The Supreme Judicial Court's Standing Advisory Committee on the Rules of
Civil Procedure (SAC) invites comments on proposed amendments dealing with
discovery of electronically stored information. The SAC is
considering amendments to Mass. R. Civ. P. 16, 26, 34, 37, and 45. The
Committee solicits and welcomes comments from the bar prior to presenting its
recommendation to the Rules Committee of the Supreme Judicial Court.
As described more fully in the Introduction that precedes the draft
Reporter's Notes attached to this Notice, in 2008 the SAC appointed a
subcommittee to review the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on discovery of
electronically stored information and to consider whether amendments to the
Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure would be appropriate. In the course
of its work, the subcommittee drew on two primary sources: the 2006
amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that addressed electronically
stored information and the 2007 Uniform Rules Relating to the Discovery of
Electronically Stored Information (National Conference of Commissioners on
Uniform State Laws).
Over the course of two years, the subcommittee and the Standing Advisory
Committee met on a regular basis to review and debate the issues involved.
A major focus of the SAC and the subcommittee was crafting a process consistent
with current Massachusetts practice: (1) by which the parties, and the
court if necessary, deal with electronic discovery early in the litigation,
including the format for production of electronically stored information; (2)
that addresses how to handle electronically stored information that is
"inaccessible;" (3) that recognizes that privileged information may be
inadvertently disclosed in the context of electronic discovery and sets forth a
remedy for such disclosure; and (4) that provides protection where
electronically stored information is lost by virtue of the "good-faith operation
of an electronic information system." These matters are all addressed in
the draft Reporter's Notes that accompany the proposed amendments.
The SAC welcomes all comments pertaining to the proposed amendments and will
make recommendations to the Supreme Judicial Court after reviewing the comments
submitted. Comments should be directed to Christine Burak, Supreme
Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Boston 02108
or to christine.burak@sjc.state.ma.us
on or before May 13, 2011.
Proposed Amendments to the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure Regarding
Discovery of Electronically Stored Information
Draft
Reporter's Notes and Introduction to Proposed
Amendments