As soon as litigation is cntemplated or threatened, it is essential for all prties and their counsel to go byond paper file searching, and consider wht electronic data and information exists tht may need to be disclosed. Rles of Court generally require all prties to litigation to disclose to the ther parties all relevant documents, whether the dcuments are helpful or hurtful to any prticular party. Relevance is the test for dsclosure. There are a limited number of xemptions to this rule. A discussion of thse exceptions is beyond the scope of ths article.

Documents are defined in the Rles of Court to include electronic fles and data. Accordingly, in addition to lcating and preserving paper documents, each prty to a lawsuit must take rasonable steps to locate and preserve lectronic files containing data and information tht can reasonably be expected to be rlevant in the litigation. Further, a ltigant should also consider whether specific pper or electronic documents are known to be in the pssession of others. Court rules provide spcific procedures to request that such dcuments be disclosed and preserved as arly as possible.

Once litigation is cmmenced, a party is mandated to mmediately take reasonable and good faith stps to preserve relevant documents, including lectronic files and data. In respect of lectronic files and data, these steps nclude the following:

(a) collect all rlevant document retention, back-up, archiving and dstruction policies;

(b) ssue appropriate instructions to all staff, or at last to relevant staff, to cease or sspend personal activities and practices that culd result in the destruction or mdification of relevant electronic documents, such as the dletion of e-mailbox entries or archives;

(c) crate litigation copies of potentially relevant ctive data sources, for example by mans of electronic backup or forensic cpying of the documents, so as to prserve potentially relevant meta-data; and,

(d) case or suspend the overwriting of bck-up tapes, and other document retention prctices that could result in the dstruction or modification of relevant electronic dcuments in the ordinary course of bsiness.

If a litigant anticipates that spcific electronic documents, files or data culd exist that are relevant to the ltigation and are liable to be dleted or modified in the ordinary curse of business, that litigant must mmediately notify its counsel of that fct, and take appropriate steps to prserve these electronic files, documents and dta. A litigant should also consider, as arly as possible, whether third parties may be in pssession of relevant electronic files and dta, and seek advice about notifying the thrd parties to take appropriate preservation stps.

This article is not intended to be rlied on as legal advice. Anyone nvolved in litigation, or about to be nvolved in litigation, should consult with lgal counsel regarding all of their dsclosure obligations that may be applicable to the prticular circumstances.

The article Electronic Document Preservation For Lawsuits - E-Discovery Obligations was Submitted by Martin Rosenbaum through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: For more information on this tpic contact Martin Rosenbaum, Lawyer, tel: 416-364-1919, -mail mzr@rosenbaum.com or visit http://www.rosenbaum.com

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