In recent years, nothing has had a greater impact on trial practice and business litigation than the rise of electronic discovery. Courts sometimes impose devastating sanctions for electronic-discovery missteps; jurors punish companies for real or imagined destruction of evidence; and American businesses spend enormous sums on vendors and technologies that seem uncertain and quickly out of date.

Faced with this landscape, clients need proactive advice about document policies and procedures before a lawsuit is filed; dependable strategies at a lawsuit's outset for the preservation; identification and collection of electronic documents; and vigorous defense and prosecution of claims relating to electronic documents.

Recognizing these problems, lawyers at Lightfoot, Franklin & White have developed the legal expertise necessary to deal with this evolving area at the intersection of the law, business and technology. One of our partners participates in The Sedona Conference Working Group on Electronic Discovery. We have sound, ongoing relationships with leading vendors of forensic and database-management services, resulting in seamless, cost-effective legal and technical service to our clients. We have a broad range of experience and expertise from which our clients regularly benefit, from pre-litigation negotiations through trial and appeal, including:

• Advice on document-retention and document-management policies and systems;
• Prosecution and defense of spoliation or destruction-of-evidence claims, including obstruction charges in business-crime matters;
• Preparation and implementation of "legal holds;"
• Electronic discovery of opposing parties and experts;
• Coordination of paper and electronic discovery at multistate, multi-facility companies;
• Advice with regard to the selection of vendors, experts and court-appointed special masters;
• Consultation on depositions and electronic-document production for IT personnel.

LF&W Resources

• "Electronic Document Production and Privilege Claims" Electronic files raise special privilege issues. To read further, click here.
• "Electronic Discovery: The New Federal Rules" For a summary of the new rules, click here.
• "Electronic Integrity, Or, A Few Things Not To Do With Your Computer at Work" Are you worried about what you and your colleagues do with e-mail and electronic files? If not, you should be. Click here.
• "Document Destruction After Andersen" The Supreme Court's obstruction-of-justice decision in United States v. Andersen has significant implications for electronic discovery. To read further, click here.

General EDDI Resources

• The Federal Judicial Center has a helpful section on electronic discovery. Go to http://www.fjc.gov/.
• The Sedona Conference has been a leader in discussion about electronic discovery. Go to http://www.sedonaconference.org/.
• An article on preservation orders by Dean John Carroll can be found at http://fclr.org/2005fedctslrev5.htm.
• Kroll OnTrack's Legal Resources provides a useful collection of cases. Go to http://krollontrack.com/legalresources/.