The Sedona Conference® Publishes “The Sedona Principles, Second Edition” Addressing Electronic Discovery

SEDONA, AZ – The Sedona Conference®, the nation’s premier nonpartisan law and policy think tank, announces publication of “The Sedona Principles, Second Edition, Best Practices Recommendations and Principles for Addressing Electronic Document Production.” Building on the success of first edition of “The Sedona Principles,” which appeared in January 2004, the second edition has been eagerly anticipated by lawyers and judges across the country looking for guidance in the fast-paced world of electronic discovery.

Jonathan Redgrave, chairperson of the Steering Committee of The Sedona Conference® Working Group 1, which drafted both editions of “The Sedona Principles,” said “the second edition provides helpful and timely guidance for the issues and circumstances that the amended civil rules, by their nature, cannot address.” He added, “we are very grateful for the contributions of the literally hundreds of members of the working group that make this a consensus document reflecting views from a wide array of interests and specialties.”

Richard G. Braman, Executive Director of The Sedona Conference®, said that publication of the second edition “represents a milestone in our efforts. It reflects the fact that our Working Groups produce ‘living documents’ that are open to substantive revision as developments in our society and laws may require. This evolution is in the tradition of the common law and also the mission of The Sedona Conference® to move the law forward in a reasoned and just way.”

Ken Withers, Director of Judicial Education and Content for The Sedona Conference® and Executive Editor of “The Sedona Principles, Second Edition,” pointed out the essential continuity between the first and second editions. “There are still 14 principles and they are fundamentally unchanged,” he said. “The goal was to make sure this often-cited authority would have continued relevance and vitality, but to avoid undermining the first edition’s foundations of reasonableness and cooperation between the parties.” He explained that in the second edition, the language of the principles themselves was updated only to the extent necessary to accommodate the language of the 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. However, the comments under each of the 14 principles were significantly updated “to reflect the new rules, a wave of recent court decisions, advances in electronic discovery technology, and a deeper appreciation among judges and lawyers for the unique qualities of electronically stored information.”

“The Sedona Principles, Second Edition” is available free of charge for individuals to download from The Sedona Conference® web site, www.thesedonaconference.org. The Sedona Conference® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity dedicated to the advanced study of law and policy in the areas of antitrust law, complex litigation, and intellectual property rights.