Essays

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.

Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Chuck Rothman. Published: 2012-04-17 11:00:05  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 ContentMost electronic records contain words. Some are typed into a computer, some are scanned [...]

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.

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.