The Delaware Court of Chancery recently joined a growing number of jurisdictions in the adoption of guidelines that concern the discovery of electronically stored information (commonly referred to as “ESI”). The guidelines are narrowly limited to the preservation of ESI, other than one sentence which “recommend[s] that after preservation has been addressed, counsel for all parties confer about the scope and timing of discovery of ESI.” More guidance may be forthcoming as the guidelines note that the “Court of Chancery Rules Committee is continuing to monitor the broader topic of discovery of ESI.” While that review is under way, the guidelines refer the reader to other sources of guidance on the broader topics, “[w]ithout endorsing or commenting on the merits of these or any other specific resources.” The two non-endorsed examples given are The Sedona Guidelines: Best Practices & Commentary for Managing Electronic Information in the Electronic Age and the Conference of Chief Justices: Guidelines for State Trial Courts regarding Discovery of Electronically-Stored Information.
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