Electronic discovery is the retrieval of data in the electronic format. These days, information is being increasingly created, stored and transferred in the electronic form. Computers, hard disks, CDs, DVDs, floppy disks and tapes are some of the most commonly used storage devices. Data can be transferred from one location to another via electronic, voice or video mails through the Internet. All this has made the data more vulnerable.

Electronic data can be protected to a certain extent, but is also susceptible to being altered or erased by anyone. This erased or altered data is not completely gone from the system, but can be retrieved using special software tools. The process of recovering useful information from vast amounts of data is known as data discovery. Data discovery has become an important tool in lawsuits today.

There are certain guidelines relating to electronic data discovery. Some of them are:

1) counsel should become knowledgeable about their clients