Article by Stefanie Jill Fogel and Lauren E. Bishow posted on Law.com, September 26, 2007:

Information technology has undeniably become a key element of most business organizations, supporting both the primary methods of communication and the means of processing and storing vast amounts of proprietary information. The application of technology systems to the day-to-day activities of business has naturally caused electronically generated and stored information to become a primary target for litigation discovery requests.

In response to what are now commonplace requests for discovery of such information, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have been amended to include specific provisions relating to discovery of electronically stored information. This change, along with the growing body of case law concerning electronic discovery, reflects the legal community’s effort to catch up with the rapid progress of technology.

Both lawyers and their clients have an obligation to adjust their respective practices to respond to the consequences of these legal developments. For a multinational corporation, the challenge of implementing policies to ensure compliance is twofold: First, the corporation must determine whether and to what extent its foreign affiliates should also establish compliance policies in light of the broad scope of U.S. discovery. Second, the corporation must ascertain which forms of electronic information should be considered when developing these policies and how they can be implemented to strike a balance between legal considerations and effective business practices….

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