E-Discovery Zero Hour Approaches

As the Dec. 1 deadline for new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure draws closer, it’s time to go tech or close shop.

""Everybody is a little terrified," said Martha Dawson, a partner with Seattle-based Preston Gates & Ellis. Dawson practices in the firm’s document analysis technology group. With some litigants in recent cases subjected to harsh sanctions for bungling e-discovery demands, clients and attorneys are worried about their ability to organize unwieldy information systems, she said. "

Creating particular anxiety is one component of the rules that requires parties to meet and address the preservation of electronic information 21 days before their first scheduling conference. New Rule 26(f) calls for parties to discuss "any issues relating to disclosure or discovery of electronically stored information, including the form or forms in which it should be produced." "

Read the entire article from Leigh Jones at National Law Journal here.