Adapting E-Discovery Protocols to Virtual Meetings, Video Conferencing, and Video Chats in Commercial Litigation

Description

Video conferencing can have severe ramifications for commercial litigation. Initially, attorneys need to advise clients which video meetings to record and how long to retain those recordings. Some highly regulated industries are required to keep these recordings, and in other sectors, they create ethical issues, such as for law firms or in-house counsel.

Recordings of virtual meetings may be huge files and expensive to store, access, and search. The level of service (e.g., free, "pro," or "enterprise") will alter the ease of retrieving, accessing, searching, and using the data. If other people view the recordings after the fact, then the admissibility of the recording could be compromised.

The inevitable discovery requests for such data raise a host of issues. A video meeting platform may create different types of files that may also be relevant. There is metadata that may be relevant even with unrecorded video meetings: when it occurred, who was present, and the length of the session. Without a transcript or text file, a video file is mostly unsearchable. These issues put proportionality and Federal Rule 26(g) front and center of the discovery requests and objections.

Counsel must also address the impact of laws requiring parties' consent to be recorded and the consequences of recording without permission.

Listen as this panel examines the essential evidentiary and discovery issues that counsel must be prepared to address arising from the pervasive use of video conference platforms.