State E-Discovery Today: An Assessment and Update of Rulemaking

Thomas Y. Allman

Abstract

Discovery of information in electronic form for use in civil litigation in the United States has assumed major importance in the state courts, where the great bulk of litigation occurs. This paper analyzes the 37 states that have formally acted against the backdrop of the key issues facing litigants utilizing electronically stored information, with a particular emphasis on the author's view, as a former General Counsel, that the time has come to embody rationale principles of preservation and spoliation in the rules at both the federal and state level.