Electronic Discovery Act Becomes Law In California, Effective Immediately

On June 29, 2009, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the state's Electronic Discovery Act ("the Act") into law, implementing new rules for electronic discovery in California civil cases. The Act closely tracks the 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and institutes uniform processes and procedures for the discovery of electronically stored information in California court proceedings. The governor vetoed a similar bill last year, to allow him to devote attention to the more-urgent state budget crisis. The bill signed into law on June 29 passed both legislative houses unanimously and, as an urgency statute, is effective immediately.

The Act establishes procedures for the discovery of electronically stored information, and serves to extend the Civil Discovery Act—which requires the production of hard-copy documents as they are kept in the usual course of business—to the production of electronically stored information. Furthermore, the Act