Redaction offers you security beyond a protection order. No one can steal it either. When you redact information, either by choice or obligation, a redaction log provides a clear record and explanation for your choices, which might be necessary for court.
A redaction log is a record that tracks blacked out or abbreviated information in relevant materials turned over during discovery. At least two circumstances give rise to redaction logs. The first is necessary, and the second is discretionary. Federal and state rules of procedure require redacting certain information for privacy. Rule 5. Information that must be redacted includes:. The federal rule says you may file a reference list identifying redacted information along with redacted materials.
You must file the list under seal. There may be similar requirements in state courts. For example, under California Rules of Court, Rule 1. The second reason for a redaction log is when you want to protect sensitive yet irrelevant information. You can either reach an agreement with the other parties regarding redactions or make the unilateral decision to hide certain irrelevant information.
Both are reports describing what you hold back during discovery. But they serve two distinct purposes. A privilege log tracks relevant documents you withhold due to privilege. A redaction log tracks information that is irrelevant to the legal matter.
The irrelevant information could harm your company or your clients, vendors, customers, or consumers if exposed. Depending on the tool you are using for discovery and redactions, compiling a redaction log could be incredibly tedious—or extremely simple. If redactions are applied manually in a tool such as Adobe Acrobat, or in a discovery platform that does not allow for redaction reports, creating a redaction log can take hours of painstaking documentation.
In Logikcull, for example, you can create a redaction log in just a few clicks. Users can then create a CSV export with select metadata , including a full list of documents having redactions and, if a redaction label is applied, the reason for those redactions. Best practices call for considering discretionary redactions from the very beginning. At the onset of discovery, you can discuss redactions with the other parties. Either way, you can move forward with your redactions confidently.
The privilege log is sometimes referred to as a "Vaughn Index," based on the decision in Vaughn v. Rosen, F. The privilege log doctrine was incorporated into F. Source: Michael D. Berman, et al. Those to whom disclosure is in furtherance of the rendition of legal services to the client. Those reasonably necessary for the transmission of the communication.
Such communications shall not be disclosed to anyone other than the agency except as provided for in this section. Such disclosures shall be protected as if there were an attorney-client relationship between the attorney for the agency and the person who seeks services from the department. This shall not be construed to constitute an exemption to either s. A Information Withheld. When a party withholds information otherwise discoverable by claiming that the information is privileged or subject to protection as trial-preparation material, the party must:.
B Information Produced. If information produced in discovery is subject to a claim of privilege or of protection as trial-preparation material, the party making the claim may notify any party that received the information of the claim and the basis for it. After being notified, a party must promptly return, sequester, or destroy the specified information and any copies it has; must not use or disclose the information until the claim is resolved; must take reasonable steps to retrieve the information if the party disclosed it before being notified; and may promptly present the information to the court under seal for a determination of the claim.
The producing party must preserve the information until the claim is resolved. Parties may obtain discovery by one or more of the following methods: depositions upon oral examination or written questions; written interrogatories; production of documents or things or permission to enter upon land or other property for inspection and other purposes; physical and mental examinations; and requests for admission.
Unless the court orders otherwise and under subdivision c of this rule, the frequency of use of these methods is not limited, except as provided in rules 1. Unless otherwise limited by order of the court in accordance with these rules, the scope of discovery is as follows:.
Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the subject matter of the pending action, whether it relates to the claim or defense of the party seeking discovery or the claim or defense of any other party, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things and the identity and location of persons having knowledge of any discoverable matter.
It is not ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. A party may obtain discovery of the existence and contents of any agreement under which any person may be liable to satisfy part or all of a judgment that may be entered in the action or to indemnify or to reimburse a party for payments made to satisfy the judgment.
Information concerning the agreement is not admissible in evidence at trial by reason of disclosure. A party may obtain discovery of electronically stored information in accordance with these rules. The judicial discretion to review the described documents in camera has turned on multiple factors, including the burden involved in reviewing the sheer number of documents, but the thrust of these cases is that in camera review is more critical before compelled disclosure, so courts might make sure that the disclosed materials truly are not privileged.
This case included five categories of documents for analysis as to whether in camera review was appropriate, and in a nutshell, the court found that absent further allegations from plaintiffs, the information on the descriptions in the log was sufficient to establish privilege and not enough to warrant in camera review:.
Attachments to documents that are withheld require their own separate line entry and description. Walgreens failed to provide a separate description of the attachments but instead stated that where they were privileged, it withheld them, and where they were not, it produced them. No such separate descriptions are evident from within the log entries supplied to the Court. Using Item No. We know also that there is an attachment. Was the attachment the request for legal advice?
Who made the request and to whom? This information is fundamental to evaluating the privilege claims as to the attachments. Judge Fuentes decision sheds light on a murky area of what should be included on a privilege log and the difficulty of obtaining in camera review of documents from a log.
No matter what side you are on, focus on the description of the document. If you are writing it, make sure it clearly denotes the basis for the privilege. Founded in and developed by attorneys who practice eDiscovery 24 hours per day 7 days per week, eDiscovery Assistant includes curated database of case law, rules, checklists and forms, and glossary of terms. Log In.
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