Northern District of California Adopts New E-Discovery Guidelines

This week, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California announced "new Guidelines for counsel and litigants regarding the discovery of electronically stored information ("ESI")."

According to the Court’s announcement:

The Guidelines are designed to establish best practices for evidence preservation in the digital age and to ensure that local practices regarding the discovery of ESI keep pace with rapidly evolving technology and to be flexible enough to be used in a wide variety of cases.  According to Judge Laporte:  “These tools are designed to promote cooperative e-discovery planning as soon as practicable that is tailored and proportionate to the needs of the particular case to achieve its just, speedy and inexpensive resolution, consistent with Rule 1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”

The package of new ESI-related documents comprises:

• Guidelines for the Discovery of Electronically Stored Information;
• ESI checklist for use during the Rule 26(f) meet and confer process;
• Model Stipulated Order Re: the Discovery of Electronically Stored Information.
 

To read the full text of the announcement, click here.
To access the new guidelines and related documents, click here.