전자소송시스템을 활용한 전자증거의 제출과 증거조사 과정에서 나타난 법적 쟁점의 해결 방안 : 미국 주대법원장회의에서의 논의와 연방법원 전자증거개시 사례를 중심으로

Technology is changing the way in which litigation is being conducted. The move towards electronic filing of court documents and electronic case management means that filing,directions hearings and ultimately simple hearings will reduce the time and costs involved in litigation. At the other end of the spectrum are the large litigation matters, where the introduction of electronic courtrooms with live transcript enables cases or Inquiries involving many parties or large volumes of documents that might not otherwise fit into a standard court room to be efficiently managed. The mega litigation cases rely on the use of electronic databases or casebooks to manage the large amount of information discovered. The large discoveries are a direct result in the explosion of documents being stored electronically by businesses, which can lead to enormous costs being incurred during the discovery process. The introduction of new discovery rules in some courts is designed to better manage the discovery process and in particular the electronic discovery and so reduce the costs to the parties. Increasingly evidence in litigation is electronic in origin. When the Court makes orders for discovery in proceedings, the parties are required to discover all documents relevant to the dispute or by categories of documents as ordered by the court. This typically includes all relevant e-mails,documents, graphics, and spreadsheets relevant to the issues in dispute. However, this may also include relevant information and previous versions of files. For example, deleted documents (including e-mails), earlier hidden copies of files and metadata that provide a description of the history of a file including any authors or users, tracked changes and access times, all of which can prove crucial in evidence. With the support of modern technologies, e-courts greatly facilitate court efficiency especially in larger cases and inquiries. A corollary is the development of new skills by those lawyers who have the opportunity to participate in e-litigation and also the establishment of a new industry of litigation support businesses. While some larger firms have well established litigation support teams, many firms outsource this part of the litigation process either in part or entirely to specialist litigation support businesses. Handling such large volume cases can result in increased expectations on lawyers charged with managing discovery processes and it is important firms take proactive measures to ensure their client’s electronically stored information is being adequately managed and organized. Electronic trials have many advantages, but reducing the amount of documentation produced or relied on by the parties is not one of them. At a time when electronic processes are increasingly being introduced to the litigation process, continuous training and development for those in the legal profession is crucial. This involves a shift from a traditional legal practice approach to a more technological progressive approach toward