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Demonstrating the True Burden of e-Evidence

By Kristin M. Nimsger

Approximately 3 years ago in Danis v. USN Communications, 2000 WL 1694325 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 23, 2000), Magistrate Judge Schenkier stated: “At some point, a party and/or its attorneys must be held responsible for knowing what documents are discoverable and where to find them.” He prefaced this statement by reasoning that we cannot create a loophole in the discovery rules by allowing counsel to argue: “Judge, we just didn't know those tapes existed.”

Case law in the past 3 years, most notably in Zubulake v. UBS Warburg, 2003 WL 21087884 (S.D.N.Y. May 13, 2003) decision, has expanded a corporate counselor's Danis duty to “know thy e-data.” See also Zubulake v. UBS Warburg, 216 F.R.D. 280 (S.D.N.Y. 2003). Counsel representing today's 21st century companies need to know more than simply where electronic evidence resides; they also have a duty to know if that data is accessible (ie, how easily it can be restored and produced) and how much the whole process is going to cost.

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