Electronic Discovery Practice Under the Federal Rules, 2013 Edition (Bloomberg Bna's E-discovery Portfolio)

Electronic Discovery Practice Under the Federal Rules, 2013 Edition, the first volume in the Electronic Discovery Portfolio Series, examines the history of the changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure relating to discovery of electronically stored information (ESI) and analyzes the revisions in relation to existing discovery practice. This resource provides an understanding of the rules for ESI and their application in subsequent case law, examining how they can be applied to maximum effectiveness in civil litigation. The portfolio begins with an analysis of the rule changes evolution, noting significant changes and points of debate throughout the rulemaking process, including such hot topic areas as duty to preserve, reasonable accessibility, cost-shifting, and sanctions for spoliation. Each rule is then discussed, including: Initial disclosures under Rule 26 and the parties early meeting of counsel and initial pretrial conference before the court Changes to Rule 26(b) that introduce a new two-tiered structure for production of ESI Changes to Rules 33, 34, and 45 relating to the forms of production of ESI in response to document requests and interrogatories Privilege and work product issues Limitations on sanctions provided by Rule 37(f), which purports to protect certain losses of information to the extent they occur in good faith and due to the routine operation of an electronic information system As updated, the revised 2013 Edition examines recent case law discussing discovery sanctions for spoliation and the lack of a uniform national standard governing such sanctions; describes recently enacted state legislation and state court rules governing electronic discovery and the proposals for similar rules made by state bar associations; discusses recent case law and guidelines issued by the Sedona Conference regarding the duty to preserve; and analyzes recent case law discussing the burdens associated with both requesting and producing inaccessible responsive information.