Electronic Discovery in View of the Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Thomas J. Bray, SecureImpact
Sam S. Han, University of Dayton

Abstract

Given the host of information that is now stored on electronic media, it is no surprise that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ("FRCivP") have been amended to accommodate discovery of electronic information ("eDiscovery"). Various state and federal court decisions preceded the amendment to the FRCivP, and various commentaries have been written about eDiscovery. Thus, this article does not seek to replicate what other authors have already competently reviewed. Rather, the objective of this article is to: (a) review the adopted amendments to the FRCivP that relate to electronic information; (b) examine how specific amendments interplay with other eDiscovery amendments; (c) discuss some of the open-ended provisions of the eDiscovery amendments; and (d) provide some practical guidelines that can be implemented in view of the eDiscovery amendments.