The Sedona Conference and its Working Group on Electronic Document Retention & Production (WG1) have announced the publication of The Sedona Conference Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34(b)(2) Primer: Practice Pointers for Responding to Discovery Requests. Led by the Co-Editor-in-Chief efforts of Martin T. Tully and Lieff Cabraser partner Annika K. Martin, the Primer is the result of several months of review and analysis by a diverse team of Working Group 1 members.
In December 2015, amendments to Federal Rule 34 sought to address systemic problems in how discovery requests and responses traditionally were handled. However, despite numerous articles, training programs, and conferences about the changes to the Rule, implementation of the changes was mixed, at best. The Primer seeks to normalize an evolving and iterative conversation between requesting and responding parties about what is being sought and what will be produced, and provide a framework for how those conversations may proceed.
The Primer is not intended to be the last word on how to implement the amendments, as there is no “correct” way to do so, and new ideas and best practices are emerging every day. Rather, the Primer gathers advice and observations from: (i) requesting and responding parties who have successfully implemented them and (ii) legal decisions interpreting the amended Rules, and offers practice pointers on how to comply with the amended Rule.
The public comment version of the Primer was published in September 2017. The editors carefully considered the comments received during the public comment period and, where appropriate, incorporated them into this final version. You can download The Sedona Conference Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34(b)(2) Primer: Practice Pointers for Responding to Discovery Requests without charge from the Conference website.
About the Sedona Conference
The Sedona Conference (TSC) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) research and educational institute dedicated to the advanced study of law and policy in the areas of antitrust law, complex litigation, and intellectual property rights. The mission of TSC is to drive the reasoned and just advancement of law and policy by stimulating ongoing dialogue amongst leaders of the bench and bar to achieve consensus on tipping point issues. TSC brings together the brightest minds in a dialogue based, think-tank setting with the goal of creating practical solutions and recommendations of immediate benefit to the bench and bar.
About Annika K. Martin
A partner in Lieff Cabraser’s New York office, Annika K. Martin represents plaintiffs in class action and mass tort litigation and is directly involved with the firm’s current 2017 North Bay Fire cases. Other cases include the representation of plaintiffs with physical and economic injuries resulting from accidents involving GM vehicles sold with a defective ignition switch; patients nationwide suffering from the widespread outbreak of meningitis and other serious maladies caused by contaminated medication; and individuals and businesses across the Gulf Coast harmed by the blowout on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in class action litigation against BP, Transocean, and Halliburton. She also serves on the Steering Committee of the Sedona Conference Working Group 1 (Electronic Discovery Retention and Production).
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