Legal ESI Interrogatories

Legal ESI Interrogatories

Plaintiff:    Defendant:

Case No.:    Court:

RECITALS

WHEREAS, the parties to this action are engaged in litigation identified above and require disclosure of Electronically Stored Information ("ESI") that is relevant to claims or defenses in this matter; and

WHEREAS, the parties seek to define the scope, form, custodians, search methodology, preservation and production protocols for ESI in order to avoid undue burden and to facilitate meaningful discovery;

WHEREAS, the responding party will provide complete, accurate, and verified answers to the following interrogatories within the time required by applicable rules;

NOW THEREFORE, pursuant to the applicable rules of civil procedure, the propounding party propounds the following ESI-specific interrogatories and the responding party shall answer under oath.

DEFINITIONS

For purposes of these interrogatories the following definitions apply:

(a) "Electronically Stored Information" or "ESI" means all information stored in electronic form, including but not limited to email, attachments, documents, databases, metadata, logs, backups, mobile device data, cloud-hosted content, social media data, and any other form of digital information.

(b) "Custodian" means any individual or system with possession, custody, or control of ESI relevant to the subject matter of the litigation.

(c) "Native format" means original file formats created or used by an application, retaining original metadata and file structure.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

(1) Each interrogatory shall be answered fully and separately in writing and under oath. If you object to any interrogatory, state the specific legal basis for the objection and answer to the extent the interrogatory is not objectionable.

(2) Unless otherwise stated, these interrogatories require identification of documents, custodians, systems, data sources, date ranges, file types, search terms, collection and processing protocols, and any third parties involved in handling ESI.

(3) Where an interrogatory calls for identification of a person, identify by full name, title, employer, business address, telephone number, and relationship to the matter.

FORMAT AND PRODUCTION PREFERENCES

Produce ESI in the following formats unless otherwise agreed: Native format for databases/spreadsheets and files where native condition is required; single-page or multi-page searchable PDF for documents; load files including image cross-reference (IMG), document metadata (DAT or CSV), and extracted text (TXT). Preserve and produce associated metadata fields including but not limited to author, custodian, creation date, last modified date, file path, and message headers for email.

Production preferences (check all that apply):
Native format   Searchable PDF   Load files (IMG/DAT/TXT)   Include agreed metadata fields

INTERROGATORIES

Interrogatory No. 1: Identify all custodians of ESI who may have relevant information. For each custodian, state full name, job title, last known business address, email address, telephone number, systems/accounts accessed, and the general subject matter of the information they may possess.

Interrogatory No. 2: Describe all systems, repositories, and storage locations where potentially relevant ESI is or was maintained, including on-premises servers, file shares, cloud services, mobile devices, removable media, backups, archives, and third-party hosts. For each, provide custodian(s), system owner, retention policy, and typical file types stored.

Interrogatory No. 3: State the date on which a legal hold or preservation notice was implemented, identify the individuals notified, and describe the steps taken to preserve ESI. If no hold was implemented, explain why not and identify any ESI lost or altered.

Interrogatory No. 4: Identify any third-party vendors or service providers engaged for collection, processing, review, or production of ESI. For each vendor provide company name, contact person, services performed, dates of service, and whether chain-of-custody documentation exists.

Interrogatory No. 5: Provide the specific search terms, search syntax, date ranges, and any filtering criteria used or proposed to identify responsive ESI, and specify which custodians and data sources each search will be run against.

Interrogatory No. 6: State the date ranges for which ESI will be collected and the reasons for selecting those ranges. If different ranges apply to different custodians or systems, identify them with specificity.

Start Date:    End Date:

Interrogatory No. 7: Specify any automated deduplication, de-NISTing, or exclusion rules applied during processing. Describe criteria used to identify near-duplicate documents and how duplicates are represented in production.

Interrogatory No. 8: Identify any ESI that you contend is privileged or protected, and describe the basis for privilege. State the format of the privilege log you will provide and when it will be produced.

Interrogatory No. 9: Describe any preservation, collection, or processing that resulted in the deletion, loss, or alteration of ESI. For each instance, identify the ESI affected, the reason for deletion or alteration, the date it occurred, and any recovery attempts.

Interrogatory No. 10: Identify all non-ESI or paper sources that were converted to electronic form for production, the method of conversion, and whether original paper documents were retained.

Interrogatory No. 11: Identify all custodians who used mobile devices, tablets, or remote access systems relevant to the litigation and describe the policies for ESI retention and collection from such devices.

Interrogatory No. 12: State whether any ESI is encrypted. If so, identify the encrypted items, the location of encryption keys, and the person or entity with access necessary to decrypt the information.

Interrogatory No. 13: Identify any litigation holds or preservation notices previously sent in connection with related matters that could affect available ESI and provide copies or identify where copies may be inspected.

Interrogatory No. 14: Provide a reasonable estimate of the volume of responsive ESI (in number of files or native objects and approximate storage size) and the anticipated timeline for production.

NOTICES

CERTIFICATION

The undersigned certifies under penalty of perjury that the foregoing answers are true and correct to the best of the signatory's knowledge, information, and belief after a reasonable inquiry. The signatory further certifies that the production protocols described herein are complete and that any claimed limitations on the scope of collection or production are identified above.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Governing Law: The interpretation and enforcement of these interrogatories shall be governed by the substantive law of the jurisdiction in which the action is pending.

Entire Agreement: These interrogatories, responses, and any agreed protocols constitute the entire agreement between the parties regarding ESI discovery and supersede any prior understandings on the same subject.

Severability: If any provision of these interrogatories or their application is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder shall remain in full force and effect.

Amendments/Waiver: These interrogatories may not be amended except by written agreement signed by the parties. A waiver of any provision requires a written statement signed by the party granting the waiver.

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