Meet and Confer — Complying With Tougher Discovery Rules

Outline

1. Rules
   1. Rule 16
   2. Rule 26
   3. Rule 37
2. Before litigation
   1. Gain familiarity with client’s IT system
   2. Review document retention policy
3. Preparing for meet and confer
   1. Who are the players/custodians of information?
   2. Gather data
   3. Determine what outcome is desired
   4. Early identification and preservation issues
   5. Develop preservation plan (tailored to case)
   6. Develop collection plan
4. During meet and confer — discussion topics
   1. Form of production
   2. Privilege
   3. Preservation orders
   4. Costs and cost shifting
   5. Parameters for reasonably accessible data
   6. Data production considerations
   7. Metadata
   8. Clawback agreements
5. Best practices
   1. Documentation
   2. Communication
   3. Disclosures
   4. Cost containment

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key questions:

• What are the discovery amendments that impact the meet and confer directly and indirectly?
• What are the basic blocking and tackling steps that counsel must undertake leading into the meet and confer?
• What strategies can counsel use to negotiate what is discoverable and who pays, including possible cost sharing and shifting?
• What topics must be covered in the meet and confer and what must be reported to the court from that meeting?