But for a long time, lawyers seemed blind to that basic reality. In 2000, the American Bar Association Section of Litigation conducted a survey of its own members.

40% believed their clients had significant electronic record collections.

22% admitted that they didn’t know.

83% said their clients had no established procedure for searching and finding electronic records that might be subject to a discovery request or subpoena.

And 75% said their clients were unaware that electronic records were even discoverable until they were actually requested. This is 30 years after Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure had been amended to include “data compilations” within the definition of documents and other things subject to discovery.