando M. Pinguelo and Andrew K. Taylor

From the second we stepped foot in law school we learned that the attorney-client privilege was sacrosanct. While by no means absolute, we knew it was pretty hard to gain access to the communications between an attorney and client. Waiver just became a little more likely in New Jersey. A state trial court decision underscores the reality that email communication is too often treated informally and we as attorneys can no longer assume a client’s “personal” email account is truly personal. For while the account itself may be, the means by which the message was sent may not.

Recently, a New Jersey trial court continue…

The American College of Trial Lawyers and the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal Systema legal have issued a report which calls for a complete overhaul of civil discovery rules to end costly and time-consuming demands for documents. The 30-page report contains proposals and general principles for overhauling the discovery rules used in both federal and state courts.  Download the report here.