New Rule 5.2 Formalizes Privacy Protections for E-Filed Documents
The Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure recently created a new Rule that is at least tangentially related to e-discovery. The new Rule 5.2 addresses privacy concerns for documents e-filed in federal court. The new rule provides guidance on what information should be redacted, what may be filed under seal and how to file a single "reference list" containing all confidential information redacted from other documents. Notably, a party waives the right to the protection of the Rule if it files its own confidential information without redaction. While some courts, such as the Eastern District of Wisconsin, had already adopted similar rules on a local basis, the Committee has now made them applicable to all federal civil courts. The new Rule went into effect on December 1, 2007.
