Associate Attorney Thomas M. Connelly wrote an article titled, “Gone Fishin’: A Road Map in Protecting Plaintiffs from Defense Counsel’s ESI Fishing Expeditions in Discovery” for the summer 2023 edition of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association’s magazine, Trial Journal.
In this article, Tom outlines a road map of knowledge to help assist in overcoming discovery obstacles from the defense bar’s increase use of the proverbial ESI fishing expedition. This roadmap includes helpful information such as: the kinds of requests to look out for from the defense, tips on how to be proactive and prepared to respond to those requests, and the principles set forth in Illinois case law.
“ESI discovery is an extremely powerful tool in litigation. The purpose of this article is not to criticize the use of ESI in discovery practices. In fact, trial attorneys regularly request ESI productions from defendants in injury cases and benefit from the production of incriminating and damaging evidence that can be used against the defendant at trial. With that said, there is a disturbing new trend of overly broad and intrusive requests for the personal and private information of plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits, and trial lawyers must make an effort to protect their clients from the defense bar’s increased use of ESI as a way to conduct a proverbial fishing expedition in discovery.”
Read the entire “Gone Fishin’: A Road Map in Protecting Plaintiffs from Defense Counsel’s ESI Fishing Expeditions in Discovery” by Thomas M. Connelly, by clicking here.