CloudNine Digital

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.

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.

By Catherine Ostheimer

This year’s ILTACON, held at the Walt Disney World (WDW) hotel properties in Orlando covering a 430,000+ square foot campus, was a spectacular event on many levels. For one, seemingly few of the 3,400 attendees complained about the long walks in 90-degree heat required to attend educational sessions and meetings. Energy ran high throughout the conference despite the heat and expansive conference grounds. Secondly, the interest in emerging tech like Generative AI, automation, and short message data eDiscovery solutions has gone from “what is it,” to “how to apply” this tech to legal work for better results now. In other words, the ILTACON community is more tech savvy than ever before. The “tomorrow” of the legal industry has arrived.

Here are our main takeaways from the panels we attended in between meetings with customers and partners.

Understanding How Remote Work and AI Has Changed the Legal World Forever: ILTA 2023 Tech Survey Results

TJ Johnson from Qualitest, Todd Corham from Saul Ewing and others presented preliminary findings from this year’s ILTA Technology Survey. New topics for 2023 included emerging desktop applications, generative AI tools, collaborative apps and hybrid strategies. The full survey results will be published soon. In the meantime, here are high level findings:

• Generative AI is named by most respondents as the emerging tech that will have significant impact on the legal tech profession
• Out of those saying they are applying generative AI to their work; the app that the majority surveyed are using is Chat GPT
• Top three uses for generative AI: initial drafts, writing presentations and brainstorming ideas. Although panelists agreed that it is still too early to have a clear view of all uses
• Cloud adoption continues to rise, with a noted jump in adoption in the past year or two. Reasons for leaning towards cloud include improved access to solution, better data security, and faster release of new features
• In the words of one of the panelists, “As a community, you have risen to the challenge (of implementing tech that helps with remote work) this past year”
• Cloud-based apps are being used primarily for email, time/billing, payroll, document management and eDiscovery
• Well over half of professional staff at law firms are using laptops daily (it will be interesting to see if there is a swing back to desktop use in next year’s survey with many firms opting for work from office policies)

Navigating Tech Deployment in a Hybrid World 

Helpful suggestions were shared in a roundtable panel on how to ensure success with hardware and software deployments, in a post-pandemic hybrid work environment, with a mix of hybrid office consultants, tech provider implementation experts and IT leaders from companies weighing in.

At the start of the discussion panelists covered causes of potential project failures, including lack of buy-in from key stakeholders, little to no project planning, and unclear requirements and accountability. Regarding accountability, there should be a clear view of who is responsible for the project success, as well as who is the lead in getting the work done.

Wade Goldt, COO, Helient, shared tips on involving stakeholders early on. Goldt shared “You need to not just include the executive team early on, but also employees as well as vendors.” Ashleigh Allberry, COO, Maptician stressed the importance of stakeholder communications, and “making it apparent using data why this rollout matters. What benefits to employees, customers and shareholders will it bring?”

Lathrop GPM, Chief Information Officer, Adam Yantorni, along with Allberry, covered what to expect when it comes to tech rollouts in a hybrid environment, and included these tips:

• Implementations are shorter: the expectation is to deliver faster. It is best to put more time into planning, and then make implementation timeframe shorter
• Leadership buy-in is a must: Start dialogue early and understand goals of each leader to align project goals with theirs
• Ownership is needed at all levels: With the hybrid experience now a part of many organizations’ culture, employees need to be involved in the design of a rollout experience. Seek input and support from each firm location from mid-level staff, those individuals who can be responsible for local training and rollout

When it comes getting “new solution” use at all levels, in another session on new litigation management tech, Catherine McPherson, Legal Technology Strategist at Bartlit Beck, shared that to get all to start doing things a new way, sell it as a lifestyle choice, to make your daily work life easier.

Tackling the Growing eDiscovery Challenge: Modern Data

An expert panel provided helpful insights into how to collect, review and produce short message data. Monica Harris, Product Business Manager at Cellebrite provided stats from her company’s research showing that within the private sector, mobile phone data is now closing in on surpassing data collected from computers. Short message data is created from the conversational exchange taking place via a messaging or social media application, like Teams, Slack, Zoom, Snapchat, etc. Complexity in dealing with this data in eDiscovery will continue to intensify as the number of users, platforms and volume and data increases year over year. Tips shared by Nordo Nissi, Goulston & Storrs, and others included:

• Conducting an early case assessment (ECA) to determine the who, what, where, when, why and how of a collection
• Determining scope of collection. Do you need just basic data from a mobile device like SMS/MMS, Contacts, Call History and Media, or on the other side of the spectrum, this plus application data, device information, the full file system and deleted data?
• Consider using the newly released EDRM Text Messaging Metadata Primer as a reference model. This work in progress is designed to promote clarity and uniformity for text and instant message data productions

When it comes to processing, take the time to understand what file format you are dealing with for each data type, i.e., JSON, RSMF, native etc. and know your review strategy and if any ESI protocol is in place. Aim to standardize how data is rendered. On this last point, consider where or not your eDiscovery solution can render data in near native format like CloudNine Analyst can.

This overview covers only one small slice of the rich information shared at this year’s ILTACON. Our biggest takeaway? The legal tech community is stronger than ever, and new ways of getting work done are more than accepted; they are being used today.

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

By Catherine Ostheimer

Being responsive to the growing number of Access Requests and DSARS as a local government organization can be daunting.

First, there’s the data management challenge. State and local groups generate and store vast amounts of data across numerous departments, committees, and systems. Managing and processing this volume of data for eDiscovery for litigation, investigations and public records requests across multiple departments can be overwhelming. There is also the issue of dealing effectively with different formats and sources during the discovery process, such as emails, documents, social media, collaboration app chats, and more.

Privacy and security concerns with sensitive and confidential information and staying compliant with jurisdiction-specific laws and regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is an ongoing challenge. Other burdens are resource constraints, including limited budgets, staff, and access to affordable technology.

Here are tips for managing the eDiscovery side of Access Requests for those working at a state or local government organization:

1. Understand the legal landscape. Obviously, you need to familiarize yourself with applicable local laws and regulations governing eDiscovery, including the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and any other state-specific rules. But you also need to stay on top of ever-changing regulations governing eDiscovery in your jurisdiction.
2. Develop policies. Two important processes to establish for anyone handling eDiscovery for a local government organization are 1) documenting an eDiscovery protocol outlining your organization’s procedures for identifying, preserving, collecting, reviewing, and producing electronic evidence, and 2) implementing a document retention policy, including collaborating with your IT team to put technical measures in place to support the policy.
3. Educate and train staff. Conduct regular training sessions for employees to increase their awareness of eDiscovery requirements and their responsibilities for preserving and producing relevant data, especially emerging data types like texts, chat, and social media data.
4. Engage in Early Case Assessment (ECA). Performing ECA for any cases involving potential litigation will help you evaluate the scope and costs of eDiscovery so that you can make informed decisions about litigation strategy, settlement negotiations and the need for outside experts. Read more on putting an ECA process in place.
5. Regularly evaluate and update processes. Continuously assess and refine your eDiscovery processes based on learnings from previous cases and stay informed about industry best practices and emerging technologies, and technology alternatives that may be easier to use and less expensive than your current technology.
6. Be prepared to scale your eDiscovery work. Beyond Access Requests, it is the unforeseen litigation matters that can catch eDiscovery teams off guard, and in the government area, these cases often involve gathering and reviewing data from hundreds, if not thousands of individuals. Do your research and identify technology and service partners who can help you scale during workload surges.

The CloudNine team has deep experience in handling Access Requests and eDiscovery effectively and efficiently for state and local organizations. Contact us to find out how we can help support your needs with our on-premise and SaaS eDiscovery solutions and an array of professional services.

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

By Rick Clark

Highlights from this event are covered below.

Exceeding Corporate Client Expectations

The first session of the conference, moderated by Richard Clark from CloudNine, focused on introducing new ways of deepening the relationship between corporate in-house and outside counsel. The discussions led by Janice D’Costa from Meta and Amie Taal from Stratagem Tech showcased innovative and clever ways to surpass corporate client expectations. The main topics covered in this session included:

• Bespoke Solutions: In the face of rapidly evolving technology, corporate communication cultures, and cost pressures, outside counsel must present tailor-made solutions to their corporate clients. Cookie cutter approaches are no longer adequate, and legal teams need to adapt to the unique needs of their clients.
• Alternative Fee Arrangements: Flexibility in cost structures, such as catering fees to individual cases or annual spends, can create mutually beneficial partnerships between firms and clients. By aligning fees with client needs, firms can strengthen their relationships and demonstrate their commitment to client success.
• Know How Data Impacts Cases: With data playing an increasingly crucial role in legal matters, it is essential to have up-to-date Information Governance (IG) policies. This ensures that companies are well-prepared for litigation or investigations, which may involve handling communications data from various platforms like Slack, Teams, and messaging apps. Law firms can find ways to help in-house teams with data management if the need exists.

How Law Firms and In-House Teams Win Through Collaboration

• Collaboration Across Legal Issues: Throughout the day, the conference emphasized the importance of collaboration between in-house, outside counsel, and software/service providers to address various legal challenges. Notably, this collaborative approach was evident in discussions about these common challenges for U.K.-based organizations:
  • GDPR: As data privacy regulations continue to evolve, companies must work together to navigate the complexities of GDPR compliance and data protection.
  • The UK’s Response to the EU Artificial Intelligence Act: By collaborating and sharing knowledge, legal professionals can adapt to regulatory changes and leverage AI advancements responsibly.
  • Information Governance: Building on the earlier discussion, experts highlighted the need for robust Information Governance practices to safeguard data integrity and compliance.

To summarize, despite the diverse range of topics discussed at the conference, the main takeaways can be recapped as follows:

• Collaborate: Success in the legal industry hinges on effective collaboration between professionals, clients, and technology. Working together ensures the best outcomes for each engagement.
• Get Your Data House in Order: Legal teams must work closely with IT and other relevant teams to ensure data accessibility for eDiscovery, investigations, or other legal processes. Simultaneously, data that is no longer necessary must have a clear destruction plan to safeguard against unnecessary risks.
• Embrace AI, With Care: While Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI offers tremendous potential for legal professionals in areas like TAR workflows, content creation, and automation. It is essential to approach its implementation thoughtfully. Most discussions highlighted GAI as an enhancement rather than a replacement for current employee positions.

The Master’s Conference in London proved to be an informative event that underscored the importance of collaboration, Information Governance, eDiscovery/eDisclosure and the responsible adoption of AI in the legal industry. Participants gained valuable insights from a global perspective. CloudNine looks forward to the next set of Master’s Conferences in Columbus, OH (September 14), New York (October 18) and Atlanta (November 9.) Contact us if you are interested in learning more about these events, or how we can help you simplify and reduce the time and cost of eDiscovery.

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.