Welcome
We now live in an age where the vast majority of personal, corporate, and government data are maintained in electronic form. This changeover from a paper system to a digital system, along with the increase of internet "social discourse" has vast implications for the criminal and civil justice systems. It impacts the discovery rules as well as the rules of of evidence. This course will focus on issues relating to the discovery of electronically stored information and the evidentiary issues which surround their use at trial.

Judge John Carroll [ About Me ]



Interest Items

The Sedona Conference Cooperation Proclamation

The Sedona Conference, one of the nation's leading think tanks on complex litigation and a leader in the E-discovery field has created the Sedona Conference Cooperation Proclamation which is a national coordinated effort to promote cooperation by all parties to the discovery process to help reduce the costs associated with discovery, particularly the costs associated with the discovery of electronically stored information. The proclamation promotes open and forthright information sharing, dialogue, training, and the development of practical tools to facilitate cooperative, collaborative and transparent discovery.

    

 

Judicial Recognition of the Importance of Cooperation

The foremost judicial E-discovery scholar, Judge Shira Scheindlin has issued an important opinion discussing the importance of cooperation between counsel when the discovery of electronically stored information is at issue. In the case , Securities & Exchange Commission v. Collins & Aikman Corp., 256 F.R.D. 403 (S.D.N.Y. 2009), Judge Scheindlin held that the SEC′s blanket refusal to negotiate a workable search protocol was patently unreasonable.

The Concept of Proportionality

One of the fastest developing topics in e-discovery is the concept of proportionality . While the concept of proportionality has been in the federal rules for some time, it gained new prominence in an opinion by Judge Paul Grimm, one of the real e-discovery scholars. In the opinion, styled, Mancia v. Mayflower Textile Services, 253 F.R.D. 354 (2008), Judge Grimm discusses the importance of a proportionality analysis and required the parties to develop a workable "discovery budget" that is proportional to what was at issue in the case.

Judicial Guidelines for Searches of Computers by Law Enforcement Agencies

In a case most famous because it tangentially involves Barry Bonds, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a series of guidelines for the search of computers. The decision, United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc., 2009 WL 2605378 (9Th Circuit, August 26, 2009) It is likely to be appealed but is highly recommended reading.

Article by Judge Carrol
lPRESERVATION OF DOCUMENTS IN THE ELECTRONIC AGE - WHAT SHOULD COURTS DO?