California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law a new enactment governing e-discovery in that state.  Readers of MassTortDefense know what a significant issue electronic discovery has been in products litigation, particularly since the amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure more specifically focused on e-discovery issues. Rather than a device to uncover relevant facts for the litigation, e-discovery often is about plaintiffs’ attempt to find some alleged misstep by the defendant that will bring sanctions.

The Governator signed the Electronic Discovery Act, establishing new rules and procedures for litigants who seek electronically stored information.  The law is designed to make discoverable only  those reasonably accessible sources of electronic data, and it provides that litigants shouldn’t be sanctioned for losing data through the ordinary operation of an electronic system. The law establishes that a party may move for a protective order from an electronic discovery request on the grounds that the information sought is inaccessible, though it gives courts discretion to require limited discovery in those cases if the demanding party shows good cause, subject to specified restrictions in specified circumstances.

California courts may also limit electronic discovery from accessible sources if they determine that the information sought could be obtained by other means, is duplicative, or if the expense of
the discovery outweighs its likely benefit. While the Electronic Discovery Act allows courts to
impose sanctions on parties which fail to comply adequately with discovery requests, the courts shall not impose sanctions on a party (or any attorney of a party) for failure to provide electronically stored information that has been lost, damaged, altered or overwritten as the result of the routine, good faith operation of an electronic information system.

The new law also requires discovered materials to be produced in the form in which they are kept in the ordinary course of business.

MassTortDefense noted that a survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform of chief legal officers at Fortune 100 companies revealed that:

-On average, 45‐50% of respondents’ civil litigation costs in 2007 related to discovery activities.

-Discovery of ESI accounted for, on average, a significant share (between 33‐39%) of total discovery costs.

-Costs associated with e‐discovery vendors were reported in 63% of large cases. When used, e‐discovery vendors accounted for, on average, 10‐12% of total costs.

-About 61% of case respondents felt that certain discovery requests received from the opposing party were designed to impose undue settlement pressure by increasing the costs to continue the litigation.

-In both state and federal court, the company respondents reported that more than half of their civil litigation matters involved the receipt of discovery requests that sought information beyond the claims or defenses at issue.

– About 31% of company respondents reported that at least 40% of the time ESI requested from them by the opposing party is not reasonably accessible.

This bill is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.