Northern District of California Joins Growing List of Jurisdictions Adopting Guidelines on E-Discovery

The Northern District of California unveiled a new set of guidelines on Tuesday for the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI). The guidelines were developed by a bench-bar committee chaired by Magistrate Judge Elizabeth D. LaPorte in partnership with the Rules Committee. In addition to the guidelines, the court has also adopted an ESI checklist for use during the Rule 26(f) meet and confer process and a model stipulated order. According to Judge Laporte, “[t]hese tools are designed to promote cooperative e-discovery planning as soon as practicable that is tailored and proportionate to the needs of the particular case to achieve its just, speedy and inexpensive resolution, consistent with Rule 1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” Other federal courts to adopt local measures to address the discovery of ESI include the Seventh Circuit Electronic Discovery Pilot Program,  the District of Delaware, and the Eastern District of Texas, which has adopted a Model Order Regarding E-Discovery in Patent Cases.