Electronic production of documents under District Court Form 26A

29/11/2011

The District Court has recently introduced�Form 26A, a new form of subpoena for the production of documents which provides for their production in electronic form satisfactory to the party issuing the subpoena. Members of the Bar Association required to advise on evidence or generally in relation to the preparat�on of cases should be alert to the risk that privileged documents might fall into the hands of an opposing party which has issued a subpoena and which gets electronic production of the documents. There may not, in some situations at least, be the same scope for getting first access to the documents and making a claim of privilege where appropriate (e.g� in the case of the clinical notes and records of treating doctors in personal injuries cases, forensic accountants and former solicitors in other cases) unless prompt act�on is taken to ensure that that can and does happen.

29 November 2011