Governance Gauge: Top Court Issues E-Discovery Rules

Electronic documents present different challenges than do paper documents. For instance, they tend to come in higher volumes, they're more subject to change and they may be incomprehensible when separated from the systems that create them. Recognizing these facts, the Supreme Court and Congress have amended e-document-related aspects of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure accordingly. The new rules take effect Dec. 1.

One notable change expands the scope of what can be included in an electronic-discovery request: In addition to e-mail messages, attachments, word processing documents, spreadsheets and presentations, requests can include graphics, digital images, instant messages, audio and video recordings, and voicemail messages. Information must be retained not only from desktops, laptops, network servers, backup systems and archive media, but also from personal digital assistants, handheld wireless devices, mobile telephones, paging devices and audio systems.

Specific amendments state that:

--Penny Crosman