§ 2019.040.Application of discovery methods and procedures to electronically stored information

This short section closes a gap that could otherwise leave electronic data in a different category than paper. Whenever a discovery method lets a party obtain production, inspection, copying, testing, or sampling of documents or tangible things, that same method reaches electronically stored information too. A party can't argue that a request for documents doesn't cover a spreadsheet or a database just because it isn't printed on paper.

The second half of the section does the same work for procedure rather than substance. Whatever tools exist under this title to compel discovery, or to prevent or limit it, apply equally whether the target is a physical document or its electronic counterpart. Motions to compel, protective orders, and every other mechanism in the Discovery Act treat electronically stored information the same way they treat anything else discoverable.