Electronic Discovery Law

Last month The Sedona Conference made available a public comment version of its newest publication, The Sedona Conference® Cooperation Proclamation: Resources for the Judiciary (“The Resources”).  The Resources “are intended to assemble and promote a variety of proven judicial management tools to help parties develop and execute appropriate, cost-effective, cooperative discovery plans; avoid unnecessary discovery disputes; and resolve discovery disputes that may arise in a fair and expeditious manner.”  The publication, a wealth of information in itself, is part of a larger effort by The Sedona Conference® to create an “interactive web site for judges to view, comment on, and contribute to over time.”  The Resources will:

•  Articulate a clear judicial philosophy of case management and discovery dispute resolution
•  Identify the stages of civil litigation when judicial involvement is most appropriate or desirable
•  Identify the issues that a judge is likely to face at each stage
•  Suggest strategies for case management or dispute resolution that encourage the parties, whenever possible, to reach a cooperative solution at each stage
•  Recommend further reading on the issues presented at each stage

As it is “intended that these Resources will become an interactive, online forum” for state and federal judges, this “preliminary ‘paper’” is “designed to elicit ideas and contributions for the editors to consider when they launch the online version in a few months” and readers are invited to share their contributions.

A worthwhile read, the paper includes a list of “existing literature on eDiscovery for judges,” a list of “general recommendations for judges,” and interesting discussions of the “stages of litigation from a judge’s perspective.”

A copy of the publication can be downloaded here.