In In the Matter of the Judicial Settlement of the Account of Salem Tamer, et. al., 2009 NY Slip Op. 29160 (Apr. 20, 2009), New York State Trial Court Judge Anthony Scarpino granted a trustee objectant's motion authorizing him to produce documents electronically, provided the document production included an index of the documents.

This action arose from a contested accounting proceeding related to a revocable trust.  The trustees requested hard-copy documents and sought preclusion of any evidence not produced in paper form.  The objectant moved to produce the approximately 6,000 pages of responsive documents electronically. The court held that the relevant discovery statute (CPLR 3122) only required the production of a "complete and accurate copy" of documents "as they are kept in the regular course of business."  The court ruled that electronic copies were sufficient for this purpose, provided objectant also include an index identifying which documents are responsive to each document request.