The explosion of electronic documents requires litigators to have a plan for managing discovery, to protect the client’s interests and to gain a strategic advantage over their opponents. In the US, the disclosure of electronic documents is becoming – or has already become – standard procedure.
In 2003 US litigators witnessed ground-breaking court decisions, rule and regulation modifications specifically relating to electronic documents and innovative technological advancements. These changes occurred against a backdrop of several high profile corporate scandals, evidence of which was often memorialised in e-mail communications. What follows is a brief discussion of the most recent legal and technological changes relating to electronic discovery in the US legal system.
