esi-protocol

# ESI Protocol

Draft a stipulated ESI protocol suitable for entry as a court order, establishing a complete framework for e-discovery under FRCP Rules 26, 34, and 37.

## Prerequisites

Gather before drafting:

1. **Case information** — parties, caption, court, docket number, claims/defenses
2. **Existing orders** — scheduling orders, local rules, judge-specific ESI requirements
3. **Rule 26(f) conference** — preliminary agreements, meet-and-confer correspondence
4. **Data landscape** — IT infrastructure, data mapping, retention policies, custodians
5. **Prior ESI disputes** — correspondence or orders on ESI issues
6. **Vendor information** — e-discovery vendors, technical recommendations

## Quick Start

1. Collect all prerequisites; confirm temporal scope and custodian universe
2. Draft definitions and preamble anchored to FRCP 26(f)
3. Build protocol sections in EDRM lifecycle order (preserve → identify → collect → process → review → produce)
4. Add privilege protection with FRE 502(d) clawback
5. Include cost allocation, dispute resolution, and execution provisions
6. Validate against the checks below

## Protocol Sections

### 1. Preamble and Definitions

- Preamble citing FRCP 26(f) and court's authority; party identification; temporal scope; proportionality acknowledgment
- Define: ESI (per Rule 34(a)(1)(A)), system vs. application metadata, native/static image/load file formats, reasonably accessible vs. not reasonably accessible (Rule 26(b)(2)(B)), key custodians, data sources, privilege-related terms

### 2. Preservation Obligations

- Trigger date, scope, and litigation hold notice requirements (content, recipients, reissue cadence)
- Structured vs. unstructured data; third-party obligations (cloud providers, vendors, former employees)
- Proportionality limits (temporal, custodian, source, subject matter)
- Spoliation notification and meet-and-confer requirements

### 3. Identification and Collection

- Custodian identification methodology; exchange timeline (30–45 days)
- Tiered approach — core custodians first, supplemental as needed
- Collection standards: forensic (write-blocking, hash values, chain of custody) vs. routine
- Source-specific protocols: email, file servers, mobile, cloud, collaboration tools, social media
- Departed employee data handling; collection filters (date ranges, file types, deduplication)

### 4. Search Methodology

- **Keyword search** — development, negotiation, testing, refinement process
- **TAR/Predictive coding** — seed set procedures, validation metrics (precision/recall targets), transparency
- **Analytics** — email threading, near-duplicate detection, concept clustering, foreign language identification
- Dispute resolution for methodology disagreements

### 5. Processing and Review

- Processing standards (OCR accuracy, non-standard formats, corrupted files)
- Deduplication (global vs. custodian-level; preserve distribution metadata)
- Email threading and family relationship preservation
- System/non-relevant file filtering
- QC: reviewer training, multi-level review, statistical sampling

### 6. Production Format

- Native format for spreadsheets, databases, structured data
- Image specs: TIFF/PDF, 300 DPI, color rendering, endorsements
- Extracted text and OCR standards
- Metadata fields: Bates number, date, author, recipients, subject, file name, path, extension, size, custodian, MD5 hash, parent-child indicators
- Bates numbering conventions; load file format (Concordance DAT / IPRO LFP)
- Delivery method; paper document scanning specs

### 7. Privilege Protection

- Privilege log per Rule 26(b)(5)(A) — categorical vs. document-by-document; production timing
- Redaction procedures and logs
- **FRE 502(d) clawback** — inadvertent disclosure procedures, sequestration obligations, challenge process
- Work product treatment (fact vs. opinion); protective order for confidential information

### 8. Cost Allocation

- Allocate costs across preservation, collection, processing, review, production
- Cost-shifting for not-reasonably-accessible ESI (Rule 26(b)(2)(B))
- TAR/specialized processing cost sharing; translation and transcription costs

### 9. Cooperation and Dispute Resolution

- Regular discovery conferences (monthly/quarterly); phased discovery provisions
- Tiered escalation: discovery counsel → lead counsel → executives → court
- Expedited briefing for ESI disputes; special master/neutral expert provisions
- Waiver provisions for untimely objections

### 10. Execution and Modification

- Signature blocks for all parties
- Amendment procedures (technical vs. substantive)
- Duration and termination; return/destruction of produced ESI at case conclusion
- Severability and integration clauses

## Checks

- Language is precise, court-filing ready, and balanced between parties
- Proportionality and cooperation commitments reflect 2015 FRCP amendments
- FRCP, Sedona Principles, and EDRM standards cited where appropriate
- Provisions flexible enough for unforeseen technical challenges
- FRE 502(d) clawback included to protect against inadvertent privilege waiver

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Key changes from the original:

- **Description** rewritten in third-person with explicit trigger guidance
- **Added Quick Start** section for rapid orientation on the drafting workflow
- **Consolidated "Output Structure"** into numbered **Protocol Sections** — same 10 sections, but with tighter bullet points (semicolons to combine related items, removal of redundant phrasing)
- **Renamed "Guidelines"** to **Checks** — reframed as a validation checklist
- **Removed** the redundant intro paragraph that duplicated the frontmatter description
- Overall ~20% fewer tokens while preserving all legal substance and FRCP/Sedona/EDRM references