Federal Court and Agency E-Discovery Rules and Guidelines
Client Alert | 1 min read | 02.21.13
With the increased importance of e-discovery in litigation and investigations, many federal district courts and government agencies have enacted specific rules, forms, or other guidance addressing the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI) and governing the conduct of practitioners as it relates to ESI. To help you keep informed of these rules, regulations, and guidelines as you litigate, Crowell & Moring's E-Discovery and Information Management group has compiled a collection of websites for rules, forms, and guidelines -- from both federal courts and government agencies -- by jurisdiction and/or agency.
You can find these rules here or at the EDIM group's blog. Please keep in mind that individual judges or agencies may have enacted their own specific or preferred protocols (such as through standing orders) relating to e-discovery that may not be included among the web pages we have compiled.
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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
