It is beyond dispute that the explosive growth of electronically stored information (ESI) has transformed civil discovery, including third-party discovery. With greater volumes of information available from third parties than ever before, and court and policymaker sensitivity to the imposition of costs on third parties, counsel must take care to ensure that their third-party discovery practice is efficient and cost-effective. This article explores cost-effective third-party discovery practice. In particular, it discusses how counsel may be able to minimize costs by assuming certain costs directly and arranging for documents to be produced to, and warehoused by, the requesting party’s own in-house team or an outside vendor selected by the requesting party.
Both the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) and New York CPLR contemplate third-party discovery practice and sensitivity toward costs to third parties.
