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How eDiscovery Technology and Workflows Speed Public Records Requests Response

This is the second blog post in a series on streamlining public records request response.

By Rick Clark

In the two separate worlds of legal processes and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)/public records requests, eDiscovery technology and standard workflows have emerged as powerful ways to streamline operations and ensure compliance. Particularly, the handling of FOIA requests and public records requests showcases the potential similarities between these processes and eDiscovery workflows.

One key similarity lies in the meticulous management of data, starting from governance levels and progressing through collection, processing, review, and export stages. Both FOIA requests and eDiscovery workflows require focused information retrieval, often involving large volumes of data. While FOIA requests aim to access government records, eDiscovery deals with electronic information for legal proceedings, both necessitating efficient data organization and retrieval mechanisms.

Legal and regulatory compliance is another shared aspect. FOIA and public records requests are legally mandated, mirroring the legal frameworks that govern eDiscovery processes. Ensuring easy data organization and adherence to legal and regulatory frameworks is critical in both contexts. Search and review processes are central to both FOIA requests and eDiscovery workflows. Leveraging search tools and methodologies, both processes sift through vast amounts of data to identify relevant information. eDiscovery software platforms excel in simplifying this process, allowing for quick identification, tagging, and export of pertinent data, enhancing efficiency in handling requests.

Redaction of sensitive information is also common to both FOIA and eDiscovery. Tools and techniques are employed to protect sensitive details, including personal identifiable information (PII) before disclosure. Modern data challenges, including the use of multiple communication platforms like Microsoft Teams and Slack, further highlight the need for adaptable and comprehensive data management solutions.

Efficient workflow management is crucial for both FOIA requests and eDiscovery. Complex workflows require seamless coordination among stakeholders to meet legal deadlines and ensure accurate responses. Transparency and collaboration among legal teams, IT professionals, and subject matter experts are vital for success.

While differences exist between FOIA requests and eDiscovery, advancements in eDiscovery software have made it adaptable to public requests. Providers offering secure cloud solutions, easy data uploads, case setup with team access, hybrid workflows, advanced search capabilities, and collaboration tools are aligning their offerings with the needs of modern data and document management systems. As organizations navigate the complexities of data requests and investigations, choosing the right technology partner is essential to ensuring efficient, compliant, and transparent processes.

In our next blog series out next week, you will learn more about resourcing teams to fulfill public records requests when resources are lean.

To find out more about how CloudNine can help you to streamline public records request response with our cloud-based eDiscovery solution and set a time to meet with us.

Read our first blog post in this series, “Growing Challenges with Public Records Requests”.

About the Authors

Rick Clark is VP, Strategic Partnerships at CloudNine and has 20+ years of experience in forensics and eDiscovery. Focused on innovation and education, he co-founded ESI Analyst, now CloudNine Analyst, as well as Wave Software and the Master’s Conference.

eDiscovery Leader CloudNine Boosts Search Capability to its SaaS Review Platform

HOUSTON – March 19, 2024 – Houston, Texas: CloudNine, the eDiscovery technology and services leader, announced the launch of Smart Filters for CloudNine Review, allowing customers to target specific data sets quickly and review records in real time.

CloudNine Review is an easy-to-use SaaS review platform with self-service data loading, document production capability and automated processing of 4500+ file types and was named High Performer and Easiest Set up by G2. With Optical Character Recognition (OCR), near-duplicate detection, email threading, and language detection, Smart Filters now allows customers to narrow their review to focus quickly on key documents and review relevant records in real time and provides immediate insights and search results with record counts instantly displayed.

“Time matters when it comes to preparing for an investigation, litigation, or public records request. CloudNine is excited to advance our review platform’s search capabilities to make it even easier to pinpoint the data you need and review it with speed and confidence,” said Brian Kelley, VP, Product at CloudNine.

In addition to Smart Filters, other recent updates to CloudNine Review include billable data tracking, empowering users to better forecast their budget and identify what is billable to customers by project. Search enhancements, including the ability to import up to 1000 searches at one time and automatic records tagging were also added to CloudNine Review. Smart Filters supports full text searching, document identifiers, date, metadata, tags, and user work product and is available now to all CloudNine Review customers. Learn more about Smart Filters.

About CloudNine:

CloudNine is an on-premise and SaaS software company. We offer the flagship CloudNine Review and CloudNine Analyst SaaS-based eDiscovery platforms with self-service processing, analysis, review, and production for both traditional and modern data. CloudNine is the eDiscovery pioneer behind CloudNine LAW, CloudNine Concordance and the industry standard .DAT file type. We empower legal, information technology, and business professionals with eDiscovery automation software and professional services that simplify litigation, investigations, and audits for law firms and corporations, and have been highlighted by industry experts in reports, reviews, and surveys including G2, Gartner, 451 Research, GigaOm, TechMag, Corporate Counsel Magazine, the New York Journal, and Texas Lawyer.

Press contact:
Catherine Ostheimer
Costheimer@cloudnine.com

How to Win in the Short Message eDiscovery Game: Review Near-Native; Produce as Documents

Since the inception of legal processes in ancient societies, documents have been pivotal in evidence and discovery. In recent years, with the rise of email and electronically stored information (ESI), technology companies have standardized review and production processes around these data, converting them into the standard source of discovery: documents. This process has been functional and the data quite usable, until the advent of short messaging in business and personal communications.

Starting with the end in mind, the format we seek to produce for the requesting party is still a document. This format makes the most sense, as it can display short messages as a fluid document showing the conversation, with redactions of confidential messages, alongside all other relevant data. However, the processing and review process for short messages often follows the same document conversion and review process, even though it is the least efficient way to review this data.

But why is the processing and review process subject to the same document conversion and review process when it is the least efficient way to review these data?

Issues with document review of short messages are:

  • Context of cross-channel conversations – Many people will start conversations in one channel like email, switch to a corporate chat application like Slack or MS Teams and may end in a 30-minute phone conversation. When the data is in a linear document review workflow it is extremely difficult to stitch those conversations together.
  • High costs in document review – Whether the message is converted to individual documents or conversations are converted to 24-hour conversations or any variation, reviewing document by document and redacting within those documents is tedious and costly as the time to do so is significant.
  • Data volumes impact hosting costs – The conversion of short message metadata into documents creates a high data footprint that is expensive with “cost per gigabyte” hosting models. This is good for service and software providers, but not for the end client.

Given the growing volumes and diverse types of data dominating investigations and discovery processes, it is crucial to explore more efficient strategies for analysis and review. These strategies should provide better contextual understanding while mitigating costs. It is evident that short message communications differ significantly from emails and e-files, requiring a different approach in the processing and review phases of the EDRM.

The most efficient and effective approach to short message discovery is to render conversations in a “near-native” view for analysis and review where the conversation looks like a document, but the underlying data is the metadata and all media as a part of the conversations.

Example of a Near-Native conversation segment

Example of a Near-Native conversation segment

Benefits of a near-native review of short messages are:

  • Easy import of data to a review platform: Rather than processing and loading documents, short message collections can be directly imported into the review platform.
  • Tag items at the message level: This allows for more granular tagging and categorization of messages.
  • Produce only relevant messages: By reviewing messages at the message level, only relevant messages need to be produced, reducing unnecessary data production.
  • Automatic redactions: The review platform can automatically redact confidential or privileged messages, reducing the manual effort required.
  • Display all media inline: Videos, GIFs, and audio files can be displayed in line with messages, providing a more comprehensive view of the communication.
  • Export options: The review platform should offer export options that accommodate all document and load file types, ensuring compatibility with various systems and processes.

Here’s what this can look like with the right technology solution:

Visual of conversation using CloudNine

Visual of conversation using CloudNine

If you want to learn more about handling short message data efficiently and effectively in eDiscovery, set up time to learn more about CloudNine Analyst here.

Learnings from ALM/Law.com Legalweek 2024: Six Key Takeaways

This was not the same old Legalweek, or “LegalTech New York,” as the conference was referred to in years past.

With over 6,000 registered attendees and 37% being first timers, the high level of excitement generated by participants about being in person with peers was palpable in the sessions and events held. There was also a greater embracing of new ways of getting legal done, with can’t-be-ignored tech like GenAI, data management and handling the ever-growing modern data in discovery cracking open the remaining closed doors to innovation for law firms, government and corporate teams alike. The once taboo topic of sexual harassment in our industry also came roaring to the surface.

We narrowed down our many Legalweek 2024 learnings to six key takeaways.

1. Drive change (and get what you want) with a “how can I help” attitude

Actor Bryan Cranston, famous for his role in the AMC series Breaking Bad and previously played a lawyer on Matlock and the Andy Griffith Show, spoke on breaking boundaries. In addition to talking about the importance of perseverance to be successful in any endeavor, he also advised to approach something you want with the perspective of how you can help. To get what you want from an audition, a job interview or, in the case of many legal industry changemakers, implementing change. “…present yourself as a gift…and put into energy solving someone’s problem,” he said.

2. Take advantage of how technology is levelling the playing field

Technology has broken barriers and created greater access to opportunities in other fields for years: education, healthcare, etc. At this year’s State of the Industry report overview delivered by ALM’s Heather Nevitt and Patrick Fuller, this concept was brought up on how tech is helping mid-sized law firms compete with bigger firms. “Size used to matter”, said Nevitt, but now, with technology including AI, “…it will no longer be that the big that eat the small, but the fast that eat the slow.”

This notion of technology helping individuals and organizations get ahead played out in other sessions, including one on the Future State of the industry. Marcy Cohen, Chief Legal Officer of ING Americas, said that she would consider using a mid-sized firm. “A nimbler (tech forward) firm can jump in that does not have an army of associates, as long as they have subject matter expertise,” she explained.

When it comes to advancing careers, technology also plays a part. In the same session, panelists discussed how technology allows teams to bring work in-house and for senior lawyers to focus on impactful work instead of reviewing NDAs. On the topic of women and law, the concept of using technology plus having data on results being a career accelerator was discussed. Rachel Zahorsky, VP of Client Engagement at Harbor Global, explained that her ability to show numbers behind a tech implementation and having someone advocate for her helped her to get her current job. “Two men who were mentors and who knew what I could do said my name in the room when I wasn’t there.” She encouraged especially the men in the room to do the same: “When we’re not there, say our names. And we will support you. And we will rise together.”

3. Have a plan for dealing with modern data in discovery

In a thought leadership session hosted by CloudNine and our managed review partner, Integreon, the growing challenge of dealing with “modern data” like texts, chat and social media data was covered by a panel of eDiscovery experts, including Manfred Gabriel, Partner and Senior Counsel of eDiscovery at Holland & Knight, Kevin Bannon, Head of CMS Evidence, and Matt Rasmussen, Founder and CEO, ModeOne. Clare Chalkley, VP of legal services at Integreon disclosed the stats from the 2024 State of the Industry report by eDiscovery Today/Doug Austin. Survey respondents stated that over 40%, most or all their cases involve discovery of data from mobile devices, with 38% of these cases involving collaboration data from apps like Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, etc.

Gabriel highlighted the importance of questioning custodians on all communications channels they use, since we all are using alternatives to email with greater frequency, with texting leading the list.

Other tips shared included:

  • Even if someone says they deleted messages, they can be found. You just need to ask them to name all they communicated with and rebuild conversations from their devices
  • If an organization is using Google docs, it will have a downstream impact on how you preserve and review data
  • You need a solid ECA process in place to minimize the teams of data
  • Determine your ESI protocol upfront regarding attachments, whether they are included in emails, or texts or chat app/social media data (there are several cases which tie to this learning, such as Noom v. Nichols in which the opposing party said they would not produce linked documents. The court endorsed this stance.)

Rick Clark, VP of Strategic Partnerships at CloudNine concluded the session by saying that there is now technology allowing you to deal with modern data content efficiently and treat it like data, not documents. If you are interested in learning more about our solution for handling modern data, CloudNine Analyst, which won for Best Emerging Technology in the Legalweek Leaders in Tech Law award program last week, book time with us for a brief demo.

4. Think business first when it comes to AI adoption

The many sessions on AI hit on the topics of accuracy, ability to explain outcomes, data security and change management. Another important subject was identifying business use cases. In a session on the practical implications of generative AI for law firms, panelists from Sheppard Mullin, DLA Piper and O’Melveny & Myers discussed the importance of finding business use cases that will be easy to implement and yield measurable time and cost savings results, such as any work involving summarization, translation, analysis, drafting or custom “ChatGPTs”.

In the Future State of the Industry discussion, Liz Lugones, COO of Uplevel Ops talked about how some corporate lawyers and General Counsels simply get a request from above to use AI. Her question when asked to help is “for what?” She goes back to the human factor and asks what they want AI to enable for their team, and what they want to enable to support their business, and then start from those use cases to identify how to apply AI.

5. Lead the charge against cyber data threats

Today, legal has the opportunity to take command of an organization’s efforts to combat cyber threats, rather than be the one called in after an incident to help deal with the aftermath. In a session called “Improving Your Security Posture and Reducing Cyber Risk”, the idea of attorneys working closely with a Chief Information Officer in protecting an organization against cyber theft was discussed. Dondi West, Assistant General Counsel at GSK, said he likes to be brought in at the start of a date security improvement program and wants to be collaborative with IT. Often it’s legal that is aware of security frameworks that are “whale tested,” and have a good sense of what works and what does not.

Having counsel involved early also makes sense when legal charges brought against companies who have a breach are considered, In the case of cyber incidents with Uber and Solar Winds, criminal charges were brought against the company and individual corporate leaders. It makes sense to have the team whose primary responsibility is to protect the company against reputational harm be working collaboratively with IT and information security leadership from the start.

Additional pointers shared by West and other panelists like Emily Garnett, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Deb Bitzan, Senior Product Manager, Aware, include:

  • Look at established security frameworks like SOC II to see what baseline actions are needed to protect against cyber theft
  • Make sure your cyber insurance includes business interruption loss coverage
  • The weakest link in an organization is those of computers. Put social engineering/phishing training in place for all employees; aim to get the collective “click” rate on planted phishing emails below 5%
  • Make sure your third-party tech providers have the basics in place: for example, end point security and multifactor authentication
  • When it comes to incident response planning, timing and context matter. Bring in an outside consultant to help you create a plan for all scenarios and actions, including what happens if your organization is attacked on a weekend or holiday

6. Stand united against sexual harassment

The wave of sexual harassment reports from conference attendees this year was shocking and disheartening. Sexual harassment is a problem that permeates every industry but for the most part, has not been discussed widely in legal technology public forums like LinkedIn and podcasts. The floodgates have opened, the stories are out and the unison of voices stating outrage and demanding action is deafening. We agree with Kassi Burns, who concluded her podcast created post conference with these words: “I hope this painful moment leads to progress.”

Now is the time to stand together to identify and put into action policies to prevent sexual harassment from occurring not only in conferences, but in workplaces too. At CloudNine, we are proud of our heritage and culture of professionalism and approaching others and each other with respect. Even so, we’re working this week on updating our policies to ensure we continue to hire the right people and provide guardrails for CloudNine employees attending social events and for their day-to-day interactions.

We also support the #Splash pledge started by Marla Crawford at Cimplifi this week, and will, as an organization and as individual members of the LegalTech community, work together to help all of LegalTech #BeBetter together.”

About the author:

Catherine Ostheimer is VP, Marketing at CloudNine and has been working in the legal technology industry for 9+ years.

 

eDiscovery leader CloudNine Named Best Emerging Technology in the Legalweek Leaders in Tech Law Awards 2024 Program

January 31, 2024 – HOUSTON—Law.com and Legaltech News announced eDiscovery technology leader CloudNine the winner of the Best Emerging Technology (Non-AI) award in their Legalweek Leaders for Tech Law Awards 2024 program for building a platform for managing modern data like text messages, chat, and social media messages.

The use of newer forms of communications in the workplace creates growing digital evidence challenges for legal teams and the growth: in 2023, every minute, there were ~11,834 Microsoft Teams chats, 34,247 Slack messages, and 18.8 million text messages sent, according to eDiscovery Today.

CloudNine was recognized by Law.com and Legaltech News for designing a solution that helps solve this eDiscovery digital evidence challenge.

CloudNine created CloudNine Analyst, the only solution that can render modern data in its native format with timelines, speeding the eDiscovery process and saving time and money. The solution can manage data from every logged activity on a device, web application or computer, ingesting all types of data and displaying it as one would see it on a mobile device.

Said Georges Sabongui, Chief Executive Officer of CloudNine, “We are honored to be recognized by Law.com and Legaltech News for helping our customers to gather newer data types in a single platform and create a holistic view of the evidence efficiently. CloudNine Analyst is just one example of how we are staying one step ahead of the needs of eDiscovery professionals in a fast-moving world of communications data.”

To learn more about how your investigations and case teams can get a better handle on modern data, contact CloudNine today.

About CloudNine:

CloudNine is an on-premise and SaaS software company. We offer the flagship CloudNine Review and CloudNine Analyst SaaS-based eDiscovery platforms with self-service processing, analysis, review, and production for both traditional and modern data. CloudNine is the eDiscovery pioneer behind CloudNine LAW, CloudNine Concordance and the industry standard .DAT file type. We empower legal, information technology, and business professionals with eDiscovery automation software and professional services that simplify litigation, investigations, and audits for law firms and corporations, and have been highlighted by industry experts in reports, reviews, and surveys including G2, Gartner, 451 Research, GigaOm, TechMag, Corporate Counsel Magazine, the New York Journal, and Texas Lawyer.

Press contact:
Catherine Ostheimer
Costheimer@cloudnine.com

Tackling Large-Scale Review Efficiently: Tips from a GC (On-Demand Webinar)

By Rick Clark

Last week CloudNine and Integreon discussed a recent audit with tight deadlines with Louis (Lou) Brucculeri, EVP and General Counsel at West Technology Group.

West Technology Group, a global technology company with a portfolio of brands with disparate systems and processes, initiated a significant internal audit. Early on they recognized that they needed experienced help and engaged CloudNine for support in managing nearly 100,000 documents within an unexpectedly tight timeframe. Initially envisioned as a routine project, the scope expanded, revealing hundreds of GBs of data that demanded thorough review within just 10 days. The data needed to be collected, processed, hosted, reviewed, and produced within this tight timeframe.

The synergy between technology and review teams facilitated a seamless process, accomplishing all aspects of data processing, hosting, review, and reporting in an astonishingly brief seven-day timeframe rather than all 10 days allotted. In this 30-minute, on-demand webinar, you will learn how a team of reviewers successfully navigated through thousands of documents, exceeding expectations by completing the task well within the allotted time, through having the right processes and communications in place.

Download the webinar to learn more.

About the Authors

Rick Clark is VP, Strategic Partnerships at CloudNine and has 20+ years of experience in forensics and eDiscovery. Focused on innovation and education, he co-founded ESI Analyst, now CloudNine Analyst, as well as Wave Software and the Master’s Conference.

masters-conference-nyc-2023

6 Key eDiscovery Tips from Master’s Conference New York

By Catherine Ostheimer

Imagine a day-long gathering of the pantheon of east coast-based eDiscovery experts, with an agenda replete with the hottest topics in eDiscovery, change management and AI, and you have last week’s Master’s Conference in New York.

Held at the midtown office of Morgan Lewis, the informative event had seven panel discussions and four breakout sessions. While we could not be everywhere all at once, we did capture salient themes and key learnings.

Here are six main takeaways:

1. Rely on legal service providers when necessary for expertise and project management. Steptoe’s Michael Scavelli mentioned that his firm prides themselves on lean staffing and gain immense value from having a third-party project manager who can be part of his case team. A core project manager can also play a critical role in gaining cooperation for a forensics collection.

2. New talent can be found in unlikely places to fill legal tech staff gaps. Sticking with the project management theme, Michael Bohner, Cleary Gottlieb cautioned that he does not see a lot of new people moving into the legal tech field. He suggested that when it comes to filling project management gaps, hiring managers and HR teams should look to sourcing hires at technology companies operating in other industries outside of legal. Aulden Burcher-Dupont, from Kirkland Ellis, echoed this sentiment, saying that all-important project managers who understand how to build dashboards and red-yellow-green status reports can be found in tech firms.

3. When it comes to tech rollout, embrace the naysayers. In a session on change management, Ashley Miller of Cap Gemini encouraged initiative leaders to include people at all levels of the organization in discussions on tech selection and roll-out. She also recommended involving the biggest critics of the initiative in discussions and tech selection, as they are the ones who will have the best questions for vendors and will share realistic concerns others may not state.

4. Newer forms of data stemming from the exploding use of chat apps, texts, and social media apps for business communications, can no longer be ignored in eDiscovery. “In courtrooms today, communications occurring via chat apps and other newer platforms are viewed as not duplicative to emails. As a result, parties are being compelled to produce this data,” shared Elizabeth Gary, Morgan Lewis. Thomas Mullane, RTX further pointed out that this type of data will only continue to grow within corporations, as every single enterprise technology, whether it is for legal, the accounting department or HR teams, now has a chat feature. Data privacy and eDiscovery visionary, Dera Nevin, summed up the new data environment for legal succinctly: “…we are not creating documents anymore, we are creating information/collaboration artifacts.”

5. Do not be caught off guard by a government investigation requiring modern data collection: know where your data is and put policies in place to manage it. Jeaneen Kappel of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stressed the importance of being proactive, and taking the time and effort to understand where more than just emails exist in your organization before an investigation take place. She also suggested having policies and processes in place to address new forms of data, to make any data collection with a deadline easier. (For more tips from Kappel on how to best work with the SEC, check out the recorded online webinar, “Navigating SEC Investigations.”) Genevieve Moreland added that for law firms and corporate teams, making sure all offices and teams have the same policy is critical to staying on top of data management. Ashley Picker of Day Pitney also discussed that all business communications need to be preserved in a reasonable way, no matter the form.

6. Identify modern data eDiscovery technology and service provider capabilities to stay in control of ongoing data sprawl. Rick Clark of CloudNine spoke of some eDiscovery platform workflows requiring converting data to documents upfront being outdated and inefficient. “It is time for a new workflow, one less reliant on data conversion for review but one involving a platform that leverages the data in near-native forms rather than static documents. You can then produce resulting data as documents.” (Note: CloudNine Analyst is the only eDiscovery solution to render data in near native format with conversation threading between applications and with timelines. It also de-duplicates on a message level across all devices without having to go through costly data processing or conversions.)

Find out how CloudNine and its range of on-premise and cloud-based solutions and services can help you across all types of eDiscovery challenges, even those that involve tricky-to-manage modern data. To learn more and schedule a time to meet, contact us today.

Catherine Ostheimer is VP, Marketing at CloudNine and has been working in the legal technology industry for 8+ years.

 

CloudNine Added to the Carahsoft NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement #AR2472, Allowing State and Local Governments Easy, Safe and Secure Access to Cloud-Based eDiscovery Solutions

October 12, 2023 – HOUSTON—CloudNine, the eDiscovery technology leader, announced today it has been granted inclusion in the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) ValuePoint Cloud Solutions contract held by Carahsoft Technology Corp. This enables Carahsoft to provide easy, safe and secure access to CloudNine’s eDiscovery cloud-based technology solutions and services to participating states, local governments, and educational institutions.

CloudNine is uniquely positioned to help government organizations as a technology trailblazer with a 20+ year history of simplifying the often costly, and complex work of eDiscovery. CloudNine offers self-serve collection, processing and review solutions that are easy-to-use from day one and help speed the time to evidence. The company’s professional services team can assist with data migrations, loading and production, workflow design and project management and metrics reporting.

“With our inclusion in the NASPO ValuePoint Cloud Solutions contract, state and local municipalities can access our comprehensive, high performing and user-friendly eDiscovery solutions in a convenient way. This announcement is another example of our commitment to helping government organizations meet their eDiscovery challenges in a cost-conscious environment,” said Georges Sabongui, Chief Executive Officer of CloudNine.

CloudNine is the industry pioneer that invented the .DAT file. More recently, the company launched CloudNine Analyst the only solution that ingests, culls, investigates and assembles multiple modern data types in near native format. CloudNine works with hundreds of top law firms, Fortune 500 companies, state, and local agencies–and continues to innovate every day.

For more information on how we can save time and the cost of eDiscovery for government organizations, contact the CloudNine team.

About NASPO ValuePoint

NASPO ValuePoint is the cooperative purchasing division of the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO), facilitating cooperative public procurement solicitations using a Lead State model. NASPO aggregates the demand of all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the organized US territories, their political subdivisions and other eligible entities spurring best value, innovation, and competition in the marketplace. NASPO ValuePoint delivers high value, reliable, and competitively sourced cooperative contracts – offering public entities outstanding prices, favorable terms and conditions, and value-added services. Learn more at www.naspovaluepoint.org. NASPO®, NASPO ValuePoint®, and Lead State Model™ are trademarks of the National Association of State Procurement Officials.

About CloudNine:

CloudNine is an on-premise and SaaS software company. We offer the flagship CloudNine Review and CloudNine Analyst SaaS-based eDiscovery platforms with self-service processing, analysis, review, and production for both traditional and modern data. CloudNine is the eDiscovery pioneer behind CloudNine LAW, CloudNine Concordance and the industry standard .DAT file type.  We empower legal, information technology, and business professionals with eDiscovery automation software and professional services that simplify litigation, investigations, and audits for law firms and corporations, and have been highlighted by industry experts in reports, reviews, and surveys including G2, Gartner, 451 Research, GigaOm, TechMag, Corporate Counsel Magazine, the New York Journal, and Texas Lawyer.

Press contact:
Catherine Ostheimer
Costheimer@cloudnine.com

Navigating SEC Investigations: The Importance of Transparency and Cooperation in Communications and eDiscovery

By Catherine Ostheimer

In today’s data-driven landscape, navigating SEC investigations and discovery processes presents unique challenges. In addition to the growing amount and types of data that needs to be part of a discovery process if an investigation is launched, the time and cost required for preparing for such an event can be daunting. What can you do to best prepare and deliver the best outcomes when the SEC calls?

In a recent interview CloudNine’s VP of Strategic Partnerships, Rick Clark, conducted with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Jeaneen Kappell, the complexities surrounding government inquiries surfaced as well as what an organization can do in the early days of an investigation. Kappell served as an associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and at K&L Gates prior to joining the SEC in 2020, and now serves as Senior Counsel, Division of Enforcement. The takeaways boiled down to two simple principles that can positively impact the trajectory of the exercise: transparency and cooperation.

This 30-minute recorded webinar presents additional ideas and solutions that can help your organization, or your client, better navigate the new challenges that accompany governmental inquiries. You can watch it here:

 

If you are interested in learning more about CloudNine and how we can help you to simplify eDiscovery with our SaaS solutions and services, contact us today.

 Catherine Ostheimer is VP, Marketing at CloudNine and has been working in the legal technology industry for 8+ years.

 

Futrure Lawyers Week 2023

Future Lawyers Week Recap: The Rise in Legal Ops, Taking on eDiscovery and Data Privacy Challenges and More

By Catherine Ostheimer

Legal innovators gathered in New York City last week for a one-day legal tech conference with customized knowledge session tracks for law firms and in-house legal teams. Topics ranged from turning an in-house team from a cost center to a cost savings center, balancing risk, and innovation, navigating data privacy, and successfully handling emerging and long-term eDiscovery challenges.

Here is a sampling of just some of the incisive commentary and practical direction dispensed.

Tackling Cross Border and Modern Data in eDiscovery

An expert group of speakers discussed the data privacy regulatory and compliance considerations that arise with managing the intricacies of eDiscovery across borders.

Dera Nevin, former data policy and strategy officer at The Blackstone Group, said that planning is a critical first step to global data management. She recommends you know your data location and line it up with common litigation issues you face. When it comes to handling eDiscovery for a cross border matter, consult with the privacy officer or attorney in each jurisdiction, so that you do not open yourself up to contractual claims if you transfer data.

eDiscovery modern data management was another hot topic. Sandra Metallo-Barragan, Proskauer Rose’s eDiscovery Counsel, referenced that expanding data types require additional attention and said it is important to know that employee’s business and personal lives are intertwined, and that while some conversations are in email, others may be in LinkedIn or elsewhere. Now more than ever legal teams should be aware of data sources used.

Jennifer Altman, partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, further elaborated on this point, saying that data has become invasive, and that most data systems are siloed and that it is not easy to pull data sources together. Yani Indrajana Ho, associate general counsel at LG, remarked that lawyers within a company are in a position of power when it comes to data management, and that it is important to get ahead of it before your next case: know your data location and how to retrieve it. At 200-year-old Con Edison, associate general counsel Tayo Kinnane explained that there are still a lot of old paper documents, but with the increase in electronically stored data and types, they now have a robust data retention policy in place that is core to their information governance approach. She also said that Con Edison created a cross functional team to identify what systems and apps are being used, what data is produced, and how to protect and mitigate holding data. A parallel effort is the IT team’s focus on streamlining the number of apps used by employees when conducting business.

When it comes to cutting back on the data you hold, Harry Halikias, Cybersecurity Officer, New York Public Library, made this point from a data security standpoint and his organization’s efforts to not hold personal data: “…we practice data privacy by design. If we do not have it, it cannot be stolen.”

Balancing Cost Management and Legal Innovation

Reducing cost remains a constant goal of corporate legal teams. In one of the in-house team track discussions, Andrea Webster, associate director of legal innovation and operations, suggested ways for corporate legal teams to get started on cost savings, including:

  • Analyzing current legal processes and consider outsourcing core activity
  • Exploring use of alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) for outside counsel firms
  • Using cloud-based solutions that can reduce the cost of an installed on-premise solution
  • Prioritizing employee training and development so they can effectively use the tech from the onset
  • Taking control of outside counsel spend through having open communication with your law firm(s) on how they can consider cutting costs in areas like eDiscovery by evaluating alternative technology

Transforming a Legal Team from a Cost Center to a Cost Savings Center

In another all-in-house legal team discussion, Elizabeth Rancourt-Smith, Director of Legal Operations at Tilson, raised the importance of legal ops to an organization as it helps to reset the over-reliance of doing things the tried-and-true way. “Law is based on precedent; thinking into future does not come naturally to lawyers. But it makes sense in business to be forward thinking.”

Tyson Roy, Director of Legal Innovation, AVP, Senior Counsel at Liberty Mutual, talked about the importance of cross-team collaboration, storytelling and encouraging people to take smart risks to change the way work gets done for the better. In a regular Innovation Hero blog he shares with Liberty Mutual employees, innovation successes and failures are highlighted, a rare occurrence in the corporate world.

Allison Morpurgo, Managing Director, Deputy General Counsel at UBS, said her role has evolved to not only focus on selecting the right outside counsel, but also to make better use of the lawyers and provide them with easy-to-use technology to reduce spending. “We know we are successful when lawyers are willing to try new tech instead of falling back on old ways of working,” explained Morpurgo.

Navigating Data Privacy and Gen AI

Generative AI was on the table for discussion as well. Counsel at Robinson+Cole, Jennifer Driscoll, called it the next wave in legal research. Yet data privacy issues loom. Model development requires detailed data, and if that data includes personally identifiable information, be careful. She also cautioned about use of solutions like ChatGPT, and reminded all that a prompt cannot be deleted, and if an associate enters the details of case, he/she could be waiving attorney/client privilege.

Driscoll also talked about data privacy regulation developments in Europe which will likely impact the US soon, with the EU AI Act being negotiated now. “Once this is out, other jurisdictions will follow,” she predicts.

To learn more about how CloudNine can help you to handle eDiscovery modern data challenges and reduce the cost of eDiscovery, learn more about CloudNine Analyst and/or reach out to us to schedule a consultation.

Catherine Ostheimer is VP, Marketing at CloudNine and has been working in the legal technology industry for 8+ years.