Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
we.take.a.detailed.look.at.all.of.the.different.types.of.electronic.
evidence.and.where.and.how.it.is.stored..This.is.information.
you.should.use.as.you.explore.and.discuss.with.your.attorneys.
the.speciic.electronic.data.for.which.you.are.responsible.
In.a.recent.survey.commissioned.by.the.Deloitte.Forensic.
Center. and. conducted. by. the. Economist. Intelligence. Unit.
(EIU),
*
.it.was.found.that.40%.of.respondents.did.not.feel.like.
their.organization's.IT.and.legal.staff.communicated.well.and.
35%.did.not.have.a.team.to.respond.to.e-discovery.requests..
In. fact. in. many. cases. the. people. who. should. have. known.
about.e-discovery.issues.were.found.to.be.painfully.unaware.
of.the.issues..This.serves.to.further.point.out.the.depth.of.this.
problem. and. the. importance. of. you. and. your. organization.
coming.to.grips.with.it.as.soon.as.possible.
If.you.have.reason.to.consider.data.inaccessible,.you.will.
need.to.do.a.good.job.of.explaining.and.documenting.why.
that. is. the. case.. Rule. 26. (b)(2). was. amended. to. speciically.
address.this.issue..It.basically.says.that.if.relevant.electronic.
data.are.not.“reasonably.accessible”.because.the.data.would.
cost.too.much.to.produce.or.be.too.much.of.a.burden.or.are.
simply.no.longer.available,.then.you.are.not.required.to.pro-
duce.the.data.as.evidence..It.also.attempts.to.set.some.proce-
dures.for.how.to.shift.costs.if.data.are.considered.inaccessible.
Unfortunately,.the.term.“reasonably.accessible”.is.not.spe-
ciically.deined.in.the.rules..However,.there.is.considerable.
case.law.that.gives.some.idea.of.what.the.courts.are.expecting.
Data. that. are. live,. online. on. servers,. desktops,. laptops,.
and.so.forth,.at.the.time.of.expected.litigation.will.be.con-
sidered. accessible. of. course.. But. also,. data. that. are. well.
documented. and. organized,. such. as. indexed. backup. tapes.
that.can.be.retrieved.without.undue.burden.to.your.organiza-
tion,.have.been.deemed.reasonably.accessible..Information.
*.
Deloitte,.E-Discovery:.Mitigating.Risk.through.Better.Communication:.http://
www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Services/Financial-Advisory-Services/
Forensic-Center/26d4c52d2bdf8210VgnVCM200000bb42f00aRCRD.htm..
Retrieved.2011-02-15.
