The Third Branch: “On December 1, 2006, amendments to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 16, 26, 33, 34, 45 and revisions to Form 35 will take effect unless Congress enacts legislation to reject, modify or defer them. These amendments and revisions are all aimed at one particular area of discovery—electronically stored information, meaning all information in computers…One study found that the cost of discovery represents approximately 50 percent of the litigation costs in all cases, and as much as 90 percent of the litigation costs in the cases where discovery is actively employed. A “cottage industry” of forensic specialists has emerged with the sole purpose of assisting law firms comply with their electronic discovery obligations…For more on the specific changes in the rules aimed at discovery of electronically stored information, visit http://www.uscourts.gov/rules/Reports/ST09-2006.pdf.”