Big Week for Wisconsin

Having been born and raised in Wisconsin, this has been a big week for all of us “Cheeseheads”.  The Wisconsin Badgers won the Rose Bowl; The Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears and made it into the NFL playoffs; and, most relevant to my Blog, the eDiscovery amendments to Wisconsin’s rules of civil procedure become effective.  The amendments, affecting Wis. Stat. §§ 802.10, 804.01, 804.08, 804.09, 804.12, and 805.07, address for the first time the discovery of electronically stored information (“ESI”).  Among other things, the amendments address issues including the parties’ obligation to meet and confer, the format of production, and safe harbor from sanctions when ESI is lost as the result of the routine, good-faith operation of an electronic system.

I would bet a Wisconsin Quarter that the lawyers of Wisconsin are more excited about the Badgers and the Packers than they are about the chagnes to the rules of civil procedure.