The process in which businesses decide which data they are legally required to save, and which they can safely throw out, is known as "e-discovery and e-hold." Until now, businesses have been forced to make e-discovery and e-hold decisions based on a mixed bag of individual court decisions, balanced by guesswork by their corporate legal teams. The new FRCP changes all that, codifying a dangerously confusing situation.

Your company's chances of winning in court -- or staying out of court altogether -- will be greatly enhanced by creating appropriate enterprisewide procedures for retention and disposal of data and documents.

Here are five significant changes to FRCP, and the processes your company should establish in order to be legally secure.

1. Rule 26 (f): Early discussion preparedness

This rule mandates that the pretrial conference between opposing attorneys will now have a very specific purpose. A sweeping requirement obliges the company being sued to cite all storage systems that hold data relevant to the litigation, all relevant data sources and data formats, and the steps counsel has taken to prevent relevant data from being deleted. To comply, companies will need a retention program that allows the litigation department to provide and describe this information accurately.