Essays

Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Kevin L. Nichols. Published: 2012-04-23 10:04:44   The Masters Series completed its latest installment last week in San Francisco.  Its purpose is to shorten the divide between the recent technological advances in eDiscovery, data protection, records management, and other relevant areas.  Although various topics involved eDiscovery, such as procurement, predictive coding, IP litigation, and data privacy, this article focuses on the [...]

Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Mikki Tomlinson. Published: 2012-04-24 09:00:51  “Are we Pricing Ourselves Out of Business?” That was the first thing I heard when I answered an early morning phone call last week.  An industry veteran and long-time friend was on the other end of the line. We went on to have a very interesting conversation that I think is important to open up [...]

I always enjoy speaking at the IPRO Innovations conferences. They are a good mix of IPRO channel partners and corporate/firm customers, which makes for an excellent market sampling without the crazy crowds or sales intensity of Legal Tech. The IPRO team knows how to create a fun, relaxing atmosphere with enough real content to keep attendees engaged. You may have noticed my deliberate use of the slightly pejorative term “vendors” in my headline. I normally prefer ‘service providers’ to call out the ‘service’ and expertise that I hope is part of every eDiscovery project. ‘Vendor’ has always reminded me of a bulk commodity seller, think of Walmart selling eDiscovery.

Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Mikki Tomlinson. Published: 2012-04-30 11:39:18  I was pleased to participate in day one of iCONECT’s Global Summit in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida last week.  The Summit, designed for iConect’s clients and partners, was well done and very educational.  The program consisted of sessions featuring iCONECT’s Xera product, as well as keynotes, presentations and panels on hot eDiscovery topics led by industry [...]

The more I research The Cloud and how eDiscovery will be enabled in it, the more I realize how little of the full story has been told. Last week, we reported on X1 Discovery becoming part of the Amazon AWS (Amazon Web Services) ISV (Independent Software Vendor) program. Amazon’s ISV program for AWS is very new and if you search for eDiscovery on the ISV site, you won’t get a lot of results. In fact, I don’t think even Amazon understands just how much potential there is to be the only public Cloud provider with a robust cadre of eDiscovery solutions at the fingertips of customers. That could be a differentiator, especially for serial litigants or regulated companies that want to leverage Cloud-based solutions.

Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Amber Scorah. Published: 2012-05-02 09:00:47  Many players within the oil & gas industry operate internationally, and this often results in discoverable data spread throughout the world. I interviewed Jonathan Wilan, Partner at Hunton & Williams LLP, to get some insights into international data privacy laws that have a bearing on eDiscovery, whether these laws create a conflict with discovery obligations [...]

It’s time to make a call: the biggest winner in Technology-Assisted Review (TAR) will be…wait for it…expert witnesses. For those of you not familiar with the role of an expert witness, according to Federal Rule of Evidence 702, “A witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise if: (a) the expert’s scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue;(b) the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data; (c) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods; and(d) the expert has reliably applied the principles and methods to the facts of the case.” When TAR is involved, such an expert must understand software, review processes and approaches, and advanced statistics – a tall order that will likely lead to hourly rates of over $1,000 for those willing to appear in court and show off their knowledge.

The DOJ filed the first criminal indictment relating to the BP Horizon oil spill. It had nothing to do with the actual spill, but was actual criminal charges over an eDiscovery cover up. When something really bad happens, it is human nature to want it to just go away. Former BP engineer Kurt Mix seems to have fallen for the same temptation to try and make the evidence disappear as such well known offenders as Authur Andersen, President Nixon and Rupert Murdoch. Reportedly, Mr. Mix wiped approximately 200 relevant text messages from him smart phone after being notified that his ESI was scheduled for collection. His purported attempt to destroy key evidence in a federal investigation has elevated his role from witness to potential felon facing up to 20 years in jail. So far, the justice department has limited their wrath to Mr. Mix, but Mesa Airlines was found liable for a similar attempted destruction of ESI in In Re Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., Debtor. Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., Plaintiff, vs. Mesa Air Group, Inc., Defendant Case No. 03-00817, Chapter 11, Adv. Pro. No. 06-90026, Re: Docket No. 373 United States Bankruptcy Court For The District Of Hawaii 2007 Bankr. Lexis 3679. I hope that this case raises awareness of the importance of documented preservation protocol, custodian communications, collection technology and compliance efforts. You want to be in a position to demonstrate that the eDiscovery team clearly communicated the external and internal consequences of non-compliance while making reasonable quality assurance efforts. “But your honor, we sent the executive the exact same preservation email every quarter for every case we have. Those notices are six pages of legalese that cover every contingency and ESI source. It’s not our fault that he panicked when we told him we were coming for his iPhone.” Let’s see how far that argument gets you.

Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Greg Harris. Published: 2012-05-16 11:19:35  Laura Zubulake was the keynote speaker on the second day of the Access Data Users’ Conference in Las Vegas.  Just in case someone reading this ediscovery blog does not recognize the name “Zubulake”, her case is considered the foundation for the current rules of preservation for ediscovery.  For the keynote address, Ms. Zubulake gave a [...]

Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Chuck Rothman. Published: 2012-05-17 10:00:44  There are hundreds of e-discovery software applications available. Every stage of the EDRM can be assisted by one or more commercially available applications. Some of these are designed for very specific functions, such as trial presentation, while others claim to have multiple parts that can be used at different EDRM stages, such as software that [...]