2024 was my year to attend the great sessions. That was the idea when I got a late start booking briefings and interviews. A last-minute wave of requests derailed most of my session plans, but I wanted to share my summaries and highlights from the few I attended. Did I miss some good ones? Yes, I did. So write up your own highlights to share!

The Past, Present, and Future of Mobile Data Collection and Review with Cellebrite and Relativity

I have been chasing practical solutions for enterprise-wide mobile device discovery for more than a decade. I went into the session with high hopes that Cellebrite could now deliver touch-free preservation and collection for my client’s frequent fliers and compliance investigations. Relativity Collect’s side of the integration delivered on automated ingestion of Relativity Short Message Format (RSMF) message content into the target workspace. The reality check is that Cellebrite Endpoint Inspector still requires the user to physically connect the unlocked phone to a laptop or desktop running the collection app. A more feasible custodian driven collection of mobile content does address many customer scenarios. It is a good step forward. I hope to see other mobile collection solutions with similar Relativity integrations, but Cellebrite seems to think they have Relativity locked up.

The presenters and customers did an excellent job explaining the workflow, features and current limitations. My highlights below. Cellebrite documentation is only accessible to active customers, so I was not able to verify some limitations.

  • Workflow can be triggered from Relativity Collect and requires Cellebrite Endpoint Inspector licensing to send the email with app link.
  • The custodian installs the app (assuming their endpoint is not locked down) and attaches the unlocked mobile device to start collection. Supported chat content is converted to RSMF and collected to workspace for processing. A full .UFD image is collected with native mobile content that can be processed separately by Cellebrite.
    • eDJ: The raw source physical acquisition instead of more flexible selective collection has proven to have cost and privacy impact. The current solution feels more suitable for approved cloud instant message collection such as WhatsApp or WeChat.
  • The solution allows the custodian to manage the collection start timing, but it is not recommended to use the device during collection.
  • App content from the collected .UFD image must be extracted by Cellebrite before being uploaded to RelativityOne for processing. There was some discussion about how the collection is not a full file system image and uses different access methods for Android/Apple devices. Devices with multiple profiles (personal/work) may require custodian actions and multiple collections.
  • During the July advanced access program, customers experienced a general 60-70min collection time.
  • This is available in the US currently; international support will be later.
  • The collections do not yet support filters such as date ranges or participants.
  • The overall solution seems to require minimal training for collection managers or custodians.
  • No per device or source cost for collections.
    • eDJ: Makes sense for typical law firms and providers to manage remote collections. No individual cost beyond billable time and storage.

Hold and Collect in the Age of Generative AI and Explosive Data Growth

Managing the ‘upstream’ phases of discovery with rapidly evolving enterprise data sources is a challenge to corporate counsel and those who support them. Many of my clients adopted the Relativity Legal Hold module since introduction and some are finally getting to test the Collect functionality for M365. The Product Management team gave a pretty comprehensive overview of the new Collect app (released in January), the roadmap and the new Purview sync app. RelativityOne was ranked as the #1 hold platform on the 2024 G2 Grid Report. With over a petabyte of data collected through Collect in 2024, that is quite an accomplishment.

Preservation Application – Jan 2024

  • Improved overall performance in retrieving and presenting M365 information
  • New wizard merges project/preserve wizards into single
  • Location sources – Added SharePoint and other M365 URL driven sources
    • eDJ – funny note. Relativity added URL targets just as the new Purview eDiscovery hub abandoned them for M365 Group ownership targets.
  • New list population UI – much better/faster presentation of sources for selection
  • Custom merge fields for notices from Project/Entity objects
  • Added Google Workspace sources such as Gmail, Drive and Chat

Hold/Collect Roadmap:

  • New APIs for matter management and more external integrations
  • Expand default and cross matter reports
  • Redefined error messages
    • eDJ: Getting real error messages from the M365 audit log is always tricky. As you will see below, they need to be translated unless you are an MSCE…
  • Human readable feedback on errors

New app – Purview Sync

  • Direct Purview Premium integration
    • eDJ: Will supplement this with specifics. I assume/hope that you will be able to see your Purview cases, search and review sets. Most importantly I hope that Relativity solves the missing hold volume metrics.
  • 2025 Copilot usage/content collection
    • eDJ: I got a couple calls on this. The simple answer is that Purview can now collect user Copilot prompts and metrics. I assume that Relativity is working on adding that content and converting it to RSMF for review presentation.
  • Review Set – HTML converted to RSMF with metadata for Teams chat
    • eDJ: Actively testing this and eagerly looking for a solution as I am finding lots of potential gotchas in the HTML chat format.
  • Hyperlinked/collaborative files in collection
    • eDJ: Remember that you need Purview Premium (E5 user license) to reassemble collaborative content.
  • 2025 – Collect API automation
    • eDJ: This is probably more for Relativity partners than corporate clients. I can see scenarios where they have aggregated technologies to tackle different sources and want it all to end up in the customer workspace.

e-Discovery State of the Union

The indomitable David Horrigan somehow elicited cogent perspectives on this year’s top trends from eDiscovery luminaries and three “judges.” If you have ever tried to moderate 10 highly opinionated professionals on one stage, you understand what a feat that is. The room was packed, and I hope that they give this session the big stage next year. Our panel was organized into Association vs. Media vs. Practitioners. Relativity recognized family losses amongst our ‘speaker family’ and the speakers competed for donations to the favorite charities of the departed. Myself and 3 more illustrious alumni speakers were tasked with selecting the winners, though this act of charity made all attendees winners.

Practitioner Perspectives

Stephanie Clerkin, Dir. Litigation Support, Korein Tillery – Weaponization of AI by the defense. Seeing delay or denial tactics leveraging the confusion around AI.

Scott Milner, Partner, Mogan Lewis – eDiscovery orders/agreements are being negotiated without access to the ESI. Scope should be flexible, but forms of collection/production should be agreed between parties. Do we even need formal agreements if technical professionals can agree on industry standards and defaults?

Amie Taal, Consultant, Stratagem Tech Solutions – New EU DORA act with focus on process and financial services for protection of customer information. New incident response reporting requirements. 1% of daily income as potential fines. CISO responsible. Extends to 3rd party management. Goes into effect 1/27/2025.

Association Angles

Joy Heath Rush, CEO, ILTA – The need for an IG mindset to tackle eDiscovery. New ISO standards shaping requirements.

Maribel Rivera, VP of Strategy and Client Engagement, ACEDS – GenAI review tools will change discovery. 1st pass review with AI will tackle increasing volumes. This still requires training, specialization and skills.

David Cohen, Partner, Reed Smith – Asserts the broader GenAI impact to sources and tools. The transition to Natural Language Prompt queries and enriched deposition preparation.

Media Mandates

Robert Ambrogi,  Editor, LawSites/LawNext – Called out GPT Stupidity as top trend. The lack of legal ethics and user skills lends itself to citation hallucinations and attorneys not doing their homework just like modern students.

Joe Patrice, Senior Editor, Above the Law – AI = Accessibility. GenAI transforms expert systems into user experience tools.

Ryan O’Leary, Research Director, IDC – Overall loss of trust in legal system, data integrity and privacy. The lack of AI regulation threatens user trust.

Stephanie Wilkins, Editor-in-Chief, Legaltech News (congrats on move to Director of Content for Legaltech Hub) – New generation of AI driven evidence. How do we know what is real? eDJ: Stephanie got my vote as I am seeing GenAI content already creep into collections.

The 11th Annual Judicial Panel: Politics, Free Speech, and the Judiciary

The Friday Judicial Panel got real this year as it tackled the politics and realities of judicial intimidation and influence. Judge Dr. Victoria McCloud has regularly brought us her perspectives from the UK High Court. She recently retired from the bench and cited increasingly real threats and social pressure. In light of the sensitive nature of some of the judges’ very open discussion, I will keep my highlights unattributed and appropriate. If you missed this session, you missed the chance to hear from the bench how ugly the social divide has gotten.

  • Public perception is impacted by threats more than the actual judge’s opinions.
  • Lack of civil education on the reality and role of law systems contributes to effectiveness of misinformation campaigns.
  • Call on attorneys to defend the system and bench when judges cannot publicly respond.
  • UK has no practical defense of judges’ safety. No enforcement of ethical standards of litigants or defense counsel. History of public attacks on courts since the founding of the country.
  • Overall bench is more concerned over physical safety of staff and family than bias. Doxxing increasing as a common tactic.
  • No public understanding of the ‘ladder of law’ – the bottom rung applies the law instead of making it. So regular state and federal judges are bound to enforce superior/supreme court case law rather than make their own.
  • Threats have doubled recently. The nature of threats has shifted from cartels and organized crime to the mentally distressed and lone extremists.
  • A judge’s job is to make one party unhappy. Polarization has become universal and words have consequences.

Greg Buckles wants your feedback, questions or project inquiries at Greg@eDJGroupInc.com. Book a free 15 minute ‘Good Karma’ call if he has availability. He solves problems and creates eDiscovery solutions for enterprise and law firm clients.

Greg’s blog perspectives are personal opinions and should not be interpreted as a professional judgment or advice. Greg is no longer an investigative journalist and all perspectives are based on best public information. Blog content is neither approved nor reviewed by any providers prior to being published. Do you want to share your own perspective? Greg is looking for practical, professional informative perspectives free of marketing fluff, hidden agendas or personal/product bias. Outside blogs will clearly indicate the author, company and any relevant affiliations. 

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