Electronic Discovery

As noted yesterday, Legaltech® New York (LTNY) is happening this week and eDiscovery Daily is here to report about the latest eDiscovery trends being discussed at the show.  There’s still time to check out the show if you’re in the New York area with a number of sessions available and over 200 exhibitors providing information on their products and services, including our company, CloudNine at booth #533.

While at the show, we will (for the eighth year in a row!) be interviewing several industry thought leaders to see what they think are the significant trends for 2017 and, which of those are evident at LTNY.  After the show, we will announce the series of thought leader interviews and identify when each will be published, so mark your calendars!

I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention that CloudNine and ACEDS is hosting Drinks with Doug (that’s me!) and Mary (as in Mary Mack, Executive Director of ACEDS) and Marc Zamsky (from ComplianceDS) at Ruth’s Chris Steak House at 148 West 51st Street on Wednesday from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.  Online registration is closed, but you can join the waiting list here if you’re at the show and want to attend.  Come join us!

There are plenty of interesting sessions today.  Sessions in the main conference tracks include:

9:00 – 10:00 AM:

Legaltech Keynote – The ESI of Today and the ESI of Tomorrow

The Legaltech Judges Panel returns for 2018 to examine critical issues in ESI:

• Rule 34(b) Implications: why are courts still struggling with lawyers who don’t know the rules have changed and why lawyers are still struggling with “reasonable time specified to respond”
• Rule 502(d) Non-Waiver Option
• ESI sources: now that we routinely deal with email, text messages and mobile discovery, what is happening with data sources like Bluetooth connections, wearables, medical devices or smart home video?
• Will we see lawyers subpoena the connected car for its sensor data? How will a warrant be served on home appliances?
• How to manage consumers’ expectations on privacy with these new ESI sources

Speakers to include: Moderator: Patrick Oot, Partner, Shook Hardy & Bacon; Panelists: Hon. Andrew J. Peck, United States Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York, Hon. Xavier Rodriguez, United States District Judge, Western District of Texas, Hon. Joy Flowers Conti, Chief District Judge – U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania, Hon. William Matthewman, United States Magistrate Judge, Southern District of Florida.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM:

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Legal and Business Processes and How to Defend Its Use

A panel of leading experts will discuss what AI is (and what it is not) and explain why legal and compliance professionals may be ethically required to understand and adopt this technology. Discussion points will include how to adequately understand the technology from a governance and controls point of view to be able to withstand regulatory scrutiny. The panel will also review how professionals are integrating big data and machine learning in e-discovery, compliance, and regulatory matters. Finally, the panel will share best practices for implementing the use of advanced technology to boost productivity and ensure the use of AI remains defensible.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Amy Hinzmann, Managing Director, Consilio LLC; SPEAKERS: Marla Crawford, Vice President, Associate General Counsel Legal and Regulatory Proceedings, Goldman Sachs; Christian Mahoney, Senior Staff Attorney, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP; Farrah Pepper, Executive Counsel, Discovery, GE.

Email Investigations with Machine Learning—See How it All Comes Together!

Tired of looking at Enron data? So are we! We’ve compiled intriguing data from high-profile FOIA releases to contextualize how leading practitioners are using visualizations, analytics, and AI as a force multiplier for investigations. Learn how phrase analysis, concepts, communication maps, Predictive Coding and other tools are helping lean teams find persons of interest and prove negatives fast.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Adam Kuhn, eDiscovery Attorney and Senior Product Marketing Manager, OpenText; SPEAKERS: Laura Roman, Litigation Operations and E-Discovery Specialist, NYSE; Mira Edelman, Director of eDiscovery Services, Facebook; Warren Singh, Supervisor of Practice Technology Consulting, Latham Watkins.

2018 Global Discovery: International Compliance in the Cloud

With the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) taking effect in May, the Schrems II litigation challenging the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework and standard contractual clauses, and the US Supreme Court considering the Dublin warrant dispute in United States v. Microsoft, 2018 promises to be an important year for international data law and cross-border e-discovery. With more organizations conducting e-discovery in the cloud, these developments take on even greater significance. Join us for a session examining legal and regulatory changes in store for 2018 and best practices for compliance in the cloud.

Speakers to include: SPEAKERS: Chris Dale, eDisclosure Information Project; Meribeth Banaschik, Partner, EY Germany GmbH; Johnny Lee, Principal, Practice Leader, Forensic Technology, Forensic Advisory Services, Grant Thornton; Rachi Messing, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft; Steve Couling, Vice President of International, Relativity.

Leveraging IG Practices to Prepare for the GDPR

Any seasoned legal, technology, or data professional knows that an effective IG strategy is a key weapon when addressing new compliance regulations. Accordingly, with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect in May 2018, many multinational companies are refocusing their data protection, privacy, and IG efforts. Organizations with well-developed IG programs will be more prepared to deal with stringent GDPR requirements such as the right to be forgotten, the right to data access, and the right to data portability and consent to the use of personal data. This session will focus on areas of overlap between IG practices and the GDPR and reiterate how the GDPR is another compelling reason to develop an IG framework in your organization. Topics covered will include:

• How implementing IG best practices improves an organization’s GDPR compliance posture
• How to leverage data security practices to ensure appropriate protection of personal data under the GDPR
• How data remediation can help mitigate GDPR non-compliance risks

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Aaron Gardner, Vice President, Enterprise Solutions, KLDiscovery; SPEAKERS: James Sherer, Partner, BakerHostetler; Derek Silverman, Vice President, eDiscovery Counsel, Barclays; Brian Hengesbaugh, Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP.

1:15 – 2:15 PM:

An Introduction to Technology-Assisted Review (TAR)

A panel of industry leaders discuss Technology Assisted Review and its practical application in today’s discovery process. Panelists ranging from corporate counsel to attorney practitioners will discuss handling historical objections, how to overcome impediments and where they are seeing the most practical adoption of TAR in everyday use. The panel will also examine practical use of TAR beyond predictive coding and offer a glimpse at the future.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Shamus Flower, Senior Vice President, Consilio LLC; SPEAKERS: John Koss, Special Counsel, E-Discovery, Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC; Judith Beall, Associate General Counsel & Senior Vice President, Bank of America; Danielle Panetta, Attorney, Goodwin Procter LLP; Brian Chebli, Executive Director & Assistant General Counsel – JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Where’s our Flying Car? Charting a Path to Secure, Seamless Enterprise Discovery

In our 2017 survey, 74% of corporate legal ops professionals say it would benefit the entire legal department if ECM were integrated with eDiscovery, yet the silos persist and grow! How can we make real progress on IG, InfoSec, and repeatable discovery processes in an ever-evolving information climate? Learn how eDiscovery leaders are uniquely positioned to help drive consensus and solve these challenges.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Hal Marcus, eDiscovery Attorney and Product Marketing Executive, OpenText; Jay Brudz, Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP; Bennett Borden, Chief Data Scientist and Chair, Information Governance and eDiscovery Group, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP; Ethan Ackerman, Associate, Morgan Lewis; Sharika de Freitas, Senior Manager of Discovery Solutions & Technology, Viacom.

From AI to e-Discovery: Innovation in Legal and Technology Education

Technology has been one of the driving forces behind profound changes in legal education, and e-discovery education has become an important part of law school curricula around the nation. In this div, directors of law school e-discovery programs will discuss their programs and what they see as the future of legal education.

From artificial intelligence to distance learning about the law and technology to law school programs dedicated to e-discovery, legal education is changing at a rapid pace.  As more states add technology competency requirements for attorneys, how will the profession meet these challenges?  Whether you’re a lawyer, paralegal, or litigation support professional, join us for this session as a noted U.S. district judge who teaches e-discovery law, prominent law professors, and the executive director of the national e-discovery certification association discuss how you can keep up with requirements for legal and technical education—while making some predictions about how legal and tech training will be done in the future.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: David Horrigan, Discovery Counsel & Legal Education Director, Relativity; SPEAKERS: Honorable Xavier Rodriguez, US District Judge (W.D. Tex.) and Adjunct Professor of Law, St. Mary’s University School of Law; Mary Mack, Executive Director, Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS); Daniel Martin Katz, JD, PhD, Associate Professor of Law and Director, The Law Lab, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law; William Hamilton, Legal Skills Professor and E-Discovery Project Executive Director, University of Florida Levin College of Law; Laura Norris, Assistant Clinical Professor, Santa Clara University School of Law and Director, Entrepreneurs’ Law Clinic.

Dealing with Difficult Data: Collecting and Reviewing Complex Data from Challenging or Emerging Locations

Text messages, social media data, mobile devices, audio files, Office 365, archives, databases. Data containing PII or PHI. Multilingual data.

What must in-house attorneys and outside counsel do to adapt to the new information landscape? How can you avoid data loss or simply overlooking an emerging data type? How do you handle privacy concerns in international collections? What tools and technologies can assist if you decide to collect data using in-house resources? How can analytics help with the review of uncommon data types?

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Julian Sheppard, KLDiscovery; SPEAKERS: Wendy Curtis, Chair of eDiscovery & Information Governance, Orrick; Jason Lichter, Director of Discovery Services & Litigation Support, Pepper Hamilton; Marla Crawford, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs; Kamal Gad-el-Hak, Information Risk Consultant, MassMutual.

2:45 – 3:45 PM:

Looking Ahead: How to Get the Most Out of TAR 2.0

Much has changed since TAR first gained judicial approval in the landmark 2012 Da Silva Moore v. Publicis Groupe decision. This panel will consider how TAR’s capabilities have grown over the last few years, evolving from an inscrutable “black box” to a powerful technology that can drive litigation strategy. In this session, attendees will learn key workflows for optimizing the use of TAR, accelerating document review and ensuring defensibility as our expert panelists discuss advanced TAR 2.0 workflows.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Xavier Diokno, Director Data Analytics, Consilio LLC; SPEAKERS: Michelle Briggs, Counsel, Goodwin Procter LLP; Dave Lewis, Chief Data Scientist, Brainspace Corporation; Martha Louks, Director of Discovery Services, McDermott Will & Emery LLP; Matthew Poplawski, Senior e-Discovery Attorney, Winston & Strawn.

The Intersection of Data Privacy, Security, and Investigations: What Law Firms Need to Know

It all comes down to data—securing it, collecting it, investigating it—and that comes down to the endpoint. Endpoint visibility is the cornerstone of incident avoidance and response, as well as the starting point for fact investigations and eDiscovery. Learn how data privacy, security, and investigation are converging, creating risks and opportunities for corporations and the law firms that counsel them.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Charles Choe, Senior Product Marketing Manager, OpenText; SPEAKERS: Kari Rollins, Partner, Sheppard Mullin; Darin Sands, Shareholder/Partner, Lane Powell PC.

From the Iron Rooster to Amazon Alexa: Mobile Discovery and the Internet of Things

Whether it’s missing mobile data (Montgomery v. Iron Rooster-Annapolis, LLC), digital data in a truck (Below v. Yokohama Tire Corp.), Fitbit data (State v. Dabate), or data from an Amazon Alexa (State v. Bates) mobile discovery and data from the Internet of Things (IoT) devices present challenges, not only for litigants and their lawyers, but for corporate organizations, paralegals, and technologists as well. In this session, lawyers and consultants, including a former Department of Justice cybercrime coordinator, a prominent discovery attorney, a corporate information governance expert, and a leading legal industry analyst, will address the legal, technical, and practical considerations of mobile, social, and IoT data, including preservation requirements and data privacy limitations.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: David Horrigan, e-Discovery Counsel and Legal Content Director, Relativity; SPEAKERS: Ari Kaplan, Principal, Ari Kaplan Advisors; Kelly Twigger, Principal, ESI Attorneys LLC; Ed McAndrew, Partner, Ballard Spahr LLP; Jake Frazier, Senior Managing Director, FTI Consulting.

The Metrics Don’t Lie: Alternative Ways to Measure eDiscovery Provider Performance & Value

eDiscovery technologies and processes continue to evolve. However, the economics of discovery remain largely unchanged, with costs spiraling upwards. Legal service providers are not incentivized to tackle the main driver of cost: the exponential growth of data. Savvy businesses have successfully moved law firms away from the billable hour. Surprisingly, many businesses continue to negotiate unit rates for eDiscovery projects, allowing discovery providers to increase their profit margins.

By adopting new ways to measure eDiscovery effectiveness, businesses can better understand how to manipulate the levers that defensibly drive significant cost reduction. During this hands-on workshop, professionals in legal and procurement will work through a structured methodology to:

• Understand the true cost of discovery
• Share best practices for managing the efficiency of the discovery process
• Define quantitative metrics that will hold providers to new performance standards
• Explore and establish alternative fee arrangements to drive substantial cost savings and provide true cost predictability

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Geoff Wilcox, Managing Director, UnitedLex; SPEAKERS: Constance Mockaitis, Senior Manager, Information Governance & eDiscovery Operations, AbbVie; Brett Burney, eDiscovery Consultant, Burney Consultants; William Gratsch, Associate Director, Legal Operations, Ally; Charisma Starr, Legal Information Systems, Legal Operations and Administration, Exelon.

A Day in the Life of a Futurist Jurist Empowered by Artificial Intelligence: An Ethical Dilemma

The practice of law is poised for radical change. The use of machine learning algorithms in discovery is only the beginning of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) could possibly impact the legal industry in years to come. However, these changes pose significant ethical dilemmas for legal practitioners. This session will look into the future at the day in the life of an attorney empowered by artificial intelligence, and the ethical challenges associated with AI. How will today’s use of predictive coding and discovery analytics propel tomorrow’s lawyers to leverage AI in alternative applications across the entire legal process? Specific topics will include:

• Legal ethics scenarios involving the use of AI
• Current limitations of AI
• Future of AI in the legal industry

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Anthony DeJohn, KLDiscovery; SPEAKERS: Ralph Losey, Principal, Jackson Lewis PC; Shannon Copone Kirk, E-Discovery Counsel, Ropes & Gray; Martin Tully, Litigation Partner, Akerman.

In addition to these, there are other eDiscovery-related sessions today.  For a complete description for all sessions today (and for the entire show, since they’re all on one page), click here.

So, what do you think?  Are you planning to attend LTNY this year?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

Today is the start of Legaltech® New York (LTNY), and, for the eighth(!) year in a row, eDiscovery Daily is here to report about the latest eDiscovery trends being discussed at the show.  Over the next three days, we will provide a description each day of some of the sessions related to eDiscovery to give you a sense of the topics being covered.  If you’re in the New York area, I encourage you to check out the show – there are a number of sessions available and over 200 exhibitors providing information on their products and services, including our company, CloudNine at booth #533.

As always, we will be interviewing several industry thought leaders at the show to see what they think are the significant trends for 2018 and, which of those are evident at LTNY.  After the show, we will announce the series of thought leader interviews and identify when each will be published, so you can mark your calendars!

There are plenty of interesting sessions today.  Sessions in the main conference tracks include:

12:00 – 1:00 PM:

Don’t be a ‘Burden’: Arguments Around Proportionality

When it comes to managing discovery, companies are concentrating more than ever on how to manage and better control their ever increasing data consumption. Join us for an interactive discussion with corporate and legal professionals around how the new proportionality rules are being leveraged to create strong burden arguments to greatly decrease a company’s overall eDiscovery spend. This panel will discuss how to properly implement a workflow to be utilized for a large percentage of the company’s litigation profile as well as what makes a sound and convincing burden argument in the eyes of the Court.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Kenneth Koch, Principal, KPMG LLP; SPEAKERS: Ellen Blanchard, Managing Corporate Counsel – Discovery, T-Mobile; Rachael Lee Zichella, Partner, Taylor English Duma LLP; Robert Levy, Counsel, Civil Justice Reform and Law Technology, Exxon Mobil Corporation; Jennifer Kuchon, Esquire, Office of General Counsel, Ford Motor Company.

Strategies and Best Practices for Protecting Sensitive Data in Litigation and Regulatory Discovery

Organizations struggle to adequately protect their private and confidential information in the ordinary course of business. When sensitive data moves out of its usual business function, and into the realm of legal matters, the information risks escalate substantially.

This session will offer some successful strategies and best practices for attorneys and legal professionals to mitigate those risks. The panel will discuss setting expectations for law firms and other legal providers handling sensitive data; searching large data sets to effectively identify various types of sensitive information; establishing workflows that incorporate robust protections for sensitive data; and protecting information turned over to opposing parties and the court.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Laurey Harris, Vice President, Account Management, DiscoverReady; SPEAKERS: Julie Richer, Legal Operations & Discovery Manager at American Electric Power; Pamela Butler O’Brien, Deputy General Counsel at Stewart; Donald Knight, Vice President and Legal Technology Program Manager, PNC Bank; Allan Hsu, Director of eDiscovery, Fannie Mae; Michelle Briggs, eDiscovery Attorney and Senior Litigation Technology Manager, Goodwin Procter.

2:00 – 3:00 PM:

Investigating Investigations: Maximizing Efficiency, Minimizing Cost

Finding that ‘needle in a haystack’ during an investigation can prove to be a difficult and challenging task. However, today teams are able to leverage new and advanced workflows and technologies to maximize results while lowering costs. During this panel, we will discuss the ever increasing need to collect social networking and mobile data, how technology assisted review and active learning should be used for an effective investigation, and what new analytics tools and trends are being utilized in the market.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Manfred Gabriel, Principal, KPMG; SPEAKERS: Jacob Herstek, VP & Senior Legal Counsel, HSBC; Robert Keeling, Partner, Sidley Austin LLP; Kelly Donovan, Managing Director, KPMG; Seth Eichenholtz, Head of eDiscovery, Security Monitoring and Response, Mastercard.

Incorporating the Power of Technology into GDPR Compliance Programs

As its effective date looms, companies are scrambling to develop compliance programs that will satisfy the sweeping requirements of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). In this program, a group of experienced legal technologists will explore how powerful technology and advanced analytics can enhance the effectiveness of GDPR compliance efforts.

First, the panel will outline the key legal requirements of the GDPR that drive compliance policy. Then they’ll explain how technology and analytics tools can help organizations implement those policies—by finding and mapping sources of protected personal data; tracking the collection, use, and disposition of personal data; analyzing vendor contracts for GDPR compliance issues; and implementing systems and processes to manage the rights of data subjects.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Matthew Nelson, Vice President, Data Liaison Services, AGC Privacy & Security, DiscoverReady; SPEAKERS: Phil Richards, Chief Technology Officer at DiscoverReady; Kenneth N. Rashbaum, Partner at Barton LLP; Anna Simpson, Technical Practice Lead and a Chief Architect for the Information Governance, Veritas; Theresa Beaumont, Legal Data Governance & Technology Expert, Groupe Beaumont.

3:15 – 4:15 PM:

The “Internet of Things” and Other Emerging Data Sources: Where Privacy, Proportionality, and Technology Intersect

“Smart home” devices . . . Blockchain . . . Personal “wearables” . . . Corporate IM and office “chat” . . . Graph databases . . . The variety and complexity of data sources potentially relevant to legal matters increases faster than lawyers can keep up with. So how can counsel come up to speed on these emerging data sources, and develop effective strategies for dealing with the information they contain? This panel of experts will address some of the challenges with emerging data sources, such as—

• Data privacy concerns: Are there limits on the use in legal matters of “Internet of Things” and other highly personal data stores? How do we mitigate the privacy risks of using this information in legal disputes?
• Proportionality assessments: How does counsel determine whether the burdens of collecting from these emerging data sources—or even just preserving them—are justified by the value of the information? How can in-house lawyers ensure that information governance policies and practices adequately address the legal impacts of these data sources?
• Technology and forensics: What are the technical difficulties associated with collecting these data? How have forensic techniques and best practices kept up with emerging data sources?

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Maureen O’Neill, Senior Vice President, Discovery Strategy & Data Privacy/Security, DiscoverReady; SPEAKERS: Jason R. Baron, Of Counsel in the Information Governance and eDiscovery Group at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP; Chris Sitter, Head of Global eDiscovery, Digital Forensics, and Incident Response Technology for Juniper Networks; Erin Avera, SVP, E-Discovery Operations at Bank of America; Jack Thompson, Sr. Manager eDiscovery & Legal Operations, Sanofi US; Richard Cheng, Investigator, Lending Club.

Interview with the Innovators

During this session we will interview three ILTA members leading the way with Innovation in their firms. Each panelist will answer questions posed from the interviewer about how they are affecting change in their firms, what they are focused on and what they see as the next “big thing” in legal innovation. The audience will have an opportunity to ask questions of the panelists.

Speakers to include: MODERATOR: Bob Ambrogi, Lawyer, Media & Technology Professional, Law Office of Robert J. Ambrogi; SPEAKERS: Dan Jansen, CEO and Managing Director at Nextlaw Ventures; Stephen Allen, Global Head Of Legal Services, Hogan Lovells; Scott Cohen, Managing Director, Winston & Strawn LLP.

5:00 – 6:00 PM:

Legaltech Keynote – Cyber Security Eats the World: Key Organizational Lessons for the New Normal

Business is under attack like never before from hackers, cyber criminals and advanced persistent threats. The cost and severity of the problem is escalating with new breaches seemingly announced daily and new kinds of attacks. WannaCry showed the impact of failing to update a seemingly banal set of patches. The statistics are alarming: DDoS attacks up 380% in the first quarter of 2017; the average cost of a data breach ticking upward $1M a year; cybercrime cost the global economy $450B total last year. Basic data security systems are no longer working and the tried-and-tested tools to protect the crown jewels don’t seem to be enough. Yet, 75% of respondents to an IBM/Ponemon survey did not have a formal cyber incident response plan. And 66% weren’t confident in their organizations’ ability to recover. It’s time to come to terms with the new normal and plan for the inevitable.

Discussion Topics Include:

• Update on why business is losing the arms race to get one step ahead of criminal cyber enterprise
• Insight on facing the need to build a truly comprehensive cyber incident response strategy
• Waking up to the new normal – tips to sleep at night during a breach response
• What happens when the cloud is hacked and the coming need for coordinated response plans

Speakers to include: KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Brian Krebs, Cyber Security Blogger on KrebsonSecurity.com, Former Reporter for The Washington Post; INTERVIEWED BY: Nicole Friedlander, Special Counsel, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

In addition to these, there are other eDiscovery-related sessions today.  For a complete description for all sessions today (and for the entire show, since they’re all on one page), click here.

So, what do you think?  Are you planning to attend LTNY this year?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

It’s the annual travel day before Legaltech New York (LTNY) – unless you’re attending LegalWeek events today.  So, what’s being discussed at this year’s LTNY conference?  The topics are cloudy – in other words, they’re displayed in a word cloud here.

Last year, we covered InsideLegal’s word cloud and they’ve been creating a word cloud every year since 2011, which is the first year that eDiscovery Daily started covering the show.  As of last Friday, they hadn’t done one yet this year, so we decided to create our own word cloud, using our CloudNine software platform (InsideLegal did eventually create one over the weekend, which you can check out here – it’s very pretty!).  Nonetheless, we’ll talk about the one we created.

To create my initial attempt at it, I decided to go to the LTNY agenda page and expand tracks (this year, for the first time, the entire agenda is on a single page), then save the page as an MHTML format file (MIME HTML), which is an archive format for the web pages saved with internet explorer by default.  I then uploaded that file with CloudNine’s Discovery Client (we just announced a new preservation and collection for the Discovery Client, by the way) into its own project.  That file was processed and loaded and standard analytics was performed, which includes a list of the top 100 keywords in the collection, along with a word cloud.

That first attempt didn’t turn out very good – the top terms in the file were “content”, http”, “legalweekshow”, “uploads” and “function”.  Not very informative, and when you look at the page, you can see there’s a lot of extraneous information, including a list of all of the speakers at the bottom.

So, I decided to try again, but this time I copied and pasted the session titles and descriptions into a Word document.  No speaker names, no “Sponsored By”, no repeats – just unique session titles and descriptions and descriptions of each educational track (but only once per track).  I saved the results and loaded that into a brand new project with the CloudNine Discovery Client.

This time, the result was much better and more indicative of the content of the sessions.  Some quick observations:

• Obviously, for a legal technology show, you would expect the terms “legal” and “technology” to be up there and they were first and third in total hits, with 116 and 54 respectively (“technologies” adds another 17 hits). The term “data” is second in total hits with 113.  The term “information” is fourth with 34 hits, followed by “session” with 32
• The term “ediscovery” or “e-discovery” appears 30 times, so (as always in recent years), eDiscovery is a popular theme for this year’s show (keep in mind that doesn’t include any speaker titles). The term “discovery” adds another 23
• The term “cloud” is up there, with 25 hits, so topics related to “the cloud” are popular once again.
• Probably the most uniquely new term in this year’s word cloud is “gdpr”, with 20 occurrences of this term in the session descriptions. So, Europe’s impending General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is clearly a hot topic as it goes into effect in less than four months.  Here’s an upcoming webcast we have on the topic.
• Also, the terms “artificial” and intelligence” both have 17.  So, apparently, there is no “intelligence” in this year’s agenda, except for the “artificial” kind.  :o)

Regardless, you can look at the word cloud above and make your own observations.  Starting tomorrow, for the eighth year in a row, we will point out sessions related to eDiscovery (and Information Governance), so you can plan on which sessions to attend.

So, what do you think?  Are you attending Legaltech this week?  If so, please feel free to stop by our booth (#533)!  And, as always, please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

While “Legalweek”, starts next Monday, LegalTech New York 2018, starts next Tuesday, January 30 and concludes on Thursday, February 1.  For us at eDiscovery Daily, it’s our eighth year in a row covering the show and we’ll be conducting thought leader interviews again this year!  Let’s take a look at some of the sessions and events worth particular note for eDiscovery professionals.

Tuesday Highlights: At 12:00pm, the session Don’t be a ‘Burden’: Arguments Around Proportionality is timely as we’re seeing more proportionality arguments than ever with the new rules.  And, given the imminence of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) in about four months, I’m sure the session at 2:00pm (Incorporating the Power of Technology into GDPR Compliance Programs) will be useful to those organizations looking to comply by the deadline.  And the session The “Internet of Things” and Other Emerging Data Sources: Where Privacy, Proportionality, and Technology Intersect, will undoubtedly be interesting with several knowledgeable panelists, including Jason R. Baron (who I’m interviewing again in this year’s thought leader series and, if last year’s interview is any indication, will have a lot to say about this fascinating trend).

Wednesday Highlights: At 9:00am, the judges panel session The ESI of Today and the ESI of Tomorrow will undoubtedly give us wise words from Judges Peck, Rodriguez, Conti and Matthewman (moderated by Patrick Oot of Shook, Hardy & Bacon), regarding a variety of topics, including Rule 34(b), Rule 502(d) and various ESI sources.  Also, if you want a current sense of how technology is affecting eDiscovery education, From AI to e-Discovery: Innovation in Legal and Technology Education at 1:15pm will provide some great insights from the likes of Judge Rodriguez, Mary Mack, Bill Hamilton and David Horrigan, among others.  And, if you need even more of an IoT fix, From the Iron Rooster to Amazon Alexa: Mobile Discovery and the Internet of Things will take a look at mobile, truck, Fitbit and other data sources with Horrigan, Ari Kaplan and Kelly Twigger, among other terrific panelists.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention that CloudNine and ACEDS is hosting Drinks with Doug (that’s me!) and Mary (as in Mary Mack, Executive Director of ACEDS), as well as Marc Zamsky (from ComplianceDS) at Ruth’s Chris Steak House at 148 West 51st Street on Wednesday from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.  Online registration is closed, but you can join the waiting list here if you’ll be at the show and want to attend.  Come join us!

Thursday Highlights: Need to finance your litigation and concerned about the ethics of doing so?  If so, consider attending the 1:00pm session Litigation Funding: Seeing 20/20 on the Ethics and Law to get some important questions answered.  And, if you want to get updated on the new rules for self-authentication of evidence, consider joining Josh Gilliland (of the terrific Bow Tie Law blog) at Streamlining Admissibility: Leveraging the New Self-Authentication Procedures for Defensible Collections at 2:30pm.

Exhibit Hall: Of course, the largest legal technology conference of the year wouldn’t be complete without an extensive list of exhibitors.  This year, according to my count, there are over 200 exhibitors (on the increase for the second straight year), including our company, CloudNine at booth #533.  So, come see us!

As always, we will cover the show here at eDiscovery Daily, including a list of eDiscovery and IG related sessions each day.  Check here for the sessions you may want to check out at the conference!

So, what do you think?  Are you attending LegalTech next week?  Please share any comments you might have with us or let us know if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

The Complex Discovery eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey is starting its third year and the results are in!  As was the case for the 2016 Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall surveys and the 2017 Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall surveys, the results for the Winter 2018 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey are published on Rob Robinson’s terrific Complex Discovery site.  How confident are individuals working in the eDiscovery ecosystem in the business of eDiscovery?  Let’s see.

As always, Rob provides a complete breakdown of the latest survey results, which you can check out here.  As I’ve done for the past few surveys, I will provide some analysis and, this year, I’ll take a look at all surveys conducted to look at trends over time.  So, this time, I will look at the results for all nine surveys.

The Winter 2018 Survey response period was initiated in late December, and continued until registration of exactly 100 responses by Tuesday (January 16).  Rob notes that this limiting of responders to 100 (or so) individuals is designed to create linearity in the number of responses for each quarterly survey.  So, in the future, if you want your voice heard, respond early!

Software/Service Providers and Law Firms are Still the Top Two: Of the types of respondents, 76% were either Software and/or Services Provider (43%) or Law Firm (33%).  As usual, Consultancy was third with 13%.  If you count law firms as providers (they’re technically both providers and consumers), this is a very provider heavy survey (which makes perfect sense as they would be most interested in eDiscovery business confidence).  Here’s a graphical representation of the trend over the nine surveys to date:

With the exception of the two larger surveys in 2016 (before the 100 vote limit was instituted), the top three types of respondents have routinely comprised around 90% of the overall respondents.  So, those groups are either more interested in eDiscovery business (likely) or more interested in responding quickly.

Once Again, Over Half of Respondents Continue to Consider Business to Be Good: Over half (58%, to be exact) of respondents rated the current general business conditions for eDiscovery in their segment to be good, with 7% rating business conditions as bad.  Last quarter, those numbers were 55% and 9% respectively, so both numbers reflect a current bullish sentiment.  Will that continue?  We’ll see.  Here is the trend over the nine surveys to date:

This survey shows the highest percentage of “business is good” respondents since the first two surveys in 2016.  The “business is bad” respondents are not the lowest we’ve seen, but still reasonably low.

eDiscovery Business Conditions and Revenue Expectations Six Months From Now Stays Strong, Profit Expectations Slip: Almost all respondents (95%) expect business conditions will be in their segment to be the same or better six months from now (about the same as last quarter’s 96%), and the percentage expecting business to be better rose a tick to 56%.  Revenue (at combined 93% for the same or better) is about the same as the last quarter.  Profit expectations (combined 83%) dropped a bit from last quarter, with those expecting lower profits at an all time high.  Here is the profits trend over the nine surveys to date:

Good news, bad news here: Almost half of the respondents expect profits to be higher here, but about one-sixth expect them to be lower.  With revenue projections comparable to last quarter, it seems as though providers are concerned about increasing expenses.

Increasing Volumes of Data as Back to Being Most Impactful to eDiscovery Business: Size matters, remember?  Increasing Volumes of Data was the top impactful factor to the business of eDiscovery over the next six months at 29%, with Budgetary Constraints next up at 25%.  The other four factors were again comparable: Increasing Types of Data (16%), Data Security (13%), Inadequate Technology (9%) and Lack of Personnel (8%).  The graph below illustrates the distribution over the nine surveys to date:

Increasing Volumes of Data and Budgetary Constraints have been in the top three for each survey and the top two most of the time.  That’s a consistent trend.

Executive Leadership is the Majority: Executive Leadership respondents rose again to 52% of respondents (from 48% last quarter) – the first time since the first two surveys that the majority of respondents are executive leaders.  Operational Management dropped to 25% of respondents, while Tactical Execution respondents rose a bit to 23%.  Here’s the breakdown over the nine surveys to date:

The distribution has varied over time, but it’s an executive heavy survey this time.  Does that reflect any added significance in the numbers?

Again, Rob has published the results on his site here, which shows responses to additional questions not referenced here.  Check them out.

So, what do you think?  What’s your state of confidence in the business of eDiscovery?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.