North Carolina Court Relies on Conference of Chief Justices’ Guidelines in Two Decisions Involving the Production of Email from Backup Tapes

These two opinions, both filed on November 1, 2006, discuss for the first time the extent to which inaccessible electronic data is discoverable and who should pay for its production under the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure.

Bank of America Corp. v. SR Int’l Bus. Ins. Co., Ltd., 2006 WL 3093174, 2006 NCBC 15 (N.C. Super. Nov. 1, 2006)

Analog Devices, Inc. v. Michalski, Case No. 01 CVS 10614, 2006 NCBC 14 (N.C. Super. Nov. 1, 2006)

The Analog Devices case addresses the issues in the context of a party-to-party request for production of documents, and the Bank of America decision addresses those issues in the context of a subpoena to a nonparty. “In some instances the considerations are the same, and in others they differ dramatically. In both contexts, trial judges should be guided by the language of the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure, supplemented by the Guidelines adopted by the Conference of Chief Justices.”

The case names contain links to the opinions on the court’s website, and summaries will be posted on www.ediscoverylaw.com.