Also known as: reasonably usable forms
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A format for electronically stored information that permits the requesting party to access, review, and utilize the data effectively without specialized tools or expertise. The responding party bears responsibility for any necessary translation from its native medium when the information cannot be obtained directly in usable condition.
Ruby Rivera requested electronic monitoring logs and GIS mapping files from Riverside Healthcare in a groundwater contamination suit. Riverside produced only dense machine-readable code exports that Ruby's counsel could not interpret without programming skills. The court ordered Riverside to translate the files into standard spreadsheet formats that Ruby could search and analyze directly.
Rebecca Ross sought internal enforcement databases and inspection photos from Rocky Mountain Mining. The company produced files in a compressed proprietary format that required unavailable specialized software for review. The court held that production failed to satisfy the obligation because the files were not reasonably usable by the requesting party without further translation.
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A responding party must translate electronically stored information into a reasonably usable form when the requesting party cannot obtain the information directly from the medium in which it is stored. This obligation arises under the default production rules when no form is specified in the request.
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Production in the form ordinarily maintained satisfies the rule only when that form is reasonably usable by the requesting party. If the native format renders the data inaccessible without specialized expertise or software unavailable to the requester, translation is required.
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A party cannot avoid translation merely by asserting cost when it already possesses the technical capacity to convert the data for its own internal use. The rule places the translation burden on the responding party that controls the data, and routine internal practices demonstrate feasibility.
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The responding party must perform the translation into human-readable formats such as spreadsheets or logs. Basic technical guidance alone does not substitute for actual usable files when counsel lacks the required expertise.
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