E-discovery and States

By Holly Sheriff, MSLS  Edited by Jennifer Dudenhoeffer & Marc Collins

I am amazed at how many paralegals and attorneys ask what E-discovery is and what states have established rules and which states have not.  What also amazes me is the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules and Procedures for the Federal level first heard about issues with electronically stored information in or around 1996, but did not being digging into the matter until sometime around the year 2000.  The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that addressed discovery of electronically stored information went into effect on December 1, 2006; which put back on the table the discussion for the topic being amended in December of 2013.  I am not certain why the rules are up for discussion so soon, but I know there has been a lot of legal chatter in law reviews and journals that infer the E-discovery rules from 2006 were not what they should have been. Whether or not the rules from 2006 are broken and any amendments thereto are necessary is for the lawyers and judges to decide.

E-discovery is an expensive and frightening undertaking because it is still a relatively new concept. Exactly how new E-discovery is has been illustrated by, which states have followed the federal example.  Between 2008 through and including 2013, there are 44 states, which have enacted E-discovery rules I could uncovered.  That is not to say that the missing states have not followed suit or not are developing E-discovery rules.  These states are the only one I could find, which address E-discovery rules.  Here is the list in no particular order:

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

Tennessee Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

Wisconsin

Wyoming
It’s worth mentioning that some of the above states and jurisdictions refer to E-discovery directly; while other states refer to it as ESI or electronic information; which I discovered when making my list.  Arguably, E-discovery is here to stay and will continue to evolve just as our technology continues to evolve. Whether or not paralegals and attorneys should run out and get certified in E-discovery is a topic for another blog post.  I believe that if you are paralegal or attorney that works in a state at has E-discovery rules—attending training and CLE events regarding E-discovery should be a must.  The benefits of such courses far outweighs the costs.

Thanks for reading! Comeback and check out next  our blog entry about E-discovery training!

Disclaimer:  This blog entry is not intended to be used or interpreted to be legal advice or an opinion. This blog entry is offered as-is, and is not guaranteed to be correct. This blog entry not intended to be used as s substitution for a lawyer.  By using this website/blog, you understand this blog is not intended to be a checklist of any required procedures, or legal opinion or legal advice.  This blog post is only intended to be food for thought and tips to help other paralegals.  The author of this blog is not an attorney. Further, this blog is the personal opinions of the writer and is not intended to be a legal analysis of any legal topic and should not be a substitution of an attorney or legal advice. If you have come to this blog with a specific legal issue or problem, you should consider seeking the advice of a licensed attorney of your own choosing.  Any likeness, or similarity to  any other article  or the information contained herein is coincidence.

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