October 10, 2014

What is the 7th Circuit Electronic Discovery Pilot Program?

by Alan Brooks

As eDiscovery is now ubiquitous with almost all civil litigation, courts and attorneys nationwide are broaching new territory regarding parties’ obligations for ESI production. The 7th Circuit began an electronic discovery pilot program with a stated purpose is to “provide incentives for the early and informal information exchange on commonly encountered issues relating to evidence preservation and discovery, paper and electronic, as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f)(2).”

The Principles expounded upon by the 7th Circuit include guidance for trial attorneys on the following issues:

1.02: Cooperation in facilitating discovery requests

1.03: Discovery proportionality from Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 26(b)(2)(C) should be applied in each case

2.01: Duty to Meet and Confer to discuss issues including:

(1) Identification of ESI, including methods of identifying sources and methodologies

(2) Scope of ESI

(3) Format for preservation and production

(4) Potential for reducing costs and burdens

(5) Potential need for protective order and handling inadvertent production of privilege

2.02 eDiscovery Liaison: The process will be aided by the participation of an eDiscovery liaison, who can:

(a) Participate in dispute resolution

(b) Be knowledgeable about the eDiscovery efforts

(c) Be familiar with the party’s electronic systems

(d) Be knowledgeable about the technical aspects of eDiscovery

2.04: Scope of Preservation

2.05: Identification of Electronically Stored Information

2.06: Production Format: Native file or other reasonably usable form

3.01: Judicial Expectations of Counsel

3.02: Duty of Continuing Legal Education

Any practitioner in the 7th Circuit should read and familiarize themselves with these principles. However, these issues will likely come into play for attorneys and parties in all circuits nationwide.

ILS – Plaintiff eDiscovery Experts

Did you know? Although 70% of data is created by individuals, enterprises are responsible for 80% of the storage and protection of it.