Globalisation and the growing mountain of electronically stored information ("ESI") inevitably will lead to an increase in discovery requests for ESI located abroad. Companies are meeting the challenge of globalisation by creating networks of electronic data that allow employees around the world to connect to the same set of data no matter where it is located.

But no consistent methodology exists for US courts to evaluate whether discovery of ESI abroad is appropriate, and if so, the consequences for not complying with a discovery order.

Although international discovery is not a new problem, global companies, the growth of international data infrastructures, and the explosion of ESI will bring the issues of e-discovery to the forefront of international litigation. Courts will be faced with comity considerations and issues related to the burden and cost of e-discovery, as well as complex international data protection laws.