Pictured above: Mike Wakeling

A case handled out of the West Midlands has helped revolutionise the way courts deal with e-documents.

New rules have been introduced in the wake of Earles v Barclays Bank, which saw the latter heavily criticised in connection with email and computer failures.

Tim Earles was represented by Lodders Solicitors in Stratford upon Avon, and barrister Paul Dean, part of St Philip's Chambers in Birmingham.

A total of £266,000 was in dispute before the High Court.

Mr Earles claimed Barclays had transferred the funds from his personal account without authority. Barclays maintained authority was given by phone but could not produce email or computer evidence, or even phone records to back this up.

Even though the bank won the case, Judge Simon Brown punished its lack of disclosure by halving the costs it could retrieve from Mr Earles, while reminding legal counsel of their obligations. "Those practising in civil courts are expected to know the rules and practise them; it is gross incompetence not to."

The outcome has been significant changes to the way in which parties to litigation conduct electronic disclosure - only properly sinking in now.

Mr Dean said: "Litigants and their advisers ignore their obligations of e-disclosure at their peril."

Mike Wakeling, partner in the Business Group at Lodders, added: "The changes should help to improve efficiency and in turn reduce costs.

"The new rules are challenging for many in the legal world. More than ever, lawyers must have a real grasp of electronic data and how to handle it, not an easy task considering the vast quantities of information held in e-mail archives, shared network folders and back-up tapes, and documents held in differing locations."

The aim has been to clamp down on those who seek to ignore e-disclosure, undertake inadequate searches for electronic data or fail to take adequate steps to ensure that such data is not deleted during the course of a case. Conversely, the move has also targeted over-disclosure where in top-end, high value cases, parties have started pumping out far too much electronic data.

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