The Advisory Group to the New York State–Federal Judicial Council analyzed New York State and federal courts’ treatment of prelitigation conduct involving the creation, retention, and destruction of electronically stored information (ESI) to determine whether the courts were consistent and harmonious when addressing these issues.

The report contains the group’s findings on the similarities and differences between the current New York State and federal laws that govern the prelitigation duty to preserve ESI, as well as its findings on whether the differences may lead to inconsistent obligations in state and federal courts and on possible resolutions to these inconsistencies.

The Federal Judicial Center did not contribute to this document. It is presented as an example of work from a state–federal judicial council.

This document is part of Federal and State Court Cooperation, a Special Topic Webpage.​