Managing Discovery of Electronic Information: A Pocket Guide for Judges

By Barbara J. Rothstein, Ronald J. Hedges, and Elizabeth C. Wiggins

Federal Judicial Center (2007)

This “Pocket Guide” identifies problems that recur during the course of electronic discovery, and presents management tools that federal judges may use for responding to them.  The 26-page publication may be downloaded from the Federal Judicial Center’s website, free of charge.

From the Preface:

This pocket guide is designed to help federal judges manage the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI).  It encourages judges to actively manage those cases involving ESI, raising points for consideration by the parties rather than awaiting the parties’ identification and argument of the matters.  The guide covers issues unique to the discovery of ESI, including its scope, the allocation of costs, the form of production, the waiver of privilege and work-product protection, and the preservation of data and spoliation.  As you are reading, you may encounter some unfamiliar terms.  Many of these terms are defined in a glossary at the end of the guide.  A note of appreciation goes to Judge Lee H. Rosenthal (S.D. Tex.), Ken Withers (the Sedona Conference), and John Rabiej (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts) for their suggestions, which improved this publication.  I hope you find the guide useful in meeting the challenges presented by the discovery of ESI.

Barbara Jacobs Rothstein
Director, Federal Judicial Center