December 16th, 2005

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy holiday season and much success in 2006!
  • We lead this issue with the second part of Sonya Sigler's article on the implications for defense counsel of the forthcoming Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as they apply to electronic discovery.
  • The world continues to revolve and judges issue rulings even as the new rules work their way through the system. As a reminder of this, we offer a link to a summary of a recent District Court of Maryland ruling on the topic of early and prompt response to electronic discovery requests, and on the subject of inadvertent waiver of privilege.
  • Our final piece provides a perspective on these same rules based on The Sedona Principles, which have been developed over the past three years to address best practices relating to electronic discovery.
> New Rules for Electronic Evidence: The Case for the Defense - Part 2

By Sonya Sigler

Several factors associated with the new rules will require earlier and fuller understanding of the evidence. The availability of more sophisticated electronic discovery technologies will provide the means to accomplish this more completely than ever before. The combination of more time and more sophisticated technologies will have a significant impact on the way both sides approach electronic evidence in the future.

Visit http://cataphora.com/out.php?go=768nt to read the rest of the story

> Magistrate Orders Parties to Develop a Reasonable Electronic Discovery Plan Addressing Pre-and Post-Production Privilege Review

As if to underline the importance of early and prompt repsonse, as discussed in the article above, a District Court of Maryland judge recently ruled on a situation in which a dispute over electronic discovery "festered" for months. The judge ruled that "Such delay is no longer acceptable, and it is the duty of the parties to initiate the negotiation process if the court has not ordered it." The ruling goes on to specifically address the issue of inadvertent waiver of privilege in the course of a prompt response to an electronic discovery request.

Read a summary on the Electronic Discovery Law website at http://cataphora.com/out.php?go=7kowz

> The Sedona Production Principles and the Proposed Federal Rules Addressing E-Discovery

By Thomas Y. Allman

Over the past three years, a group of lawyers has worked together to develop The Sedona Principles, a set of best practices relating to electronic discovery. In this article, Thomas Allman analyzes the proposed Federal rules amendments through the prism of The Sedona Principles and offers suggestions on how the proposed amendments can be modified to better suit the needs of civil litigants.

Read the full article on the Federal Courts Law Review website at http://www.fclr.org/2005fedctslrev3.htm


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