What were the core changes to the FRCP?

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) are rules that govern court procedures for civil suits in United States district (federal) courts. The FRCP are promulgated by the United States Supreme Court pursuant to the Rules Enabling Act, and then approved by the Congress. The Court's modifications to the rules are usually based on recommendations from the Judicial Conference of the U.S. which is the federal judiciary's internal policy-making body. Although federal courts are required to apply the substantive law of the states in cases where state law is in question, the federal courts almost always use the FRCP as the rules to follow. While states do determine their own rules for their state courts, most have adopted rules based on the FRCP.

The FRCP underwent some significant changes on December 1, 2006, that have significant implications for corporate records management and infrastructure. In plain English, the changes boiled down to this:

1. When you are asked to produce electronic documents for the court, it is now more difficult for you to avoid this discovery by claiming that the documents aren't available or are unreasonably expensive to retrieve.
2. Litigants are now directed to develop a discovery plan that covers the disclosure, discovery and preservation of electronic information.
3. The requesting party can now designate the form in which it wants electronic records to be produced, and both parties are required to "meet and confer" if there is a dispute about the form of production.