This Toolkit was reviewed in October 2012 by our editorial team as part of ongoing maintenance. This Toolkit is also continually monitored for any necessary changes due to legal or practice developments.
Resources to assist counsel in managing electronic discovery in current or future litigation.
Electronic discovery (e-discovery) is a term used to describe the process of preserving and potentially producing (www.practicallaw.com/4-521-0519) electronically stored information (www.practicallaw.com/8-517-6434) (ESI) in litigation. E-discovery poses different and often more difficult challenges for litigants than traditional "paper" discovery. The volume of discoverable ESI often dwarfs the amount of discoverable paper documents. ESI may also be stored in a variety of formats (such as e-mail, voicemail messages and image files) and a multitude of locations (such as hard drives, cell phones, social media (www.practicallaw.com/6-505-4136) websites and third-party servers, or the "cloud (www.practicallaw.com/4-501-5476)").
Counsel and companies facing litigation must understand and comply with their e-discovery obligations. Courts increasingly sanction litigants for failing to preserve relevant ESI. Penalties can include monetary sanctions, contempt citations, adverse inference jury instructions and dismissal of claims or defenses (see Orbit One Commc'ns, Inc. v. Numerex Corp., 271 F.R.D. 429, 435 (S.D.N.Y. 2010)).
The E-Discovery Toolkit provides continuously maintained resources designed to help counsel and litigants meet their e-discovery obligations under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and developing case law. The resources in this Toolkit also provide practical tips for maintaining, providing and producing ESI in a cost effective and timely manner.
E-Discovery in the US: Overview (www.practicallaw.com/1-503-3009)
Practical Tips for Handling E-Discovery (www.practicallaw.com/8-500-3688)
Implementing a Litigation Hold (www.practicallaw.com/8-502-9481)
Drafting a Document Retention Policy (www.practicallaw.com/0-506-7349)
Document Requests: Performing the Document Review (www.practicallaw.com/0-519-6332)
Document Requests: What to Expect in Response to an RFP (www.practicallaw.com/4-519-6330)
E-Discovery Project Management Checklist (www.practicallaw.com/5-501-2806)
Preparing for E-Discovery Before Litigation Checklist (www.practicallaw.com/7-503-4435)
Document Retention Policy: US Checklist (www.practicallaw.com/8-502-8995)
Considerations When Selecting an E-Discovery Vendor Checklist (www.practicallaw.com/4-520-7423)
Questions To Ask a Prospective E-Discovery Vendor Checklist (www.practicallaw.com/9-520-3516)
Predictive Coding: A Primer (www.practicallaw.com/1-523-0104)
Predictive Coding in Action: How It Compares to Human Review (www.practicallaw.com/4-523-9382)
Choosing Outside E-Discovery Service Providers (www.practicallaw.com/0-506-0531)
Discovery Sanctions: Three Cautionary Tales (www.practicallaw.com/8-525-2705)
Steps for Protecting Privilege Under FRE 502 (www.practicallaw.com/3-501-1860)