At the end of 2006, a new edition of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) went into effect. Using a Web search tool, learn more about the FRCP. What likely effect will its emphasis on electronically stored information (ESI) have on an organization’s need for a digital forensic capability?

Upon the revisions made to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) in 2006, ESI was legally defined to help with electronic discovery processes and also to accommodate legal acts regarding to electronic records.

FRCP rules state that one party may present another with a legal request for documents and/or electronically stored information -- which also includes writings, graphs, charts, photographs, sound recordings, images and other data compilations -- stored in any medium.

Upon the reception of a discovery request for information and data pertaining to a lawsuit subject to the FRCP electronic discovery rules, the receiving party must take action to develop and produce a response to the request. It is of importance that ESI be managed so that privileged information can be identified and protected. This includes storing privileged information in a secure location and cataloging it for search and retrieval.

ESI, for the purpose of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) is created, manipulated, communicated, stored information best utilized in digital form, requiring the use of computer hardware and software.

ESI has become a legally defined phrase as the U.S. government determined for the purposes of the FRCP rules of 2006 that procedures for maintenance and discovery for electronically stored information was necessary. References to “electronically stored information” in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) invoke an expansive approach to what may be discovered during the fact-finding stage of civil litigation.

A party in a civil lawsuit is allowed, according to Rule 34(a), to request another party to produce and permit the requesting party or its representative to inspect, copy, test, or sample the following items in the responding party's possession, custody, or control:

Any documents designated or electronically stored information—including writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, sound recordings, images, and other data or data compilations—stored in any medium from which information can be obtained either directly or, if necessary, after translation by the responding party into a reasonably usable form...Rule 34(a)(1) is intended to be broad enough to cover all current types of computer-based information, and flexible enough to encompass future changes and developments.