Effective May 1, the Delaware Superior Court has a new division to handle complex commercial litigation. And with the new division comes a new set of guidelines for handling e-discovery.

Delaware’s new Complex Commercial Litigation Division will hear any case in which the amount in controversy is $1 million or more. Excluded are cases involving personal injuries, mortgage foreclosures mechanics’ liens, condemnations, and various family matters.

In conjunction with the new court come new e-discovery guidelines to govern electronically stored information. The guidelines require that the parties hold a meet-and-confer session no later than 21 days before the first scheduling conference. It directs that they discuss:

• Any issues related to preservation of ESI.
• The form in which ESI will be produced.
• The scope of production.
• The method of asserting and preserving privilege claims.
• The method of asserting and preserving confidential and proprietary information.
• Any allocation of expenses related to preservation and production.

After the meet-and-confer, the parties must file an e-discovery plan with the court. Based on the plan, the court is to enter an order governing e-discovery.

The guidelines provide for parties to object to e-discovery based on undue burden or expense. The court is also authorized to limit the frequency or extent of ESI discovery. The guidelines include a safe harbor for documents not covered by the discovery order.