State Bar of California Issues Interim Opinion on Attorneys’ Ethical Duties in the “Handling of Discovery of [ESI]” – Public Comment Invited
The State Bar of California Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct has issued Formal Opinion Interim No. 11-0004 (ESI and Discovery Requests) for public comment. By analyzing a hypothetical fact pattern, the interim opinion addresses the following question: “What are an attorney’s ethical duties in the handling of discovery of electronically stored information?” Public comment on the opinion is being accepted until June 24, 2014. While this opinion will not directly affect practice outside of the State of California, it nonetheless may provide all attorneys with valuable insight into the duties of counsel in electronic discovery. [Please Note: California has not adopted the Model Code of Professional Conduct. Despite that, the opinion acknowledges that the authors “look[ed] to federal jurisprudence for guidance, as well as applicable Model Rules, and appl[ied] those principals [sic] based upon the California ethical rules and California’s existing discovery law outside the e-discovery setting.”] Read More