‘Original Journal Research’ Archive
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- April 18th
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eDiscovery Coming To The Cloud
While companies embrace The Cloud for various business purposes, the ability to conduct eDiscovery on information stored in The Cloud tends to be an afterthought – less than 16% of respondents in eDJ’s survey last year reported creating an eDiscovery plan before moving data to The Cloud. This number is not surprising. eDiscovery is not exactly the sexiest topic in the world and, unless a company has been burned before, there is less urgency to prepare for it. In addition, many just assume that, as long as data is searchable, eDiscovery requirements are met. It is not as simple as that, unfortunately. Recently, though, eDJ was briefed on product aimed at making eDiscovery of data stored in The Cloud possible in an efficient manner.
posted at 12:34pm on Apr 18th
- April 17th
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“P” is for Processing: Part 3
Parts 1 and 2 of this series illustrated some of the issues that should be considered when processing electronic records. This final part continues the discussion and ends with a checklist of questions to ask, in addition to the per-gig cost. Searchable Content Most electronic records contain words. Some are typed into a computer, some are scanned from printed material, and some are even spoken. In most cases, it is this content in which a reviewer is most interested. For files created by typing (such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and emails), it is a simple procedure for the processing software to extract the text. However, what text should be extracted? Word documents may contain redlining; Excel spreadsheets might contain hidden cells, formulas and notes; PowerPoints can contain hidden slides and speaker notes. While the decision of whether to include some [...]
posted at 11:00am on Apr 17th
- April 16th
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Kleen Products vs Da Silva Moore: Measurement vs Method
I have read more eDiscovery caselaw and commentary on these two matters in the last month than I ever wanted to. Although the issues around Technology Assisted Review (TAR) are important, it appears that the fervor and hype is being driven primarily by a wide variety of parties who are attempting to capitalize on the matters. Call me naïve, but it astounds me that any eDiscovery consultant or provider participating in an active case would publicize hearing transcripts, create press releases or otherwise put their own interests ahead of their clients. In Da Silva Moore the parties demonstrated laudable cooperation and agreement prior to the first hearing. They agreed to a relatively transparent protocol to tackle a massive collection. All of that has broken down and now there appears to be what could be a concerted effort to discredit magistrate judge Peck and force a recusal. Wow. Would this promising case have turned so acrimonious without the heavy publicity and marketing budgets of TAR providers? Possibly.
posted at 12:21pm on Apr 16th
- April 13th
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eDiscoveryJournal Expands with New Contributors
The eDiscoveryJournal team is excited about our expanded coverage of the eDiscovery and Information Governance areas. The feedback from our readers has been extremely positive about our posts and articles, and we are determined to continue providing quality content. We are excited to announce the addition of three new contributors to the eDiscoveryJournal site. Brian Flatley is a Litigation Support Specialist at the law firm of Ellis & Winters and has worked in the field of Litigation Support for over five years. Brian has worked for both large and medium-sized law firms and served in roles that cover the full EDRM spectrum, from e-Discovery consulting with clients; to managing document reviews; to processing data and to sitting in the hot seat at trial. He is a former English major in a technology environment that fully believes that this background serves [...]
posted at 4:58pm on Apr 13th
- April 12th
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Legacy Data and Data Remediation: What is the ROI? Part Two of an Inteview with Jonathan Wilan with Hunton & Williams
PART TWO OF INTERVIEW WITH JONATHAN WILAN Partner at Hunton & Williams LLP With the exploding rate of data growth, data remediation is a serious exercise that all companies must consider. In part one of this series, I spoke with Jonathan Wilan, Partner at Hunton & Williams LLP, about the risks of not having a data remediation policy. In this part two, we discuss what departments should be involved in data remediation efforts, what the return on investment is, and how to measure this. Amber Scorah: What are the relevant departments that must be involved in data remediation efforts? Jonathan Wilan: To succeed, a remediation project will require involvement of a number of departments. Obvious stakeholders will include IT and Records Management. It is absolutely essential (for the legal preservation obligation reasons I discussed previously) that the Legal Department be [...]
posted at 9:00am on Apr 12th
- April 11th
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“P” is for Processing: Part 2
E-Discovery processing involves much more than just multiplying the number of gigabyte by the per-gig rate. In the first part of this series, we looked at what processing does under the hood, and how to ensure that duplicate records are properly identified. This part continues the discussion. Emails and Attachments When the email is extracted from its container (PST file, etc), its attachments are embedded into the resulting file. In order to review attachments separately from their parent email, each attachment needs to be extracted from the email file. This is a standard part of e-discovery processing. However, when conducting a native review, what format should the native email, without attachment, take? In many cases, it ends up being the email extracted from its container, with all the attachments still embedded!. This leads to some issues: 1. From a cost [...]
posted at 9:00am on Apr 11th
- April 10th
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Information Governance Percolating In Companies
I had the opportunity to attend eDJ’s Peer Group meetings last week, where the topic of discussion was information governance (IG). The Peer Group meetings are fascinating because real IG practitioners speak up about very real issues. I was struck by how daunting the challenge of truly governing information is. As electronic data grows exponentially, managing the risk that information poses is harder and harder. For every effort a company takes to safeguard information, employees create a workaround if that effort impinges on the velocity of information. In turn, those workarounds lead to a vicious circle of eDiscovery nightmares.
posted at 9:00am on Apr 10th
- April 9th
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Mobile Discovery – Are You Ready For It?
A good friend shared an interesting story over the weekend about how the Michigan State Police routinely collect forensic snapshots of mobile phones during traffic stops. Apparently the American Civil Liberties Association (ACLU) is investigating the MSP’s use of the CelleBrite UFED kit during minor traffic stops without a warrant. At first, this seems outside the arena of civil electronic discovery. However, the story headline claims that the CelleBrite UFED only takes 2 minutes to image a mobile phone. The fact that they are being used by a state patrol officer during a traffic stop certainly backs up this time frame, but I could not find any performance information on the CelleBrite site. I see the new generation of mobile forensic technologies breaking down corporate ‘unduly burdensome’ arguments that have managed to exclude these devices from the discovery scope of many/most cases. After all, a plaintiff can now point to this article and ask, “Why can’t you use a similar device to preserve all custodian phones during your initial interviews?” Widespread use by non-geeks on roadside traffic stops certainly makes that a tough argument to fight.
posted at 2:00pm on Apr 9th
- April 4th
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“P” is for Processing: Part 1
Although Processing is smack dab in the middle of the EDRM, little real consideration is paid to it. When going through the various EDRM steps, processing does play a role, but to most practitioners, processing is equivalent to a cost item on the e-discovery budget sheet, and little more. If you know the volume of data that needs processing and the applicable cost per gigabyte, you can check off processing and move on to the more exciting steps of analysis and review. In many cases, unlike the review tool, the software used to process the data is rarely even specified. This reality is unfortunate, because the cost and efficiency of an e-discovery project is significantly impacted by the way processing is carried out. This series outlines some of the lesser known steps of e-discovery processing that can help to make [...]
posted at 9:00am on Apr 4th
- April 3rd
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Clearing up the Toxic Waste Dump of Digital Data: Legacy Data and Data Remediation with Jonathan Wilan from Hunton & Williams
PART ONE OF AN INTERVIEW WITH JONATHAN WILAN Partner at Hunton & Williams LLP Inside and outside counsel, in-house eDiscovery teams and records management departments understand the duties to preserve data subject to a legal hold, and the need to have a retention policy. But with the exploding rate of data growth, data remediation is a serious exercise that all companies must consider. I spoke with Jonathan Wilan, Partner at Hunton & Williams LLP, about the importance of data remediation. In part one of this two part series, we discuss the risks of not practicing data remediation, and the main challenges to accomplishing it. Amber Scorah: How important is data remediation — i.e., what are the risks of not practicing data remediation? Jonathan Wilan: Data remediation is a critical information governance requirement for any large organization. While most sizeable companies [...]
posted at 9:00am on Apr 3rd