(MD#1 Model meet and confer agreement - public comment dra 205)

PUBLIC COMMENT DRAFTSeptember 21, 2007ONTARIO E-DISCOVERY IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE MODEL DOCUMENT #1: MEET AND CONFER AGREEMENT Purpose of the document It is now recognized as a discovery best practice that the parties should “meet and confer” early in the litigation process, and thereafter as appropriate, to discuss and hopefully agree upon the requirements for documentary discovery. This model meet and confer agreement is designed to confirm points of agreement between the parties with respect to the preservation, production and use of documents, including all types of electronically stored information, within an action or other legal proceeding. More detail on the purpose of the document is set out in Section 2.1 of the model agreement. Before attending a meet and confer session, counsel should fully familiarize themselves with their client’s document systems, including their IT architecture and their records retention systems. Counsel should attend the meet and confer session with this information available. It is recommended that, in appropriate cases, especially those involving significant quantities of electronic records, counsel should attend the meet and confer session with a client representative who is directly familiar with the IT issues associated with preserving and collecting those records. To the extent required, before attending the meet and confer session counsel should already have taken steps to assist their ...