FRCP 34
What Is ESI? Managing ESI for Corporate Legal Teams
Just what is electronically stored information or ESI? And what do you need to do with it when it comes to corporate e-discovery?
Under Rule 34, production that is not ‘naturally organized’ must be labeled
The court granted a motion to compel, finding that disorganized ESI did not satisfy FRCP 34; it ordered amendment of all non-conforming productions.
Production of emails in PDF format violates Rule 34 and the court’s order
Despite being ordered to comply with FRCP 34, the plaintiffs continued to produce emails in PDF rather than native format, leading to sanctions.
Native-format production appropriate under Rule 34 and parties’ agreement
The court compelled production of files in native format, citing Rule 34, the parties’ agreement, and the potential relevance of native-format files.
Produced PDF files ‘are merely pictures’ that lack critical metadata
Where the plaintiff failed to comply with FRCP 34, producing PDFs that lacked critical metadata, the court ordered production of native-format ESI.
PDF production ‘not unreasonable,’ but also not ‘unduly burdensome’ to re-produce
Citing FRCP 34 regarding the form of production, the court ordered a party to re-produce emails in native format rather than as searchable PDFs.
