Navigating the Discovery Chess Match Through Effective Case Management

The challenges with civil discovery are often overwhelming. At times, counsel may feel powerless to avoid discovery quagmires and the resulting costs and delays. Nevertheless, counsel can guide a matter through these complexities if they learn how to better manage the discovery process. In Navigating the Discovery Chess Match through Effective Case Management, I expound on three methods that can facilitate case management in discovery.

The first emphasizes the benefits of proportionality in resolving preservation disputes over electronic data. The next involves providing early and more fulsome initial disclosures to enhance the FRCP 26(f) discovery conference. The final method focuses on the advantages of cooperation and transparency over unilateral conduct in the use of search methodologies. These methods should enable counsel to more efficiently manage the discovery chess match and guide a matter more effectively toward its ultimate resolution.