Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series.

Leonard Deutchman Leonard Deutchman

Typically, a client obtaining e-discovery services enters into an agreement with an e-discovery vendor. Such agreements may be for a single provision of services, but if the client is a regular client of the vendor, the parties will often enter into a master agreement that sets forth key legal and business terms, with a statement of work drafted for each provision of services setting out the particulars of that engagement.

Recently, parties are adding a separate set of provisions: obligations arising from the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679, a regulation in EU law that took effect on May 25, and which addresses both data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union and the export of personal data outside the EU. In this month's article, I will discuss how the requirements of the GDPR have resulted in changes to client/vendor e-discovery agreements.

Standard Master Agreements

Standard master agreements address many disparate issues. They designate the services provider as the vendor and the services recipient as the client, and identify who within each organization represents it, where the organization is located, who receives communication, and so on. They describe, usually as generally as possible, the scope of the services to be provided and the rates of payment for each service.