Electronic Discovery

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    Discovery Resources

  • LTNY Day 3: Video Perspective of e-Discovery & Partnership Trends

    DiscoveryResources.org Editor
    5 Feb 2010 | 3:30 pm
    At LegalTech New York 2010, Ari Kaplan interviewed Mary Mack, Corporate Technology Counsel at Fios, on the value of partnerships in e-discovery. The interview covers Fios’ new partnership with kCura and how, through partnerships, Fios is bringing value to clients who are seeking to control e-discovery costs without sacrificing quality. View Mack’s “video” interview here.

  • Regulators Set Own Limits on E-Discovery

    DiscoveryResources.org Editor
    4 Feb 2010 | 11:32 am
    This National Law Journal article provides a terrific overview of what was discussed at Fios‘ Regulatory e-discovery luncheon during LegalTech NY on Feb. 2. Speakers included: Len Gordon, director of the FTC’s NE Regional Office, David Keyko from Pillsbury Winthrop, Josh Weiss From Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and Fios’ Dennis Kiker. Fios’ Mary Mack moderated.

  • The Posse List interviews Mary Mack and Dennis Kiker on collaborative e-discovery

    Jim Woolfrey
    2 Feb 2010 | 5:25 pm
    As part of our their new series “’Data! Data! Data!’ — Cures for a General Counsel’s ESI Nightmares,” The Posse List interviewed Mary Mack and Dennis Kiker. They discuss collaboration and documentation for defensibility among inside and outside counsel, between IT and legal, among joint defense groups and during productions… how to get control of the discovery process. Here’s the interview on the Posse List site: An interview with Mary Mack and Dennis Kiker of Fios: collaborative e-discovery technology and services, and putting it all in perspective.

  • Webcast: Ambrogi’s View on e-Discovery Trends for 2010

    Jim Woolfrey
    22 Jan 2010 | 11:30 am
    1/26 - Robert (Bob) Ambrogi, lawyer, journalist, media consultant and blogger, is known internationally for his work at the intersection of law, media and technology. In an interview with Mary Mack, Bob will share his views on the e-discovery industry and what trends he sees emerging in 2010. More info / register >

  • A Quick Peek at a Decade of e-Discovery

    Mary Mack
    21 Jan 2010 | 11:31 am
    In 2000, after the Y2K scare passed and computers did not crash – although telecom and IT did – Fios started to define electronic evidence with the small group of lawyers, technologists and government people (yes, Ken Withers, that is you). There were four major companies in the electronic evidence space, including Fios. Technology Dial-up was still the norm for Internet connections, with T1 lines for corporations. Not everybody had BlackBerrys. Forensics was still done in DOS, mostly by ex-law enforcement. All but a few attorneys ignored electronic evidence and agreed not to produce it,…
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    Electronic Discovery Law

  • Court Compels Production of Foreign Data and Re-Production of "Already-Produced" Electronic Discovery in a Reasonably Usable Form

    K&L Gates
    3 Feb 2010 | 8:23 am
    Accessdata Corp. v. ALSTE Tech. GMBH, 2010 WL 3184777 (D. Utah Jan. 21, 2010) In this breach of contract case, the court granted plaintiff’s motion to compel and ordered defendant (a German company) to produce responsive third-party, personal data, despite objections that such production would violate German law.  The court also granted plaintiff’s motion to compel the re-production of previously produced electronic discovery where defendant’s initial production did not conform to the requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 34.Plaintiff, an American company, sought to compel…

  • Personal Emails Retained by Public School's Email System Not Subject to Michigan's Freedom of Information Act

    K&L Gates
    29 Jan 2010 | 4:04 pm
    Howell Educ. Assoc. MEA/NEA v. Howell Board of Educ., 2010 WL 290515 (Mich. Jan. 26, 2010) In this “reverse” Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case, the trial court held that personal emails generated by and stored on a public school’s email system were public records subject to FOIA.  Upon plaintiffs’ appeal, the appellate court reversed the trial court and held that such emails were not public records and thus not subject to FOIA.  Moreover, the appellate court concluded that violation of an acceptable use policy barring personal use of an email system…

  • Court Finds Data "Not Reasonably Accessible," Denies Motion to Compel

    K&L Gates
    28 Jan 2010 | 9:05 am
    Rodriguez-Torres v. Gov. Dev. Bank of Puerto Rico, 2010 WL 174156 (D.P.R. Jan. 20, 2010) In this employment discrimination case, the court found the electronically stored information (“ESI”) requested by the plaintiffs “not reasonably accessible because of the undue burden and cost” and that plaintiffs had failed to show good cause to compel production of the ESI and denied plaintiffs’ motion to compel.Plaintiffs filed a motion to compel defendants’ production of “all email communications and calendar entries describing, relating or referring to…

  • "Zubulake Revisited: Six Years Later": Judge Shira Scheindlin Issues her Latest e-Discovery Opinion

    K&L Gates
    27 Jan 2010 | 10:38 am
    Pension Comm. of Univ. of Montreal Pension Plan v. Bank of Am. Secs., LLC, 2010 WL 184312 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 15, 2010) (Amended Order) Issued earlier this month, Judge Shira Scheindlin’s opinion in Pension Comm. of Univer. of Montreal Pension Plan v. Bank of Am. Secs., LLC, addresses the issues of parties’ preservation obligations and spoliation in great detail, including detailed and informative discussions of the varying levels of culpability in failing to uphold discovery obligations, the required burdens of proof, and the appropriate remedies upon a finding of spoliation. The…

  • District Court Rejects Total Dismissal of Claims, Orders Partial Dismissal and $75,000 in Monetary Sanctions for Egregious Discovery Violations

    K&L Gates
    26 Jan 2010 | 2:19 pm
    Bray & Gillespie Mgmt., LLC v. Lexington Ins. Co., 2009 WL 5218035 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 3, 2009);  Bray & Gillespie Mgmt., LLC v. Lexington Ins. Co., 2010 WL 55595 (M.D. Fla. Jan. 5, 2010) Following her finding that “[Bray & Gillespie], through counsel, acted willfully and in bad faith in violation of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and this court’s orders” by failing to make reasonable efforts to search for and produce documents in response to court orders and by making repeated misrepresentations to the court, among other things, the Magistrate Judge…
 
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    Electronic Discovery Blog

  • Producer’s use of computer after entry of an injunction prohibiting destruction of relevant data did not constitute spoliation

    Larry Wescott
    31 Jan 2010 | 5:45 pm
    Mintel International Group, Ltd. v. Neergheen, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2323 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 12, 2010) Defendant producer had worked in plaintiff’s marketing department, and had had access to plaintiff requestor’s confidential information. Defendant had signed an employment agreement containing a confidentiality clause, and a covenant not to compete. In 2007, plaintiff restructured its [...]

  • Judge Scheindlin analyzes the law of spoliation

    Larry Wescott
    18 Jan 2010 | 1:37 pm
    The Pension Committee of the University of Montreal Pension Plan v. Banc of America Securities, LLC, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1839 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 11, 2010) Plaintiff producers were a group of investors who had brought an action to recover $550 million lost as a result of the liquidation of two British Virgin Island hedge funds. [...]

  • Requestor successfully rebuts claim that data from archiving system is not reasonably accessible

    Larry Wescott
    12 Jan 2010 | 8:05 pm
    Starbucks Corp. v. ADT Security Services, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120941 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 30, 2009) The controversy involved ESI stored on a Plasmon archiving system which producer argued was so cumbersome that the data contained within it was not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost under Rule 26(b)(2)(B). The system was [...]

  • Forensic imaging justified where computer is at heart of allegations

    Larry Wescott
    26 Dec 2009 | 1:21 pm
    Capitol Records, Inc. v. Alajuan, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 110626 (D. Mass. May 6, 2009) Defendant producer admitted that the laptop sought by plaintiff requestor for forensic imaging purposes was used for the file-sharing activities which were at the heart of the dispute, although defendant could not recall certain details relating to those activities. Producer [...]

  • Court holds “native format” to be unambiguous term of art

    Larry Wescott
    14 Dec 2009 | 6:29 pm
    Cenveo Corp. v. Southern Graphic Systems, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108623 (D. Minn. Nov. 18, 2009) Defendant requestor served plaintiff producer with requests for production of documents in which “document” was defined as “electronically stored information in its native format.” Id. at *2. Producer produced documents in .PDF format, which was not the [...]
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    E-discovery 2.0

  • Electronic Discovery Experts On Stage at LegalTech New York 2010

    Dean Gonsowski
    28 Jan 2010 | 10:29 am
    Next week, as most of you know, is the Superbowl of legal technology events.  And, so if this is a newsflash, you’ve probably found this blog by searching for the European Cockpit Association (“ECA”).  If on the other hand you have an unnatural affinity for the other ECA – early case assessment — then you’ve probably been planning to head to this year’s LegalTech show immediately after the last one ended. For fear of gratuitous self promotion, I will be moderating several panels with e-discovery pundits on the first day. Akin to the upcoming Superbowl, these…

  • Not Yet A Gartner E-Discovery Magic Quadrant, But Still A Gartner E-Discovery MarketScope

    Aaref Hilaly
    29 Dec 2009 | 10:07 am
    Earlier this month, Gartner published its third annual MarketScope For E-Discovery Product Vendors. Written by Debra Logan, Whit Andrews, and John Bace, the report is an excellent survey of this rapidly evolving market. It is also a useful buyer’s guide for anyone considering a purchase of electronic discovery software, since it analyzes and rates various e-discovery players. You can buy the report at Gartner’s site, or access a complimentary copy here. The report covers 18 e-discovery software vendors. Missing from the report are e-discovery hosted/software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers…

  • Early Case Assessment (ECA): An Emerging Product Category

    Aaref Hilaly
    16 Dec 2009 | 2:50 pm
    There are many barriers preventing the creation of a new product category, especially in the legal industry. The biggest is inertia, since most people prefer to leverage the tools they have, both on grounds of cost (why spend money on something new?) and familiarity (who wants to spend time learning a new workflow?). A second barrier is risk-aversion, since the consequences of errors in the legal world can be severe for all concerned. A third is insensitivity to cost, since service providers simply pass on expenses to their corporate clients. When safety and risk mitigation rank above…

  • How to Reduce E-Discovery Costs Part V: What Part of E-Discovery To Bring In-House

    Will Uppington
    10 Dec 2009 | 10:57 am
    Part IV of this series on reducing e-discovery costs described how bringing e-discovery in-house can reduce costs.  One of the major decision points when in-sourcing e-discovery is to decide which parts of the e-discovery process should be in-sourced.  In making this decision, each company should look at the nature of their e-discovery process today, which parts of the e-discovery workflow they currently perform in-house, if any at all, and which are currently outsourced.  They should then look at which outsourced parts would produce the best return on investment (ROI) if in-sourced. When…

  • Litigation and E-Discovery Trend Surveys Find Similar Results

    Dean Gonsowski
    19 Nov 2009 | 10:32 am
    As the Mark Twain quote goes, there are “lies, damn lies and statistics.”  In this case, however, and regardless of the exact numbers, two recent surveys provide some very interesting directional trending.  The first is Fulbright & Jaworski’s 6th Annual Litigation Trends Survey.  In addition to covering a range of general and vertically oriented topics, they also focus on electronic discovery specifically.  Not surprisingly, reducing e-discovery costs bubbles up to the top of the list as major initiatives for most respondents.  Interestingly though, remediation plans attacking…
 
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    DennisKennedy.blog

  • Recent Microblog Posts - January 31, 2010

    31 Jan 2010 | 7:50 pm
    Here's the latest collection of posts from DennisKennedy.Microblog, which is a supplement to this blog that can be found on Twitter at @dkennedyblog. I invite you to become a follower. An explanation of the microblog can be found here. Here are recent posts from the microblog: Adam Singer on "Workforce Darwinism" - 70% of surveyed US HR pros have rejected candidate due to online reputation info http://bit.ly/dpS8R8 Kevin Meyer: Swimming Through the Information Clutter - http://bit.ly/cB0cpS - impact of information flow on leadership Fraser Speirs: "What you're seeing in the industry's…

  • MLK Holiday - 2010

    18 Jan 2010 | 5:57 pm
    I have a tradition on this blog of writing a post on celebrating the Martin Luther King holiday (here, here, here (especially) and here). The holiday is special to me for a number of reasons that I go into in the earlier posts on the topic and it's one of my favorite holidays of the year. I enjoy reading blog posts and other materials posted on the holiday, and today is no exception. I especially liked Curt Rosengren's Martin Luther King Day: 4 steps to making it personal. The money quote: This year, instead of just thinking, "Whoo-hoo! I have the day off," or "Hey, there's a sale at the…

  • 52 Books in 52 Weeks - 2010

    16 Jan 2010 | 6:55 pm
    For the last few years, I've enjoyed reading the posts of several bloggers who are trying to read 52 books in 52 weeks. I've also wanted to find a good way for me to keep track of the books I've read. Last year, I decided to try to do the 52 books in 52 weeks meme (and encourage others to do so). I made it to 63, which seemed pretty good. Here's the post with the 2009 list. I'm doing the same thing in 2010. My approach is the same as last year - I'll simply update this specific post from time to time throughout the year as I finish books. December November October September August July June…

  • Looking Forward: Legal Technology in 2010

    5 Jan 2010 | 7:15 pm
    Tom Mighell and I have recorded another episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast and it's now available on the Legal Talk Network and on iTunes, with an RSS feed here. The episode is called "Looking Forward: Legal Technology in 2010" (show notes here), and it's sponsored by Bill4Time. A special thank you to readers of this blog who listen to the podcast - we're very pleased with the growing numbers of downloads the podcast is getting. Here's the episode description: In part two of this two-part series on legal technology trends, co-hosts Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell peer into the…

  • Recent Microblog Posts - January 4, 2010

    3 Jan 2010 | 6:43 pm
    Happy New Year and best wishes for 2010! Here's the latest collection of posts from DennisKennedy.Microblog, which is a supplement to this blog that can be found on Twitter at @dkennedyblog. I invite you to become a follower. An explanation of the microblog can be found here. Here are recent posts from the microblog: David Allen offers great questions for completing and remember 2009 and creating your 2010 - http://bit.ly/6k8IbZ Julia Kirby at HBR sets out top management ideas of past decade - http://bit.ly/5lQCBf - coming to your organization soon? Hey, that's @denniskennedy named in "Friend…
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    EDD Update

  • Clinching the Concept of Concept Search

    Craig Ball
    6 Feb 2010 | 3:09 pm
    As a frequent speaker, I live for the "aha" moment that lights the eyes of an audience.  It's that magical turning point when you've made a daunting technical topic accessible.  You can almost hear the, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, for making something I've long wondered about but never fully grasped clear to me."  Yesterday, at an e-discovery conference in Austin, I watched Ed Fiducia of Inventus earn his "aha" moment describing concept search.  It's a challenging topic--one that entails shoving a host of…

  • Re-Visiting Biller v. Toyota

    Perry L. Segal
    4 Feb 2010 | 4:17 pm
    I blogged about this Federal 9th Circuit case a few months ago and at the time commented, "This is one to watch."  Well, it's time to watch.  The gist of the case involves a former Toyota attorney accusing the firm of spoliation related to data on defects.  As the "gas pedal" issue has become prevalent, this case takes on new meaning.  Here's what I wrote about it back in September, and an update I posted earlier today:From September 24,…

  • LTNY: T-Minus 12 h

    Craig Ball
    31 Jan 2010 | 3:30 pm
            I've just navigated the chaos that is the LegalTech vendor floor (see photos, click each for larger images) and, after more than a decade watching these shows take shape on both coasts, I still marvel at how this mess morphs into the polished event that will emerge in a few hours.  It's going to be a great show for the vendors.  I can't predict the traffic won't be off in sheer numbers of warm bodies, but those who come will have budgets to buy that were nowhere to be seen last year. …

  • #LTNY Next Week!

    Monica Bay
    29 Jan 2010 | 10:46 am
    We've all been in high gear getting the final touches done for LegalTech NY next week. I can't wait! Among the highlights will be our LTN Awards party Monday night 2/1 at 6 p.m. Tix are still available: contact lsharpe@alm.com. They will also be available at the Sales Office on third floor of Hilton Monday. We also will hold our traditional "Editors' Breakfast" and Bloggers Breakfast on Tuesday 2/2 at 8 am and 9 am. in the Petit Trianon room. Everyone's welcome! It's a great oppty for vendors and public relations folks to meet with ALM's editors. CYA at…

  • Webinar Examines Legal Hold Myths & More

    John Jablonski
    23 Jan 2010 | 7:38 am
    To listen to a webinar recorded on January 26, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. EST, which examined common misconceptions about legal holds using recent case law, including an analysis of U.S. District Judge Scheindlin’s recent Pension Committee opinion, click here. John Jablonski (author of this blog and Seven Steps for Legal Holds of ESI and Other Documents) and Brad Harris (author of 12 Myths About Legal Holds) will look at problems that are frequently encountered within organizations that are failing to implement reasonable and good faith efforts when it comes to executing legal holds for…
 
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    The eDiscovery Paradigm Shift

  • Is the eDiscovery World Flat?

    8 Feb 2010 | 8:39 am
    Over the years, various cultures have had conceptions of a flat Earth, including ancient Babylon, Ancient Egypt, pre-Classical Greece and pre-17th century China. This view contrasts with the realization first recorded around the 4th century BC by natural philosophers of Classical Greece that the Earth is spherical.In February 2010 at the Legal Tech convention in New York City, I was dumbfounded at how many litigators believe, in essence, that the world is flat in regards to Software-as-as-Service (SaaS) in eDiscovery and that venturing into hosted technology solutions will end in disaster.

  • The Seven Deadly Sins of eDiscovery

    16 Jan 2010 | 8:38 am
    The Seven Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of the most objectionable vices which has been used since early Catholic times to educate and instruct followers concerning (immoral) fallen man's tendency to sin. The final version of the list consists of wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.Comparing the tendencies of the players in the complex and high stakes world of eDiscovery in 2010 to The Seven Deadly Sins may be a bit over the top. However, there are some "Deadly" tendencies occurring within eDiscovery that are worth noting.

  • Computer Aided Review Has Arrived

    12 Jan 2010 | 5:28 am
    Over the past several months I have been blogging about the emergence of Hal 900 like experiences in eDiscovery and Web 3.0. As such, I have been following the work of Dr. Herb Roitblat regarding the utilization of semantic and related technology to reduce the cost of document review through computer aided document categorization.In a Blog posting on the Orcatec Blog, "Information Discovery", on Monday January 11, 2009 titled, "Computer Assisted Document Categorization in eDiscovery ", Dr. Roitblat announces that the January issue of the Journal of the American Society for Information Science…

  • eDiscovery in 2010

    28 Dec 2009 | 8:46 am
    The week between Christmas and New Years wouldn't be complete without a blog post about what the new year will bring to eDiscovery.With the world economy in shambles, 2009 was not the best of times for the legal market and therefore many in legacy litigation services. Law firms reduced their ranks by the thousands and subsequently litigation service providers, consulting firms and litigation technology vendors had to tightened their belts and some even closed their doors. As a result, many long time players in the litigation services space found themselves without a job and without any real…

  • Web 3.0 in eDiscovery

    20 Dec 2009 | 9:24 am
    Over the past year I have been following discussions about Web 3.0, the next generation of the Internet. And, even though my wife is yelling at me to get ready to go Christmas shopping, I wanted to get this Blog posting done today as I believe that Web 3.0 is going to have a profound effect on eDiscovery in 2010 and beyond. Not only in terms of what we have to "Discover" but also in terms of how we "Discover". And, I am going to use Christmas shopping in my example of how to use Web 3.0. I am not sure what that says about my priorities. However, here goes.From a SciFi stand point, Web 3.0…
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    Litigation Support Industry: Business News and Information Blog

  • Intermediate Capital Group acquires significant stake in CPA Global

    8 Feb 2010 | 7:54 am
    Intermediate Capital Group (“ICG”), a leading independent investor and fund manager, announces that it has acquired a significant minority stake in legal services firm CPA Global, investing alongside the company’s senior management team and the founding shareholders. The acquisition has received the required approvals from CPA Global shareholders as well as the Jersey courts, which sanctioned a new Scheme of Arrangement that came into effect today. The terms of the transaction are not disclosed.Founded in Jersey in 1969, originally to manage patent renewals, CPA Global has expanded over…

  • Iron Mountain Merger and Acquisition Activity

    6 Feb 2010 | 10:26 am
    Came across this article that asks the question "Will Iron Mountain Acquire Mimosa?".Here is an excerpt:For what was once a fairly staid Old Economy business, Iron Mountain (IRM) has done a better job than most companies in acclimating itself to the digital age. The records management vendor has accomplished that with eight acquisitions over the past half-decade, picking up technology for online backup and e-discovery, among other offerings. The $158m purchase of e-discovery provider Stratify stands, in many ways, as Iron Mountain’s marquee acquisition for its digital business. It has…

  • Iron Mountain's Stratify Acquires E-Discovery Company

    29 Jan 2010 | 5:30 am
    Boston-based Iron Mountain Inc. reports that its California-based electronic discovery subsidiary Stratify has acquired Legal Imaging Technologies Inc., a San Francisco area company specializing in electronic document conversion and imaging processing.Adding LIT’s processes and products into Stratify’s e-discovery capabilities will triple Stratify’s production capabilities in its data center operations that support the North America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific markets, according to Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) officials.No financial details of the acquisition were disclosed.Founded in 1993,…

  • Lighthouse Document Technologies Raises $200,000

    18 Jan 2010 | 6:42 am
    As noted in John Cook's Venture Blog.Lighthouse Document Technologies -- a Seattle company led by David Rostov -- raised $200,000 in equity and debt financing, according to a filing. Rostov is the former chief financial officer at InfoSpace, Apex Learning, drugstore.com and Nextel International. The company provides electronic discovery services to law firms.

  • U.S. Legal Support Completes Acquisition of Array Technology Group

    15 Jan 2010 | 7:37 am
    HOUSTON - U.S. Legal Support, Inc., a leading provider of full-service court reporting, record retrieval and legal placement & staffing services has announced the completion of its acquisition of Array Technology Group LLC, a premier electronic discovery, trial consulting and training services company.“This acquisition is a significant step in U.S. Legal Support’s strategy to accelerate growth, enhance our coverage in targeted markets, and more importantly, enables us to offer a convenient, one-stop shop for our clients. With the acquisition of Array Technology now complete, we’ve…
 
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    EDD Blog Online

  • Clinching the Concept of Concept Search

    9 Feb 2010 | 6:05 am
    As a frequent speaker, I live for the "aha" moment that lights the eyes of an audience. It's that magical turning point when you've made a daunting technical topic accessible. You can almost hear the, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, for making something I've long wondered about but never fully grasped clear to me."Yesterday, at an e-discovery conference in Austin, I watched Ed Fiducia of Inventus earn his "aha" moment describing concept search. It's a challenging topic--one that entails shoving a host of different approaches under a broad rubric, and more math than the average lawyer wants…

  • Rules for Jurors: No Talking, Texting, Tweeting

    9 Feb 2010 | 6:04 am
    A committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States has endorsed a set of model jury instructions for district judges to help deter jurors from using cell phones, computers or other electronic technologies during their jury service.The Committee on Court Administration and Case Management "developed these instructions to address the increasing incidence of juror use of such devices as cellular telephones or computers to conduct research on the internet or communicate with others about cases," wrote Judge Julie Robinson, committee chair, in a memo to district judges. "Such use has…

  • Electronic Privacy and the Supreme Court

    9 Feb 2010 | 6:02 am
    The Supreme Court will soon weigh in for the first time on the permissible scope of employer monitoring of employees' electronic communications. Such monitoring activity raises many issues that remain the subject of uncertainty in this developing area of the law.The case under consideration by the Court, Ontario v. Quon, arises in the context of government employees, who are protected from unreasonable searches by the Fourth Amendment. Private-sector employees have no such constitutional protection. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court's forthcoming ruling will likely have implications for private…

  • Early Case Assessment Hype in the Ediscovery Market

    8 Feb 2010 | 1:15 pm
    This is a very interesting observation by Joshua Kubicki regarding the early case assessment process and some common misconceptions.SUMMARY: Early Case Assessment (ECA) has gained momentum recently as ediscovery matures and clients look to improve their ability to not just respond but detect and assess issues proactively. The unfortunate truth is that the strong majority of proposed ECA solutions or products are nothing more that ediscovery accelerators. What is being sold is not necessarily ECA but a quicker more robust ediscovery process. The fact is that ECA has been around for decades and…

  • Court Compels Production of Foreign Data and Re-Production of "Already-Produced" Electronic Discovery in a Reasonably Usable Form

    5 Feb 2010 | 6:38 am
    Accessdata Corp. v. ALSTE Tech. GMBH, 2010 WL 3184777 (D. Utah Jan. 21, 2010)In this breach of contract case, the court granted plaintiff’s motion to compel and ordered defendant (a German company) to produce responsive third-party, personal data, despite objections that such production would violate German law. The court also granted plaintiff’s motion to compel the re-production of previously produced electronic discovery where defendant’s initial production did not conform to the requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 34.Plaintiff, an American company, sought to compel defendant’s…
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    Bag and Baggage

  • TWiL 46 Video — Privacy? Losin' It.

    Denise Howell
    5 Feb 2010 | 7:12 pm
    Video archives for TWiL are available at blip.tv and ODTV.  Also, TWiL is on Twitter and Facebook, if you're so inclined. This WEEK in LAW on Facebook 

  • TWiL 45 Video — In An iPadded Cell

    Denise Howell
    30 Jan 2010 | 9:41 am
    Video archives for TWiL are available at blip.tv and ODTV.  Also, TWiL is on Twitter and Facebook, if you're so inclined. This WEEK in LAW on Facebook 

  • TWiL 44 Video — Crimes and Damages

    Denise Howell
    29 Jan 2010 | 1:00 pm
    Video archives for TWiL are available at blip.tv and ODTV.  Also, TWiL is on Twitter and Facebook, if you're so inclined. This WEEK in LAW on Facebook 

  • TWiL 43 Video — Please Come to Boston

    Denise Howell
    18 Jan 2010 | 7:57 am
    Video archives for TWiL are available at blip.tv and ODTV.  Also, TWiL is on Twitter and Facebook, if you're so inclined. This WEEK in LAW on Facebook 

  • So Many Grandmas, So Little Time

    Denise Howell
    12 Jan 2010 | 8:42 am
    autumn 065 bridesmaids dressesOriginally uploaded by apium Parent: It's Grandpa [Parent's dad] and Grandma's [Parent's stepmom] anniversary today. Child: Can we go? Parent: No, I'm sorry, we're too far away. We can wish them a Happy Anniversary though. Child: How can they have an anniversary without Grandma ___ [Parent's mom, divorce final in the '80's]? Parent: Um. They seem to figure it out.
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    Ride The Lightning

  • Computer Forensics and E-mail List Marketing: What Do You Do?

    Sharon D. Nelson, Esq.
    8 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am
    Recently, I've been giving serious thought to purchasing e-mail lists of attorneys for marketing. I hate reinventing the wheel, so I thought I'd ask my colleagues what they do, Most of the readers of this blog are in EDD companies, computer forensics or law firms and all potentially use this form of marketing. I've been doing some research which I'm happy to share with readers, along with any comments that I may receive via e-mail. Here are some of my questions: Do you purchase e-mail lists? If so, for one time use or repeated use? Are there companies you especially like…

  • More on Video, How We Learn and Courtroom Technology

    Sharon D. Nelson, Esq.
    4 Feb 2010 | 8:34 am
    My recent post on using videos for EDD marketing has continued to elicit conversation. Casey Horne, an attorney with Horne & Horne (they're still working on a website or I'd link to it!), wrote to express his agreement with Ian Henderson's remarks. Casey wrote: "Peter Drucker made the point years ago that some people learn through their eyes, others through their ears, and damned be he who fails to note the difference. At the time, it was clear he focused on printed text versus oral speech, so the current fixation on video would be a hybrid and an open question. I find…

  • Yet Again, Drunk Driver Gets Jail Time After Drunken Facebook Post

    Sharon D. Nelson, Esq.
    2 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am
    Ashley Sullivan, 17, was drunk the night she crashed her car into a brick pillar. Her 20 year old boyfriend was killed in the crash. A month later, she went to Florida and posted a photo on her Facebook page entitled "Drunk in Florida." The judge told her flatly that her conduct after the crash had earned her six months in jail along with five years probation, during which she may not drink. The N.Y. judge also refused to grant her youthful offender status. Add this to a long list of drunk young folks that have managed to get themselves incarcerated by posting photos which make them…

  • Court Rules Racy Voicemails, Viagra in Truck and Overnight Stay = Adultery

    Sharon D. Nelson, Esq.
    28 Jan 2010 | 11:34 am
    We don't see voicemails in evidence all that often, but Virginia offered a nice salacious opinion incorporating them recently. In Davis v. Davis, the Circuit Court of Madison County found on January 26, 2010, that the combination of explicit voicemails, Viagra kept in the husband's truck and an admitted overnight stay with the lady on the other end of the voicemails tallied up to adultery. Absolute proof of adultery is not required in Virginia. The evidence presented must be sufficient to produce a firm conviction in the mind of the trier of fact that adultery has taken place. The…

  • From the Mailbag: The Use of Videos

    Sharon D. Nelson, Esq.
    26 Jan 2010 | 7:07 am
    I had several responses to my last post about Sensei's use of videos. Rob Rost, from Banner Health, wrote me about his company's use of video to highlight HIPAA security: Banner Health has recently adopted Youtube.com to promote its business to people on the Internet.  In fact, Banner Health is slowly starting to adopt other Web 2.0 applications to promote and create more awareness about its’ mission, values, leadership, and services. I am pleased to announce that the Information Security department has also posted a video YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3CzDU_Fflg). The…
 
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    The Evince Blog

  • The Threat of Posting Personal Information On-line May Be Considered Extortion

    Chris Pierre
    5 Feb 2010 | 5:36 am
    I just finished reading a fascinating article on the Cyb3rcrime3 blog on a case that was recently heard in Ohio. Ms. Brenner describes how the threat of posting someone’s personal information on-line for some form of compensation could be considered a form of extortion. Ms. Brenner also described a US Statute where by it is an offence to use information obtained from a computer to extort someone. I have only read the post on Ms. Brenner’s blog so I may be missing something here but in the case of State v. Soboroff it does not appear that the defendant obtained information from the…

  • HTCIA-Ottawa Speaker Update

    Chris Pierre
    3 Feb 2010 | 1:05 pm
    A quick note on the upcoming speaker for the HTCIA Ottawa Chapter. Bruce Cowper of Microsoft Canada will be speaking on the Top Security Threats for 2010. The date for the presentation is February 9, 2010 and it is at Russell’s Lounge at the Ottawa Police Association. Bruce is an excellent speaker and I would encourage anyone in the Ottawa area who is interested in technology security and investigations to join us at the event.

  • Fascinating Analysis of World of Warcraft Security Issues

    Chris Pierre
    15 Jan 2010 | 9:47 am
    I am a regular reader of Steven Davis PlayNoEvil Blog, as should anyone be who is interested in game security and online fraud. Through one of the Playnoevil posts I learned about a string of posts on the WoW.com site relating to account security. I think these are a very useful read for anyone interested in protecting online accounts, including individuals, game companies and policy makers.

  • World of Warcraft Use Helps Police Catch Wanted Man

    Chris Pierre
    6 Jan 2010 | 5:50 pm
    According to the Toronto Star a fugitive wanted on drug charges in the United States was tracked to Canada. How you ask? Through his World of Warcraft activity. He was known to be a regular World of Warcraft player and the police in the United States subpeonaed Blizzard to obtain his account information. This of course included the IP Address and my guess is that IP Address belonged in a range which is managed by a Canadian ISP…..et voilà! Thanks to Sean Lonergan for forwarding this information to me.

  • Spreadsheet Formulas and Tools

    Chris Pierre
    30 Dec 2009 | 11:57 am
    Here are some useful Microsoft Excel formulas and tools which I have found to be useful in fraud investigation. These tips and tools assume some level of understanding of Excel, but are far below the level of using macros and other advanced features. Creating a Time-line in Excel I have identified two sources for this. First if you’re working on an older version of Excel you can use the templates at Vertex42 LLC or Mr. Excel. If you are using a version of Excel that is the 2007 or later, you can use the template that is included in the software. For a tutorial on the function there is one…
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    docNative Paradigm Blog

  • TakeAways from Legal Tech New York

    Tom O'Connor
    5 Feb 2010 | 12:23 pm
    Here’s my two main impressions after looking back at the Legal Tech event this year.  The first is the obvious trend my hosting companies toa dd more features which can distinguish them from the competition. Analytic tools, intelligent search engines, easier folder setups, better user interfaces, partnerships with other service companies: all of this tells me that hosting has finally been accepted and now the challenge is to provide more than simple “electronic Iron Mountain” basic storage. Service will be king in the hosting arena this year and watch for even more…

  • LegalTech New York A Big Hit

    Tom O'Connor
    3 Feb 2010 | 3:15 pm
    Crowds at LegalTech were still heavy on day three.  Excellent educational content was driving heavy attendance at the sessions .. I arrived five minutes late for a panel featuring Craig Ball, George SOcha and Ralph Losey and couldn’t even get into the room as it was beyond SRO into WRO, Waiting Room Only. Browning Marean and I were once again in the ED Zone, interviewing Atty. Maura Grossman from Wachtell  about litigation holds and the new decision from Judge Sheindlin in the Pension Committee case. The TechLaw Solutions booth was buzzing with onlookers as the three of us discussed…

  • Reporting Live from Legal Tech New York

    Tom O'Connor
    2 Feb 2010 | 5:33 am
    I’m reporting live from the ALM Editors Breakfast at LegalTech New York.  All the ALM journalists, editors, bloggers and writers in attendance are here introducing themselves and mingling with attendees. Some of the names you may recognize include Monica Bay, Craig Ball and Bob Ambriogi and I just had a most pleasant conversation with Gabe Acevedo and Mary Mack. I arrived in New York in time for the TechnoLawyer dinner Sunday evening.  It was well attended and I saw many old friends including Yui from CaseLogistix. Monday morning I began a series of speaking engagements for the day…

  • Judge Scheindlin Revises Order In Pension Committee v. Banc of America Securities

    Tom O'Connor
    19 Jan 2010 | 6:06 am
    Ralph Losey just broke the story that Judge Scheindlin yesterday entered an Amended Order in her landmark decision on spoliation and sanctions in The Pension Committee of the University of Montreal Pension Plan, et al. v. Banc of America Securities, et al.  Ralph had a lengthy blog on the case on January 17th and then wrote a post on EDD Update yesterday, the 18th, when he learned of the revision. You can read Ralphs posting on his blog, The E-Discovery Team  (which has been revised to incorporate the changes in the Amended Order) or go to a copy of the actual Amended…

  • ECA Redux

    Tom O'Connor
    5 Jan 2010 | 7:41 am
    Last fall I hosted a webinar on Early Case Assessment ECA) that was sponsored by Anacomp and featured  a discussion betweeen veteran legal technology consultant Chuck Kellner (the Vice President for eDiscovery Consulting at Anacomp) and Chris Smith (the Senior Product Manager at Anacomp).  The discussion (which is available for lsitening or download on the Anacomp web site) centered on how ECA can empower law firms and corporate counsel to gain initial case insights and determine optimal strategies which they can leverage to slash ediscovery time, costs and risks. The premise of the…
 
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    Gabe's Guide to the e-Discovery Universe

  • On The Move…

    Gabe Acevedo
    9 Feb 2010 | 4:14 am
    John Thatcher, formerly a project manager with DeNovo is now with Peak Discovery. Richard Thuemmler has joined the Midtown Group as the Director of Contract Legal Services

  • With the exception of braking and quick acceleration, you should have nothing to worry about with your new Toyota

    Gabe Acevedo
    8 Feb 2010 | 11:55 am
    Good cartoon from the folks over at CaseCentral:

  • Should ECA Really Stand for “Engineered Codeword Again?”

    Gabe Acevedo
    8 Feb 2010 | 11:50 am
    One of the big “buzzwords” that has picked up steam in the e-discovery universe is early case assessment or “ECA.”  It was also all the rage the LegalTech, just as “e-discovery” was in 2006 when the new rules came into effect.  That being said, Josh Kubicki has his own opinion on ECA. From Joshua Kubicki: Early Case Assessment (ECA) has gained momentum recently as ediscovery matures and clients look to improve their ability to not just respond but detect and assess issues proactively. The unfortunate truth is that the strong majority of proposed ECA…

  • Is Iron Mountain Thinking of Ordering a Mimosa?

    Gabe Acevedo
    8 Feb 2010 | 6:50 am
    From the 451 Group: For what was once a fairly staid Old Economy business, Iron Mountain has done a better job than most companies in acclimating itself to the digital age. The records management vendor has accomplished that with eight acquisitions over the past half-decade, picking up technology for online backup and e-discovery, among other offerings. The $158m purchase of e-discovery provider Stratify stands, in many ways, as Iron Mountain’s marquee acquisition for its digital business. It has maintained the Stratify name and, last November, turned its whole digital subsidiary over to…

  • Lazy Sunday Links 2.7.10: The LegalTech Aftermath/Superbowl Sunday/Snowmageddon, Edition

    Gabe Acevedo
    7 Feb 2010 | 10:25 am
    Forget “quote of the day,” this may be the quote of the conference. This was by far the most interesting review platform that I saw at LegalTech. I give credit where credit is due, Bob Ambrogi did scoop me on the Thomson Reuters/SuperLawyers acquisition. Here is some more on Westlaw and Lexis. Ari Kaplan does a ton of interviews Sean Doherty puts in his two cents, so does Monica Bay. Niki Black put up her thoughts on UStream, while the folks from RocketMatter filmed their experience on YouTube. Guess who is now an “eDiscovelebrity?” Tamir Sigal liked the conference…
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    E-Discovery Forum - E-Discovery News

  • Is the eDiscovery World Flat? - Electronic Discovery

    Electronic Discovery News Feed
    8 Feb 2010 | 4:59 pm
    Is the eDiscovery World Flat? Over the years, various cultures have had conceptions of a flat Earth, including ancient Babylon, Ancient Egypt, pre-Classical Greece and pre-17th century China. This view contrasts with the realization first recorded around the 4th century BC by natural philosophers of Classical Greece that the Earth is spherical. In February 2010 at the Legal Tech convention in New York City, I was dumbfounded at how many litigators believe, in essence, that the world is flat in regards to Software-as-as-Service (SaaS) in eDiscovery and that venturing into hosted technology…

  • Clinching the Concept of Concept Search - Electronic Discovery

    Electronic Discovery News Feed
    8 Feb 2010 | 12:35 pm
    Clinching the Concept of Concept Search As a frequent speaker, I live for the "aha" moment that lights the eyes of an audience. It's that magical turning point when you've made a daunting technical topic accessible. You can almost hear the, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, for making something I've long wondered about but never fully grasped clear to me." Yesterday, at an e-discovery conference in Austin, I watched Ed Fiducia of Inventus earn his "aha" moment describing concept search. It's a challenging topic--one that entails shoving a host of different…

  • Computer Forensics and E-mail List Marketing: What Do You Do? - Electronic Discovery

    Electronic Discovery News Feed
    8 Feb 2010 | 7:49 am
    Computer Forensics and E-mail List Marketing: What Do You Do? Recently, I've been giving serious thought to purchasing e-mail lists of attorneys for marketing. I hate reinventing the wheel, so I thought I'd ask my colleagues what they do, Most of the readers of this blog are in EDD companies, computer forensics or law firms and all potentially use this form of marketing. I've been doing some research which I'm happy to share with readers, along with any comments that I may receive via e-mail. Here are some of my questions: Do you purchase e-mail lists? If so, for one time use or repeated use?

  • e-Discovery: Did You Know? - Electronic Discovery

    Electronic Discovery News Feed
    8 Feb 2010 | 4:55 am
    e-Discovery: Did You Know? This is Jason Baron’s and Ralph Losey’s movie that they presented at LegalTech. The transition back to my job has made me fall behind on posts. I will try to post more here over the weekend. This is Jason Baron’s and Ralph Losey’s movie that they presented at LegalTech. The transition back to my job has made me fall behind on posts. I will try to post more here over the weekend. Visit the publisher of this e-discovery news article: original source.

  • Best Case in Point Cartoon, Evahâ?¦ - Electronic Discovery

    Electronic Discovery News Feed
    8 Feb 2010 | 4:55 am
    Best Case in Point Cartoon, Evahâ?¦ Hangover or not, this is what it feels like. It’s like spending three days in a washing machine. I am trying to recover myself. So much work to do… Hangover or not, this is what it feels like. It’s like spending three days in a washing machine. I am trying to recover myself. So much work to do… Visit the publisher of this e-discovery news article: original source.
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    e-Discovery Insights

  • Tips & Tricks: The Office: Lexis Partners with Microsoft

    Perry L. Segal
    9 Feb 2010 | 5:53 am
    The partnership I'm referring to was recently revealed at LegalTech in New York, but the benefits won't be available until later this year.Nevertheless, this is exciting news for anyone with licenses to both LexisNexis and Microsoft Office 2007.  Lexis will be integrated into the Office 2007 suite of products (which includes Outlook and SharePoint) and will be available for Office 2010, when it's released.  This means no more back & forth between the Web and Office when performing legal research.The new product is aptly named, "Lexis for Microsoft Office".  One interesting item of…

  • We Must Protect this House! (HR4061)

    Perry L. Segal
    8 Feb 2010 | 5:49 am
    The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2009 (HR 4061), introduced by the federal House Science and Technology Committee, passed February 4th.  Its stated purpose: "To advance cybersecurity research, development, and technical standards, and for other purposes."What does it mean?  Essentially that the government will spend $396 million over the next four years to encourage cybersecurity best practices and standards.Senate Bill S.773, the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, is Senator John Rockefeller's version, but isn't as far along.

  • Tips & Tricks: BarMax: California Exam Prep for iPhone/iTouch

    Perry L. Segal
    5 Feb 2010 | 12:48 pm
    The next presentation of the California Bar Exam begins Tuesday, February 23rd.  In sympathy with all law students who will be sitting for the exam, I happened across this nifty BarMax: California Edition application for the iPhone.  It incorporates essays, MBEs, performance tests and flash cards all into one.Most California students use BARBRI to prepare for the Bar exam, but I didn't, save for their excellent  PMBR MBE books.  They bring new meaning to the term "Red State/Blue State", which, by the time I'd spent two months studying, referred more to my state of mind from one minute to…

  • Facebook Faux Pas: "Drunk (and Stupid) in Florida"

    Perry L. Segal
    5 Feb 2010 | 11:45 am
    At this point, I'm about ready to throw in the towel and start a "Social Networking Idiot of the Month" post.  I try not to get into the habit of using strong verbiage like this too often, but really...A drunk-driving 17-year-old was involved in a vehicle crash that killed her 20-year-old passenger.Quoting directly from the The Buffalo News article:"The Buffalo News has learned that Sullivan went to Florida a month after the crash and posted a photo on her Facebook Web page captioned, "Drunk in Florida."" (italics/bold added).The judge found this conduct troubling, sentenced her to six…

  • Fight On! (And While You're at it, Please Help)

    Perry L. Segal
    4 Feb 2010 | 4:02 pm
    This one may be the most out-of-left-field thing, yet.  I've been selected as a guest-lecturer at USC on the subject of corporate speech and the First Amendment as it pertains to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.  Got all that?At the moment, I'm trying to figure out how I can leverage this for tickets to a football game or two next season...Seriously, folks, this is quite an honor - at least to me, it is.Honestly, I'm just using this as a context to ask you for a favor.  A highly-respected associate of mine works with the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.  As you can imagine, they can always…
 
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    Bow Tie Law's Blog

  • What Does a TRO Look Like to Preserve & Produce ESI?

    bowtielaw
    4 Feb 2010 | 10:59 am
    The Federal Trade Commission filed for a permanent injunction and temporary restraining order against the Defendants for violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act.  The FTC sought the preservation of the Defendants’ “…assets and an accounting of assets, preserving and producing business records and computers…” FTC v. Real Wealth, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5884 (W.D. Mo. Jan. 26, 2010). The Court granted the TRO and Ordered the Defendants comply with the following: IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, to the extent they have possession, custody, or control of Documents described above,…

  • Don’t Tell the Court “Keine Rechtsprechung”

    bowtielaw
    3 Feb 2010 | 2:00 am
    In Accessdata Corp. v. Alste Techs. Gmbh, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4566 (D. Utah Jan. 21, 2010), a United States based company entered into a contract with a German company to sell electronic discovery forensic software in Germany.  Litigation followed after the German Defendant failed to pay the Plaintiff for software sales.  The Defendant objected to producing electronic discovery of third parties based on German law and the Hague Convention.   Given the gamesmanship of producing native files as scanned PDF’s as I discussed in the The Form of Production Battle of the Bulge:…

  • e-Discovery Civil Procedure: Three Email Messages Do Not Establish Personal Jurisdiction

    bowtielaw
    2 Feb 2010 | 4:48 am
    Pelowski v. Pipe, 2010 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 549, 14-15 (Cal. App. 1st Dist. Jan. 26, 2010) is case where the Plaintiff’s appealed the judgment of dismissal of a Defendant based on the lack of personal jurisdiction. The Plaintiffs argued that both general and personal jurisdiction in California were properly established, because the Defendant “communicated regularly” with people in California.  Pelowski ,at *22-23. The Plaintiffs offered an email string and another email setting up a meeting in New York as proof of these communications.  These email messages were over several…

  • 5150 Texting, Drinking & Guns Don’t Match

    bowtielaw
    1 Feb 2010 | 4:36 am
    A man was prohibited from owning fire arms and appealed the decision.  The road leading up to the gun ban started on November 2, 2008…after fighting and texting with his girlfriend.  People v. Akers, 2010 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 102 (Cal. App. 4th Dist. Jan. 7, 2010). The Petitioner, while drinking and having a history of bipolar disorder, sent his girlfriend text messages where he threatened to kill himself.  The girlfriend called the police after getting the text messages.  Akers, at *1. The Police found the Petitioner walking the streets very late at night with a loaded .40-caliber…

  • Load Files and Then Some…

    bowtielaw
    29 Jan 2010 | 8:12 am
    Special Guest Blogger Pete Coons, VP of D4. This is part two of a discussion that attempts to explain some of the often used and often misunderstood eDiscovery terms. Last week I discussed DeNIST’ing and now we will tackle “Load Files”.  I am also going to squeeze in “Processing”. Load Files The Sedona Conference Glossary (great reference document) defines a Load File as: “Load file:  A file that relates to a set of scanned images or electronically processed files, and indicates where individual pages or files belong together as documents, to include attachments, and where each…
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    Delaware eDiscovery Report

  • Seventh Sign of The Apocalypse: Movie About eDiscovery

    Christopher Spizzirri
    5 Feb 2010 | 8:23 am
    It may not mean the apocalypse, but it surely means Hollywood is OUT of ideas. Who would watch a movie about eDiscovery? I did, and so should you. Veritable eDiscovery celebrities Search King Jason  Baron and Blog King Ralph Losey teamed up to create the short embedded video below titled "e-Discovery: Did You Know?" Maximize the video, turn down the lights, and turn up the speakers—if you’re at the office, I’d suggest going to the headphones. I actually felt cool watching this, if only for a second. Enjoy!

  • Top 10 Trends in eDiscovery

    Christopher Spizzirri
    20 Dec 2009 | 6:26 pm
    The e-discovery 2.0 blog recently posted its list of Top Ten Trends in Electronic Discovery.  Read them all, but here are a few that I particularly agree with: 3. Staffing roles continue to evolve with a newfound focus on project management. The role of an in-house e-discovery coordinator will emerge as more of a project management and analyst versus pure legal or IT. This shift will become increasingly necessary as e-discovery evolves from an ad-hoc fire drill to a standard business process that is repeatable, measurable, and defensible. 4. Data analytics and statistical methodologies…

  • Vice Chancellor Strine Doles out the eDiscovery Pain

    Christopher Spizzirri
    15 Dec 2009 | 3:27 pm
    Some are calling the Court of Chancery’s decision in TR Investors LLC v. Genger, C.A. 3994-VCS, “the most important recent decision on the Court's handling of discovery of emails and other e-documents.” <!—yes, that was a shameless plug --> The Court of Chancery lays clear its comprehension of some of the subtleties of electronic data and the hardware that maintains it. In this well-reasoned and nuanced decision, Vice Chancellor Strine joins fellow Vice Chancellors Parsons and Noble in continuing to define the rules of eDiscovery in this most important…

  • Hard Drive Wiping Costs $79 Large

    Christopher Spizzirri
    1 Dec 2009 | 11:35 am
    I previously discussed Beard v. Kates and have a brief update to report. First, a refresher: Beard sued Kates for tortuous interference and asked the Court to impose sanctions on Kates for spoliation. Kates repeatedly reformatted his laptop’s hard drive, then replaced the drive (but kept it), then wiped the new drive on the eve of the hearing in which he was explicitly told he would be required to turn the laptop over. The Court awarded attorneys’ fees and imposed an adverse inference, and I opined "Kates should thank his lucky stars the Court decided to go easy on him."…

  • 3rd Circuit Doesn't Dig 'Hiding the Ball' Game

    Christopher Spizzirri
    6 Nov 2009 | 3:25 pm
    In a case squarely pitting cooperation against adversarial discovery practices, a unanimous three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit was not amused by defense counsels' obstructionism. Two of the three judges on the panel are members of the Delaware Bar: Judges Thomas L. Ambro and Kent A. Jordan. [T]he defense lawyers walk away unsanctioned, but their victory didn't come without a price. Having taken the appeal to remove any smudge on their reputations, they succeeded in their two key legal arguments, but were made to endure a lecture on ethics and civility from the 3rd Circuit panel in a…
 
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    EDD Update

  • Clinching the Concept of Concept Search

    Craig Ball
    6 Feb 2010 | 3:09 pm
    As a frequent speaker, I live for the "aha" moment that lights the eyes of an audience.  It's that magical turning point when you've made a daunting technical topic accessible.  You can almost hear the, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, for making something I've long wondered about but never fully grasped clear to me."  Yesterday, at an e-discovery conference in Austin, I watched Ed Fiducia of Inventus earn his "aha" moment describing concept search.  It's a challenging topic--one that entails shoving a host of…

  • Re-Visiting Biller v. Toyota

    Perry L. Segal
    4 Feb 2010 | 4:17 pm
    I blogged about this Federal 9th Circuit case a few months ago and at the time commented, "This is one to watch."  Well, it's time to watch.  The gist of the case involves a former Toyota attorney accusing the firm of spoliation related to data on defects.  As the "gas pedal" issue has become prevalent, this case takes on new meaning.  Here's what I wrote about it back in September, and an update I posted earlier today:From September 24,…

  • LTNY: T-Minus 12 h

    Craig Ball
    31 Jan 2010 | 3:30 pm
            I've just navigated the chaos that is the LegalTech vendor floor (see photos, click each for larger images) and, after more than a decade watching these shows take shape on both coasts, I still marvel at how this mess morphs into the polished event that will emerge in a few hours.  It's going to be a great show for the vendors.  I can't predict the traffic won't be off in sheer numbers of warm bodies, but those who come will have budgets to buy that were nowhere to be seen last year. …

  • #LTNY Next Week!

    Monica Bay
    29 Jan 2010 | 10:46 am
    We've all been in high gear getting the final touches done for LegalTech NY next week. I can't wait! Among the highlights will be our LTN Awards party Monday night 2/1 at 6 p.m. Tix are still available: contact lsharpe@alm.com. They will also be available at the Sales Office on third floor of Hilton Monday. We also will hold our traditional "Editors' Breakfast" and Bloggers Breakfast on Tuesday 2/2 at 8 am and 9 am. in the Petit Trianon room. Everyone's welcome! It's a great oppty for vendors and public relations folks to meet with ALM's editors. CYA at…

  • Webinar Examines Legal Hold Myths & More

    John Jablonski
    23 Jan 2010 | 7:38 am
    To listen to a webinar recorded on January 26, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. EST, which examined common misconceptions about legal holds using recent case law, including an analysis of U.S. District Judge Scheindlin’s recent Pension Committee opinion, click here. John Jablonski (author of this blog and Seven Steps for Legal Holds of ESI and Other Documents) and Brad Harris (author of 12 Myths About Legal Holds) will look at problems that are frequently encountered within organizations that are failing to implement reasonable and good faith efforts when it comes to executing legal holds for…
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    Litigation Support Industry: Business News and Information Blog

  • Intermediate Capital Group acquires significant stake in CPA Global

    8 Feb 2010 | 7:54 am
    Intermediate Capital Group (“ICG”), a leading independent investor and fund manager, announces that it has acquired a significant minority stake in legal services firm CPA Global, investing alongside the company’s senior management team and the founding shareholders. The acquisition has received the required approvals from CPA Global shareholders as well as the Jersey courts, which sanctioned a new Scheme of Arrangement that came into effect today. The terms of the transaction are not disclosed.Founded in Jersey in 1969, originally to manage patent renewals, CPA Global has expanded over…

  • Iron Mountain Merger and Acquisition Activity

    6 Feb 2010 | 10:26 am
    Came across this article that asks the question "Will Iron Mountain Acquire Mimosa?".Here is an excerpt:For what was once a fairly staid Old Economy business, Iron Mountain (IRM) has done a better job than most companies in acclimating itself to the digital age. The records management vendor has accomplished that with eight acquisitions over the past half-decade, picking up technology for online backup and e-discovery, among other offerings. The $158m purchase of e-discovery provider Stratify stands, in many ways, as Iron Mountain’s marquee acquisition for its digital business. It has…

  • Iron Mountain's Stratify Acquires E-Discovery Company

    29 Jan 2010 | 5:30 am
    Boston-based Iron Mountain Inc. reports that its California-based electronic discovery subsidiary Stratify has acquired Legal Imaging Technologies Inc., a San Francisco area company specializing in electronic document conversion and imaging processing.Adding LIT’s processes and products into Stratify’s e-discovery capabilities will triple Stratify’s production capabilities in its data center operations that support the North America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific markets, according to Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) officials.No financial details of the acquisition were disclosed.Founded in 1993,…

  • Lighthouse Document Technologies Raises $200,000

    18 Jan 2010 | 6:42 am
    As noted in John Cook's Venture Blog.Lighthouse Document Technologies -- a Seattle company led by David Rostov -- raised $200,000 in equity and debt financing, according to a filing. Rostov is the former chief financial officer at InfoSpace, Apex Learning, drugstore.com and Nextel International. The company provides electronic discovery services to law firms.

  • U.S. Legal Support Completes Acquisition of Array Technology Group

    15 Jan 2010 | 7:37 am
    HOUSTON - U.S. Legal Support, Inc., a leading provider of full-service court reporting, record retrieval and legal placement & staffing services has announced the completion of its acquisition of Array Technology Group LLC, a premier electronic discovery, trial consulting and training services company.“This acquisition is a significant step in U.S. Legal Support’s strategy to accelerate growth, enhance our coverage in targeted markets, and more importantly, enables us to offer a convenient, one-stop shop for our clients. With the acquisition of Array Technology now complete, we’ve…
 
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    Strategic Legal Technology

  • Change and the Growing Importance of KM and other Productivity Tools (Live Post)

    Ron (mailto:ron@prismlegal.com)
    4 Feb 2010 | 7:07 am
    This is a live post from a private large law firm knowledge management meeting. This session, Change and the Growing Importance of KM, was also presented at the just completed CIO conference held in connection with Legal Tech.  The Actors: Oz Benamram, White & Case Michael Mills, Kraft Kennedy, formerly of Davis Polk Brent Miller, Cleary Gottlieb Jeff Rovner, O’Melveny Act 1: It’s a Mad, Mad World - Challenge to the Way We Used to Print Money Abbreviated - we all know that the printing press is not working the way it used. Rates can’t keep going up. Profits likely…

  • Considerations for In-Sourcing and Outsourcing E-discovery (Legal Tech Session Report)

    Ron (mailto:ron@prismlegal.com)
    2 Feb 2010 | 8:45 am
    This is a live report from Legal Tech NYC on the session E-Discovery - Considerations for In-Sourcing and Outsourcing.  The panelists: Marilyn Caldwell - Director of Practice Support, Lowenstein Sandler Michelangelo Troisi - Senior Counsel and Director of Risk Managment, Samsung Electronics America Scott Cohen - Proskauer Craig Ball - Consultant and court-appointed Special Master for EDD Introduction. Most everyone is already outsourcing at least some EDD work, so this panel is focused on considerations for bringing work back inhouse. A recent poll of inhouse counsel found that 3/4 said…

  • Personal Productivity Tools: X1, Xiant, and HootSuite

    Ron (mailto:ron@prismlegal.com)
    31 Jan 2010 | 3:41 pm
    Legal Tech begins tomorrow and I am in position at the NY Hilton. With the show’s emphasis on e-discovery and enterprise systems, we can easily forget that personal productivity is still an important legal technology goal . So, before the din of reports on enterprise systems from Legal Tech coming this week, I report here on three personal productivity tools I’ve been using since the December holiday season, to excellent benefit.  Desktop Search with X1. In 2009, I had to uninstall Google Desktop Search because it seemed to crash Outlook. (Well, that’s what my IT…

  • Views on e-Discovery: 'Man and Machine', not 'Man vs. Machine'

    Ron (mailto:ron@prismlegal.com)
    29 Jan 2010 | 7:26 am
    The Posse List, an increasingly important resource for e-discovery generally and contract lawyers specifically, is publishing a series of interviews with EDD professionals. My interview appears today, An interview with Ron Friedmann of Integreon; the legal paradigm shift, predictive coding, document categorization, and more .  In it, I explain my views of why the new normal will require law firms to deliver more value to clients. This will require more technology. In e-discovery, this means substituting technology for humans where possible. That said, my view is that it is “man and…

  • Deciding How Much to Invest in Legal Work (or what is "good enough")

    Ron (mailto:ron@prismlegal.com)
    26 Jan 2010 | 6:49 am
    Risk analysis with decision trees is a rigorous way to analyze disputes and decide how much to invest in the litigation. An important threshold question is when does it pay to do risk analysis, which is not that easy and can take a fair bit of time. More generally, when does any legal question warrant an investment to answer? And how much work is “good enough"?  A government lawyer who read my material on risk analysis asked these good questions. It’s the same questions in-house counsel should ask. For both corporations and the government, the surest way to reduce legal cost…
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    The Posse List

  • From LegalTech NY 2010: Backup is for Recovery, Archiving is for Discovery

    mrposse
    9 Feb 2010 | 7:49 am
    This post is one of several summarizing our coverage of LegalTech New York 2010.  For our other posts click here Reported by:  Alexis Gambetta /The Posse List The functions of managing record retention and disposition, electronic discovery, data privacy, audit trail, etc. are inter-related.  In fact they are more than just inter-related, they are part of an emerging underlying concept: information governance.  Organizations need to avoid siloing these governance functions into separate solutions.  Instead they should look at them holistically and integrate them into unified corporate…

  • From LegalTech NY 2010: Taking Compliance and E-discovery to the Cloud

    mrposse
    9 Feb 2010 | 7:46 am
    This post is one of several summarizing our coverage of LegalTech New York 2010.  For our other posts click here. Reported by:  Scott Madsen, Esq. / The Posse List Editorial Staff Deborah Baron (Vice President, Legal & Compliance, Autonomy) moderated the session titled “Taking Compliance and E-discovery to the Cloud”.   (For a video interview of Deborah discussing cloud computing with Ari Kaplan click here). The panel participants: Jason R. Baron (Director of Litigation, National Archives and Records Administration & Co-Chair, The Sedona Conference Working Group on…

  • FROM LEGALTECH NY 2010: International e-discovery — the legal complexities of collecting, culling and reviewing data from multiple countries

    mrposse
    9 Feb 2010 | 7:42 am
    This post is one of several summarizing our coverage of LegalTech New York 2010.  For our other posts click here. Reporter:  Christian Aust Trilantic is a leading U.K.-based legal support provider that focuses on electronic discovery services.  They sponsored a double-panel for the International E-Discovery track at LegalTech.  The panels introduced and discussed EU data protection rules and their practical implementation, including how corporations must respond to U.S. litigation and regulatory matters involving data held in the EU. The importance of understanding EU data privacy issues…

  • Our LegalTech NY 2010 wrap-up: cloud computing, defensible document review, the Baron/Losey Broadway show … and much, much more

    mrposse
    9 Feb 2010 | 7:37 am
    Reported by The Posse List LegalTech team:  Gregory Bufithis, Christian Aust, Scott Madsen, Alexis Gambetta Being a native New Yorker now living in Europe, it is always a joy to return to the amazing buzz, the kinetic energy that is New York City.  The seeming cacophony of sounds and actions actually belies one overriding positive fact: “you are in New York and we get things done here”.   A nice separation from that “other” America with its increasingly dysfunctional governmental mechanisms and increasingly rancorous political culture.  And the semi-somnambulant environment of…

  • From LegalTech NY 2010: The Baron/Losey premiere of “E-discovery: Did You Know”

    mrposse
    9 Feb 2010 | 7:33 am
    This post is one of several summarizing our coverage of LegalTech New York 2010.  For our other posts click here. Reporter:  Gregory Bufithis Jason R. Baron and Ralph Losey finally made their Broadway premiere with “E-discovery: Did You Know”, a multimedia presentation we have seen several times in beta.  To get a feel for the futuristic presentation Baron choose Darude’s Sandstorm for the soundtrack.  For background on how the presentation came about click here.  In a nutshell, ediscovery is expanding exponentially.   How much.  Well, just look at the presentation…
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  • WLALA 2010 Litigators Forum Panelist

    8 Feb 2010 | 1:59 pm
    eClaris has been selected as a panelist at this year's Women Lawyers of Los Angeles Litigators Forum which will take place on 3/15/10 at LACBA.  Senior Consultant Sheryl Katz, Esq., EnCE, will appear on the second panel, which focuses on how technology is shaping the practice of litigators.  Some of the issues discussed will include the California Electronic Discovery Act, ethical implications triggered by the Act and technological advancements.  MCLE credit will be available.  For more information please visit http://www.wlala.org/cde.cfm?event=299538 or email…

  • ARMA Central Coast General Meeting

    8 Feb 2010 | 1:47 pm
    eClaris will be present an Electronic Discovery seminar specifically designed for record managers at an upcoming ARMA Central Coast event.  The presentation will take place on 2/16/10 in Oxnard, CA.  For more information please email service@eclaris.com     

  • eDiscovery Budgetary Considerations

    21 Jan 2010 | 10:21 am
    At the end of the day, but before advising attorneys and staff on the best solutions to handle their discovery demands, the ultimate question is, “How much will this cost?” Litigation has always been a cost/risk assessment question. Attorneys look at the claims and the facts of the case presented in order to make a determination of how much money it is worth spending defending the matter before them. The level of risk dictates every aspect of the case. If a claimant is seeking $10,000 in damages, the cost an attorney is willing to spend defending the claim is going to be rather…

  • Approaching eDiscovery in State Court

    19 Jan 2010 | 2:25 pm
    The Federal Courts adopted amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in 2006.  Among the reasons for adoption of the Federal Amendments was that “[w]ithout national rules adequate to address the issues raised by electronic discovery, a patchwork of rules and requirements is likely to develop. See Report of May 27, 2005, as revised July 25, 2005 (the “Advisory Committee Report), at 23, available at http://www.uscourts.gov/rules/Reports/ST09-2005.pdf.  Yet, while the Federal Rules approach to ediscovery does provide guidance, there remains a patchwork of…

  • Nevada Justice eDiscovery Trial Academy

    6 Jan 2010 | 8:48 am
    eClaris has been selected as a panelist at an upcoming Nevada Justice Association event that will focus on how to prepare for litigation that involves electronic evidence.  eClaris personnel will impart practical strategies, review risk management protocols, and provide best practices for conducting Electronic Discovery by covering applicable state and federal law and the process itself.  This Nevada Justice Association Trial Academy will take place on 2/25/10 in Las Vegas, NV.  For more information about this event and to register please log on to…
 
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