The Electronic Discovery Trap Attorneys Set for Defendants

Legal tricks of the trade

My previous post “Naming Multiple Defendants in a Product Liability Lawsuit” address the liberal discovery rules and high cost of compliance to defendants in Product Liability Lawsuits. Let expound on that here.

Many businesses contacting us have never been through a lawsuit. They have no concept of how costly compliance with discovery is in today’s electronic world.

What’s often overlooked in today’s modern world is the fact that prosecuting attorneys spent the last 20 years perfecting the art of electronic discovery. They use it against defendants as a way of making them spend money.

Retrieving data from outdated systems

Did you know that defendants are required to preserve every email? Defendants are required to retrieve emails from older unsupported systems. They’re also required to make them available to the plaintiffs in whatever format requested.

It’s expensive to ferret out emails. What’s worse is that the cost rises if emails contain sensitive materials protected by HIPPA privacy laws.

I think you get the picture.

Even if you’re not liable in the lawsuit, liberal U.S. discovery rules allow plaintiff attorneys to force your compliance with discovery. The higher the costs to you, the greater the asking price by the plaintiff’s attorney to reach a settlement.