Court Permits Production of Documents in Electronic Form in Lieu of Paper

In Matter of Link, 2009 NY Slip Op 29160 (Sur. Ct. Westchester Co.), Surrogate Scarpino authorized the production of documents by electronic files, in lieu of paper, noting that although the most recent cases have focused on the production of electronic evidence, as opposed to the manner by which documents are turned over, the relevant statute, CPLR 3122 does not prohibit such production and that in federal practice, the courts have held that the production of documents by electronic files is routinely permitted, provided that the production is in a reasonably usable form, such as PDF format.

Accordingly the Court directed that the production be accompanied by an index where the producing party identifies the document(s) produced in response to each demand and the electronic file where the document has been stored, because without an index, it would be unduly burdensome to require the demanding party to read numerous documents (here, 6,000), some of which may not bear upon the objections.