Mobile Edition
Print
Get the Mag
Weekly Updates[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
The Federal Court of Australia has introduced e-discovery rules requiring all electronic documents and e-mails to be produced and exchanged electronically, preferably in their original formats.
The Federal Court Practice Note (the use of technology in the management of discovery and the conduct of litigation) is expected to end voluminous paper files in commercial cases and reduce litigation costs by millions, Australian IT reported.
The new rules, issued by Chief Justice Michael Black after 19 months of consultation, are an attempt to improve efficiencies and help contain costs and delays resulting from discovery. Under the new Federal Court rules, companies must meet strict requirements for the retention and handling of electronically stored information and ensure its availability for court proceedings.
The rules state that parties will have to "meet and confer" at a pre-discovery conference to discuss discovery--including anything that can be stored electronically, such as data stored in company systems and databases, text messages, videos, iPods, and executive laptops--and agree on a plan before the mandatory discovery conference takes place.
The federal note provides a flexible framework that is expected to maximize lawyers' use of technology, and re-level "a litigation playing field that has in recent years been skewed in favor of large corporations and top-tier law firms," lawyer and computer forensics expert Seamus Byrne told Australian IT.
However, the federal note likely will not spur uniform e-discovery procedures nationwide, as the NSW Supreme Court, which also handles a large volume of commercial litigation, issued a "Practice Note on the Use of Technology" that became effective in August 2008.
"The NSW Practice Note is a step in the right direction," said Byrne. "However, the federal note is much more comprehensive and, from the industry perspective, it's had the benefit of input from a much larger group of people."
Federal Attorney General Robert McClelland recently warned that lawyers and courts may see additional reforms soon as the Rudd government responds to the global economic downturn.
FEED