February 10, 2005

Per the National Law Journal, the Judicial Conference of the U.S.'s Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure is considering possible changes to electronic discovery which might actually (hallelujah) hold out some hope of reining in the enormous cost of that process. One idea, for example, is to require court approval before fishing expedition demands could be extended beyond the more readily accessible forms of data to every last cave-stored backup tape, floppy disk or other obsolete media form. Public comment on the proposals lasts only another five days, so readers who want to offer cheers or suggestions should do so promptly.