Preserve or Perish; Destroy or Drown - eDiscovery Morphs into Electronic Information Management

Abstract

Electronic discovery-including the contents of e-mail messages and/or the deletion of e-mails-has driven the outcome of many high-profile cases. We live in a progressively more digital world. Thus, when disputes ripen into litigation, clients, attorneys, and judges have had to focus increasingly on preserving, gathering, culling, reviewing, and producing electronic information. The complexity of information technology (IT) and the costs of mastering IT have burgeoned. Only some eDiscovery issues are resolvable by resort to traditional discovery principles. Consequently, many unique digital issues have infiltrated not only civil litigation, but also companies' overall records policies, procedures, and protocols.