Does electronic discovery increase the time and money needed to resolve a dispute?
Sheppard: I have two views on it. Sometimes it is better to keep it simple and treat electronic discovery the same way as discovery of hard copy documents. The increased reliance on email as an informal method of communication and the expense associated with establishing proper retention policies can cause problems for companies. Production requests often result in huge monetary expenses, which attorneys will argue impose undue burdens on their clients. However, email often contains information that is critical to the outcome of a case so there needs to be a proper balance between accessing relevant information and not imposing burdensome costs on the party that has to produce the evidence. Editor: Have the Pennsylvania courts adopted procedural rules similar to the federal rules that require a judicial conference to discuss electronic discovery? Sheppard: No. We handle those requests on a case-by-case basis based on the lawyers’ wishes. Our clerks hold a case management conference 90
