The Sedona Conference® Cooperation Proclamation

July 2008.  Available for free download here.

Excerpt:

The costs associated with adversarial conduct in pre-trial discovery have become a serious burden to the American judicial system.  This burden rises significantly in discovery of electronically stored information (“ESI”).  In addition to rising monetary costs, courts have seen escalating motion practice, overreaching, obstruction, and extensive, but unproductive discovery disputes – in some cases precluding adjudication on the merits altogether – when parties treat the discovery process in an adversarial manner.  Neither law nor logic compels these outcomes.

With this Proclamation, The Sedona Conference® launches a national drive to promote open and forthright information sharing, dialogue (internal and external), training, and the development of practical tools to facilitate cooperative, collaborative, transparent discovery.  This Proclamation challenges the bar to achieve these goals and refocus litigation toward the substantive resolution of legal disputes.