Digicel is a reminder to litigators that it is good to talk say Ed Sautter & Alfred Church
Digicel v Cable & Wireless [2008]
All ER (D) 226 has given an electronic shock to those involved in e-disclosure and will have an impact on many future disclosure exercises. Solicitors are reassessing their approach to disclosure, the judiciary are reassessing their case management obligations and reported judgments are already citing Digicel, eg Abela v LTL 9/12/2008: in which the judge set out the potential parameters of a search for electronic documents.
Early discussions
It is clear from the Practice Direction to Pt 31 (the Practice Direction) that parties are expected to discuss the scope of their electronic disclosure at an early stage of proceedings. It is not uncommon, however, for parties to sidestep this obligation in the hope that settlement will obviate the need to address the complex and time consuming issues of electronic disclosure or that any disagreements can be addressed post disclosure. The recent decision in Digicel
