Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC

OPINION AND ORDER

SCHEINDLIN, District Judge.

The world was a far different place in 1849, when Henry David Thoreau opined (in an admittedly broader context) that “[t]he process of discovery is very simple.”1 That hopeful maxim has given way to rapid technological advances, requiring new solutions to old problems. The issue presented here is one such problem, recast in light of current technology: To what extent is inaccessible electronic data discoverable, and who should pay for its production?

I. INTRODUCTION

The Supreme Court recently reiterated that our “simplified notice pleading standard…