Over the coming months, the Federal Court will roll out a new Practice Note and document management protocol to govern the use of technology in litigation. This will change the way many businesses and law firms conduct their document management and discovery processes with ramifications for training, infrastructure and generation of work product.

The new Practice Note is designed to increase efficiency and to facilitate a more effective exchange of documents between parties.

But...

The Practice Note expressly states that you are expected to:

• understand the basics of the relevant electronic technology; and,

• source outside assistance if you do not have such understanding.

 And ...

There’s a very low threshold (merely 200 documents) at which you need to consider using electronic capture and exchange protocols for documents and data.

A new court-appointed expert (an ‘eRegistrar’) will work with parties on how they manage electronic discovery and exchange. The Practice Note recommends a new pre-discovery conference and supplies precedent exchange protocols to facilitate such exchange.

Now is the time to jump on board because you need to understand electronic discovery to enjoy the benefits and side-step the pitfalls, whether you’re a litigation practitioner or an in-house counsel. With the new pre-discovery conference under PN17, you are now expected to pay early attention to discovery disputes and to electronic discovery issues that can be resolved beforehand.

This White Paper will show you how to survive and thrive under the new Practice Note – how to avoid the traps and maximise efficiency.