Managing Discovery of Electronically Stored Information in Illinois

Abstract

The discovery challenges posed by ESI – electronically stored information – are being expressly addressed in court rules operating in the federal courts and some state courts. Illinois judicial rulemakers have yet to act. If they do, wholesale borrowing from other jurisdictions would be ill-advised as there are some unique differences in Illinois discovery, as with evidence preservation obligations.

The article explores how the Illinois rules might be amended to meet ESI challenges given current Illinois norms, and what Illinois judges and practitioners can do now when faced with ESI discovery challenges.

Keywords: civil procedure, civil discovery, ESI, cost benefit analysis, electronically stored information, discovery proportionality, protective orders, discovery abuse, discovery limits