Sixteen Critical ESI Legal Issues

Over the next several weeks the E-Discovery Alert will focus on the strategy and tactics for handling sixteen specific ESI issues throughout pretrial discovery. Whether it is a "meet and confer" or request for production these are the critical issues to focus in requesting or producing ESI. The legal issue excerpts will be derived from the Best Practices Guide for ESI Pretrial Discovery - Strategy and Tactics (2008-2009). The Guide is cross-referenced and hyperlinked with the Arkfeld on Electronic Discovery and Evidence treatise and part of the CD-ROM.

The 16 issues are:

§3.1 - Nature of Claims and Defenses
§ 3.2 - Scope of Discovery
§ 3.3 - Terminology and Classification of ESI
§ 3.4 - ESI Discovery, Type and Storage
§ 3.5 - Preservation Obligation and Litigation Hold
§ 3.6 - Controlling Costs
§ 3.7 - Search Methodology and Protocol
§ 3.8 - Inspection of Computer System and Deleted ESI
§ 3.9 - Chain of Custody and Evidentiary Issues
§ 3.10 - Rule 34 and Form of Production
§ 3.11 - Work-product, Privileged ESI, Nonwaiver Agreement and Retrieval Procedure
§ 3.12 - Accessibility of ESI and Cost Allocation
§ 3.13 - Burdensome, Relevancy and Overbroad
§ 3.14 - Protective Orders - Rule 26(c)
§ 3.15 - Certification of Production Efforts and Search Methodology and Protocol
§ 3.16 - Spoliation and Sanctions