What Does "Reasonable" Really Mean?

In e-discovery, and in the law in general, many concepts are defined in relationship to what a "reasonable" person might think, or "reasonableness" in general. However, there isn't a formal definition of reasonableness, and interpretations of what is reasonable can vary widely. One could even reasonably argue that ill-defined concepts like reasonableness keep many lawyers employed... but that's not a topic this blog cares to tackle.

However, even if you can't pin down exactly what is reasonable in e-discovery, recent case law certainly can help inform your practices and ensure that the courts will see them as adequate to the needs of the law. Download this Exterro case law white paper to learn:

• Why reasonable doesn’t mean perfect
• What doesn’t count as reasonable
• What happens when you fail to take reasonable steps to preserve data
• How reasonableness also applies to production requests
• What a reasonable technology assisted review (TAR) process should include

This white paper contains five recent case law alerts, including:

• New Mexico Oncology v. Presbyterian Healthcare Services: Demonstrating that reasonableness, not perfection, is required
• Michael Leidig v. Buzzfeed: Proving that the failure to take reasonable steps to preserve has consequences
• Moody v. CSX Transportation: Yet another example of sanctions resulting from failure to take reasonable steps to preserve ESI
• In Re Volkswagen Clean Diesel: Reasonableness applies to requests for production as well
• In Re Broiler Antitrust: Just what does a reasonable process for TAR look like?

The idea of “what a reasonable person would do” is at the heart of any definition of “reasonableness,” legal or otherwise. In e-discovery, that translates into standards like:

• Having a preservation process including legal hold—and following it
• Understanding when litigation is likely and acting accordingly
• Requesting production with specificity rather than broad, overarching demands
• Cooperating with opposing parties during discovery

Download the white paper today!