eDiscovery Daily Blog

• December 1, 2015

As we discussed yesterday, today is “E-Discovery Day”.  Click here to check out and register for the webinar sessions being conducted today.  Oh, and by the way, the December 2015 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) are official today!

Several Rules have been amended as part of the changes effective today, with the changes ranging from promotion of cooperation (Rule 1) and proportionality (Rule 26(b)(1)) to failure to preserve electronically stored information (Rule 37(e)) .  Here is a list of key Rules changed:

• Rule 1. Scope and Purpose
• Rule 4. Summons
• Rule 16. Pretrial Conferences; Scheduling; Management
• Rule 26. Duty to Disclose; General Provisions Governing Discovery
• Rule 30. Depositions by Oral Examination
• Rule 31. Depositions by Written Questions
• Rule 33. Interrogatories to Parties
• Rule 34. Producing Documents, Electronically Stored Information, and Tangible Things, or Entering onto Land, for Inspection and Other Purposes
• Rule 37. Failure to Make Disclosures or to Cooperate in Discovery; Sanctions

The specific changes are too voluminous to list here; however, if you want to check out the specific changes, EDRM has created an FRCP Reference Collection page with the entire FRCP with the changed Rules highlighted and links to those changed Rules, as well as articles and other resources.  You have to be an EDRM member to access the sections; if you’re not, click here for more information on how to join EDRM.

We’ve been covering the process and debate leading up to the Rules changes for over two and a half years now.  From introducing the initial proposed changes back in April 2013 to covering debate regarding the proposed Rules in the Senate (here and here) and covering over 2,300 public comments regarding the Rules that led to additional changes to Rule 37(e) (later changed again and covered here) to final approval of the Rules (here and here).  Not to mention discussion of the Rules by industry thought leaders last year and again this year!

So, what do you think?  Do you think the new FRCP changes will have a significant effect on how organizations handle eDiscovery?  If so, how?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.