Close
Enter your
text here

Industry Trends

David Horrigan of kCura: eDiscovery Trends

This is the second of the 2017 Legaltech New York (LTNY) Thought Leader Interview series.  eDiscovery Daily interviewed several thought leaders at LTNY (aka Legalweek) this year to get their observations regarding trends at the show and generally within the eDiscovery industry.

Today’s thought leader is David Horrigan of kCura, the developers of Relativity.  David is the E-Discovery Counsel and Legal Content Director at kCura.  An attorney, law school guest lecturer, e-discovery industry analyst, and award-winning journalist, David has served as counsel at the Entertainment Software Association, reporter and assistant editor at The National Law Journal, and analyst and counsel at 451 Research. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Legaltech News and the Data Law Board of Advisors at the Yeshiva University Cardozo Law School. David holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida, and he studied international law at Universiteit Leiden in the Netherlands.  He’s licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia.

What are your observations about LTNY this year and how it compared to other LTNY shows that you have attended?

This year, ALM expanded the conference from Legaltech to Legalweek, bringing more legal issues into a larger overall event.  I think many speakers did a great job in showing how technology relates to all areas of the law.  For instance, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky did an outstanding job of bringing other areas of the law into the rest of the program.  Many sessions did an excellent job of really hitting home how legal technology and the law aren’t just for programmers and legal teams—they affect everyday life.

For example, I liked how Dean Chemerinsky mentioned that, when he teaches Katz v. United States, it’s become clear to him that many of his law students don’t know what a telephone booth is.  His example illustrates not only that Superman needs to find a new place to change clothes, it shows how technology changes every day life and highlights the importance of legal technology in eDiscovery.

This is my second Legaltech with kCura, but I’ve come to many Legaltech shows in New York over the past fifteen years or so, and I was first a speaker at Legaltech in 2001, and as an ALM alumnus from The National Law Journal and Legaltech News, it’s always great to come back.  Having been here as a journalist, an in-house counsel, an industry analyst, and now representing kCura, I’ve seen a lot of change over the years. One of my favorite tales of technological change since my first Legaltech is that in the early part of the last decade, you could walk the Exhibit Hall and visit vendors with metadata wiping software.  Such software is probably still great for corporate counsel negotiating contracts, but with today’s rules and case law, such metadata wiping would probably get an e-discovery lawyer sanctioned or in front of a bar ethics board.

One of the things I enjoy about being here with kCura that differs from my years at 451 Research is the ability to attend and live-tweet sessions where I’m not speaking.  For the most part, when I was at 451, I was able to attend only the sessions where I was speaking because I was in back-to-back briefings with various eDiscovery vendors.  Of course, I have to admit I miss the briefings with the many great people in the eDiscovery profession and industry.  We live in contentious times, and I think it says a lot about the people in our industry that in my years with 451, I almost never heard eDiscovery vendors disparage each other.  Sure, they said they’re software and services were better, but you didn’t hear people saying, ‘That guy’s software is crap.’

Speaking about your role as a speaker, I noticed that you’re a panelist on one session related to “new frontiers” for international discovery.  With all of the developments in the past year related to data privacy issues, where do you think we’re heading from here?

Over the next 17 months, people will certainly be focusing on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will go into effect in May of 2018.  The GDPR would have certainly been a game changer before the election of the current administration, but now it is going to be a real game changer because, as you know, the United States does not meet adequate level of data protection under Article 25(6) of the 1995 Directive, and the GDPR will bring even stronger, harmonized requirements.  Call me crazy, but I don’t think the new administration is going to be very receptive to changing US laws and regulations to harmonize them with the laws of other nations.  Of course, we tend to be very Euro-centric in our international analyses of cross-boarder issues.

Last year, you and I participated on a couple of panel discussions involving Technology Assisted Review (TAR) where there was spirited discussion about the current state of acceptance of TAR, both during and after those panel discussions.  Where do you feel we stand with regard to the current state of acceptance of TAR?

It’s clearly mainstream, and now we can add Australia as the fourth nation to join the TAR club of the United States, Ireland, and the United Kingdom with a state supreme court practice notes approving the use of TAR.  Although it’s not a judicial decision—instead being a practice note from the Supreme Court of Victoria, I think it’s a big development.  I think that acceptance of TAR is internationally growing.  And, as Judge Peck said in Hyles v. New York City last summer, it’s generally accepted that if a producing party wants to use TAR, it can.

As far as the implementation of TAR, I really think we’re about to the stage where TAR is mainstream.  Of course, it’s not used in every case, but TAR usage numbers have been increasing progressively, and I don’t expect any change there.

Do you think that TAR is a viable candidate to be used in all cases?

Some firms have said they run it on everything, and our polling as well as that of others, including Norton Rose Fulbright, show substantial increases in TAR use.  Of course, as with any eDiscovery tool, there are some very small matters when you might not need TAR.  It’s not really a question of whether you can use TAR on a small case – you can – you just might not need to use it on a small case.  Having said that, in the Big Data era of 2017, there are now data-heavy matters where you really do need to use TAR.

There also seems to be quite a bit of debate as to whether TAR can be used in combination with keyword search.  What are your thoughts about that?

When I was at 451 Research, I used to call it “assisted review technologies” (plural).  Because there are so many different choices, I don’t think any of them is necessarily right or wrong.  I think that they’re just different ways to “crack the nut.”  There are times and places for keyword search.  Despite what many have said TAR and keywords is not a zero sum game. 

Another recent trend we’ve seen is with regard to an emphasis on technology competence for attorneys and we’re up to 26 states that have adopted some sort of technology competence requirement, with Florida being the first state that has required technology CLE for their attorneys.  Do you think the increased emphasis on technology competence will change the general lack of understanding of technology within the legal profession?

It has to.  These are mandatory ethics rules.  Ethics rules are not something you can choose to follow “a la carte” – if your state passes a rule, you have to follow it.  Because everyone’s lives are changing so much due to the proliferation of technology, the “luddite” lawyer who says “I went to law school so that I can avoid statistics” is in for a rude awakening.  Clearly, technology is a part of the practice of law.  Even most two year olds can swipe an iPad or an iPhone – if the two year olds are starting to get technology, lawyers need to get on board.

What are you working on that you’d like our readers to know about?

Obviously, the cloud is a big issue and, at kCura, we’re taking the hybrid approach.  There’s a place for the on-premises approach and a place for the cloud approach and kCura is taking the hybrid approach of providing solutions to support both approaches.  And, as always, we’re enthusiastic about our partnerships, including the new partnership we’ve just announced with CloudNine.

Thanks, David, for participating in the interview!

And to the readers, as always, please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic!

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.

Announcing Seventh Annual LTNY Thought Leader Series!: eDiscovery Trends

The annual appearance of the dancing light bulb can only mean one thing – it’s time for another thought leader series!  Over our nearly 6 1/2 years of our existence, eDiscovery Daily has published several thought leader interviews from various thought leaders throughout the eDiscovery community, including an annual series of interviews at LegalTech New York (LTNY), aka LegalWeek.  For the seventh(!) consecutive year, we’re pleased to introduce the schedule for this year’s series, which will begin Wednesday, February 15.

Here are the interviews that we will be publishing over the next few weeks:

Wednesday, February 15: Brad Jenkins, CEO of CloudNine™.  Brad has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, as well as 15 years leading customer focused companies in the litigation technology arena. Brad has authored many articles on litigation support issues, and has spoken before national audiences on document management practices and solutions.

Friday, February 17: David Horrigan, E-Discovery Counsel and Legal Content Director, kCura.  An attorney, law school guest lecturer, e-discovery industry analyst, and award-winning journalist, David has served as counsel at the Entertainment Software Association, reporter and assistant editor at The National Law Journal, and analyst and counsel at 451 Research. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Legaltech News and the Data Law Board of Advisors at the Yeshiva University Cardozo Law School. David holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida, and he studied international law at Universiteit Leiden in the Netherlands.

Monday, February 20: Mary Mack, Executive Director of the Association of Certified eDiscovery Specialists (ACEDS).  E-discovery luminary and recipient of the Masters Conference Educator of the Year 2016, Mary provides ACEDS and its membership more than a decade of strong credibility and sound leadership within the e-discovery community. Mary is the author of A Process of Illumination: The Practical Guide to Electronic Discovery, considered by many to be the first popular book on e-discovery. She is the co-editor of the Thomson Reuters West treatise, eDiscovery for Corporate Counsel.

Wednesday, February 22: George Socha, Managing Director, Forensic Technology Services, BDO.  Co-founder of EDRM, George is a Managing Director in BDO Consulting’s Forensic Technology Services practice. Named an “E-Discovery Trailblazer” by The American Lawyer, he assists corporate, law firm, and government clients with all facets of electronic discovery, including information governance, domestically and globally. Prior to joining BDO, George spent 16 years as a litigation attorney in private practice before starting his own consulting firm focused on e-discovery issues in 2003. He received his law degree from Cornell Law School and his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Friday, February 24: Jason R. Baron, Of Counsel, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Part 1 and Part 2.  Jason is a member of Drinker Biddle’s Information Governance and eDiscovery practice and co-chair of the Information Governance Initiative.  An internationally recognized speaker and author on the preservation of electronic documents, Jason previously served as the first Director of Litigation for the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, and as trial lawyer and senior counsel at the Department of Justice.  He also was a founding co-coordinator of the National Institute of Standards and Technology TREC Legal Track, a multi-year international information retrieval project devoted to evaluating search issues in a legal context.  He served as editor of the recently published ABA book, Perspectives on Predictive Coding and Other Advanced Search Methods for the Legal Practitioner.

Monday, February 27: Craig Ball, Law Offices of Craig D. Ball, P.C., Part 1 and Part 2.  A frequent court appointed special master in electronic evidence, Craig is a prolific contributor to continuing legal and professional education programs throughout the United States, having delivered almost 2,000 presentations and papers.  Craig’s articles on forensic technology and electronic discovery frequently appear in the national media and he teaches E-Discovery and Digital Evidence at the University of Texas School of Law.  He currently blogs on eDiscovery topics at ballinyourcourt.com.

Once again, thanks to everyone for their time in participating in these interviews!  Once we publish all of them, we will link to each of them from this post.

Want to look back at previous years’ interviews?  Here are links to our 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012 interview series.

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

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.

I Don’t Mean to Be Critical, But Here are Some Critical Trends: eDiscovery Trends

It must be our week for surveys.  Yesterday, we covered the Complex Discovery Winter 2017 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey results.  Here’s another set of surveys that look at critical trends for AmLaw 200 law firms and Fortune 500 corporations.

In the past several days, The Cowen Group (TCG) has released two surveys: The AmLaw 200 eDiscovery Critical Trends Report and the Corporate eDiscovery Critical Trends Report.  Here are the top 5 takeaways identified by David Cowen for each report:

AmLaw 200 eDiscovery Critical Trends Report: 75 of the AmLaw 200 participated in this survey

  1. Top Three eDiscovery, Data or Information Governance Pain Points: 1) Variety of data sources (46%), 2) Institutional resistance to change (41%), 3) Volume of data growth (39%).
  2. In the next six months, 78% of respondents anticipate their eDiscovery/Litigation Support workload will increase.
  3. 38% of respondents expect their litigation support/eDiscovery group or department to increase in size in the next six months.
  4. In the next 6 to 12 months, 91% of respondents would like to increase their usage of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics.
  5. The top five technology investment priorities are: 1) Review technology (42%), 2) Project management workflow software (41%), 3) Predictive analytics (36%), 4) Matter management (33%), 5) Knowledge management (29%).

Corporate eDiscovery Critical Trends Report: 44 of the Fortune 500 participated in this survey.

  1. In the next six months, 7% of respondents anticipate their eDiscovery/Litigation Support workload will increase.
  2. 77% of respondents expect to increase their use of predictive analytics and artificial intelligence in the next 6 to 12 months but many lack the internal resources to execute.
  3. 43% of the F-500 will increase their use of strategic partners and vendors in response to the increase in eDiscovery workload and complexity of tools and technology in 2017.
  4. 85% of corporate counsel will not be adding staff- thus relying more on strategic partners and service providers.
  5. The top four technology investment priorities are: 1) Project management workflow software (40%), 2) Knowledge management (34%), 3) tie Review technology and Legal Hold (each at 31%).

For more information or to request a full copy of the AmLaw 200 and/or Corporate Discovery reports, click on the appropriate links above.

The Cowen Group stays busy!  Here is a link to their 2016 eDiscovery and Litigation Support Salary Report we covered back in November.

So, what do you think?  Do any of these numbers surprise you?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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.

Are We More Confident in eDiscovery Business Than We Were a Year Ago?: eDiscovery Trends

The results are in from the Complex Discovery Winter 2017 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey, which has just concluded and (as was the case for the 2016 Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall surveys) the results 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.  So, to avoid redundancy, I will primarily focus on trends over the past four surveys to see how the responses have varied from quarter to quarter and (for the first time since this is the second year of the quarterly survey) will take a look at a year over year comparison to the Winter 2016 survey.

The Winter 2017 Survey response period was initiated on January 20, and continued until registration of 100 responses on February 6. Rob notes that this limiting of responders to 100 individuals is new with the Winter 2017 survey and is designed to create linearity in the number of responses for each quarterly survey (it also gets rid of those pesky decimal points in the results). This quarter the 100 responses were received at the fastest rate in the history of the survey.  So, in the future, if you want your voice heard, respond early!

Percentage of Provider Respondents Rising Back Up: Of the types of respondents, 56 out of 100 were either Software and/or Services Provider (40%) or Consultancy (16%) for a total of 56% of respondents as some sort of outsourced provider (over half of total respondents – I’m counting law firm respondents as consumers even though they can also be providers as well).  Law firm respondents comprised a majority of the remaining respondents with 33%.  No other type of respondents was over 4%.  Here’s a graphical representation of the trend over the past four quarters:

When comparing this year’s Winter survey to last year’s survey, it is clear that (despite the rise in percentage of provider respondents this time), the survey is still more diverse than before, especially with regard to the percentage of law firm respondents:

Not Quite Half of Respondents Consider Business to Be Good: Less than half (49%, to be exact) of respondents rated the current general business conditions for eDiscovery in their segment to be good, with 9% rating business conditions as bad.  Last quarter, those numbers were 56.6% and 6.2% respectively, so this quarter reflects less bullish than last quarter.  Will that trend continue?  We’ll see.  Here is the trend for the last four quarterly surveys:

When comparing against last year’s Winter survey, the difference is even more pronounced with nearly a 10% decrease of respondents rating current general business conditions for eDiscovery in their segment to be good:

Almost Everyone Still Expects eDiscovery Business Conditions to be as Good or Better Six Months From Now: Almost all respondents (96%) expect business conditions will be in their segment to be the same or better six months from now (slightly above last quarter’s 94.7%), but the percentage expecting business to be better fell to an all-time low of 40%.  Revenue (at combined 90% for the same or better) and profit (combined 86%) dropped from last quarter.  Here is the profits trend for the last four quarterly surveys:

When compared against last year’s Winter survey, the distribution for profits six months from now was less bullish with a 6% decrease of respondents expecting higher profits and a 4% increase of respondents expecting lower profits:

Increasing Volumes of Data and Budgetary Constraints Are Most Impactful to eDiscovery Business: Increasing Volumes of Data and Budgetary Constraints were tied for the top of the most impactful factors to the business of eDiscovery over the next six months at 26% each (perhaps budgeting is more notable during the winter?).  Increasing Types of Data (17%) stayed at third, followed by Data Security (15%), with Lack of Personnel and Inadequate Technology (both at 8%) bringing up the rear.  The graph below illustrates the distribution across the most recent four quarterly surveys.

A year ago, Budgetary Constraints was voted as the most impactful to eDiscovery business, so maybe there is something to the time of year theory with regard to budget considerations:

Still a Fairly Even Split Among the Roles: Last time, the “rank and file” dominated the responses with 73.5% of total responses.  This time, Executive Leadership respondents rose back up (to 38%), though Operational Management was the leader (at 39%) and Tactical Execution dropped a bit (down to 23%).  Here’s the breakdown of the last four quarters:

The survey is certainly more distributed than last year, where Executive Leadership was a clear majority of the responses.  Does that mean that the “rank and file” are less bullish than Execs?  Or does it mean that eDiscovery professionals in general are less bullish than before?  Hmmm…

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

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.

Thoughts About LegalTech New York 2017: eDiscovery Trends

Another LegalTech New York (LTNY) – or “LegalWeek” as they now like to call the event – is in the books.  What did attendees at the conference think about this year’s show?  Let’s take a look.

I reached out to several attendees (some of whom I met with during the show) to get their thoughts and impressions of this year’s show, how it differed from past shows (if at all) and if they had suggestions for improvements.  As a few pointed out in responding, these are their personal opinions and observations regarding the show, not those of their employer or clients.  Here is what they had to say:

George Socha, Managing Director at BDO: “Cybersecurity concerns are driving IG investments, many of which will draw on e-discovery tools, techniques and expertise.”

Shawn Gaines, Director of Marketing Communications at kCura: “As always, Legaltech was an awesome place to meet up with the rest of the legal technology community, leading to great meetings and one-on-one conversations.  Traffic in the exhibit hall started strong, but seemed to fade earlier than usual, perhaps due to what seemed like a smaller set of exhibitors.  The quality of the people there, however, still can’t be beat—and there aren’t too many other opportunities like this to bring together people from all ends of the industry.”

Rob Robinson, Author of the Complex Discovery blog: “Having participated in some way in Legaltech since 2006, it is always fascinating to see how many authors and reporters parachute into the information stream of Legaltech in early January and then add their icing to the cake of content being shared by industry experts. This reporting serves the purpose of highlighting topics but many times falls short of the investigative and educational journalism that could benefit industry professionals. Instead of just providing a mouthpiece and distribution network for the comments of individuals and companies that pay for access, it would be incredibly refreshing and beneficial to see these authors and reporters also focus on how technologies can benefit end users…Cost recovery may be a sound financial business model for ALM, but charging attendees a fee to learn more about exhibitors who have already paid for the opportunity to share their information and offerings with attendees seemed overreaching. As an event’s success is directly related to the quality and quantity of its attendees, it might be beneficial for ALM to deeply consider the impact of future access cost changes on not only finances but on perception.”

Greg Buckles, eDiscovery Consultant & Evangelist – The EDJ Group Inc.: Orange is the new black – again.  Automation and efficiency everywhere, but do the end customers really care?  Does fast track processing directly to Relativity just convert your technology to a commodity?  LTNY losing traction? Booths down, crowd down and most briefing suites in adjacent hotels?

Michele Lange, Director of Thought Leadership at KrolLDiscovery: “Habitual LTNY attendees were happy to report that the stalwart event remained largely unchanged as part of the greater Legalweek experience, with many attendees welcoming the additional, high-quality keynotes occurring throughout the week. Attendees also commented on the reduction in time in the educational sessions – from 75 to 60 minutes – to better align with CLE requirements.  Panelists (many of which were newcomers to the LTNY speaking stage) were more succinct in their remarks, resulting in better, more focused discussions this year.”

Andrew Haslam, eDisclosure Project Manager at Squire Patton Boggs: “For the fourth year in a row, the number of exhibitors was down, what was stretched across three areas, could easily have fitted into 2. There used to be a whole section of training organisations, nary a one this time around. Without the central show, all the fringe activities will struggle to justify themselves, to reuse the Ernest Hemmingway’s quote from Andrew McAfee’s wonderful day 1 Keynote, ‘How did you go bankrupt?’ ‘Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly.’ Are we seeing ALM tipping into a sudden decline? Was this the reason for charging people an admittance fee, or was it a far nobler desire to keep out the ‘mouchers’.  Let’s see what next year brings.”

Drew Macaulay, Managing Director at Consilio: “My impression of LegalTech this year was that it was definitely quieter in the exhibit halls, but still busy in the educational tracks, particularly those that related to regulatory investigations and cross border discovery challenges and best practices. In particular, there was a lot of interest in the potential impact of the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation, which comes into force in May 2018 and has broad implications for law firms, corporations and eDiscovery firms alike.”

Bill Piwonka, Chief Marketing Officer at Exterro: “Legal Week this year was in tune with the trends we’ve been seeing, namely that while people in the industry are becoming more e-discovery proficient, there is still much to be learned. With the FRCP amendments, new technologies, ever-growing data volumes and types, and a large number of organizations moving to the cloud, the latest knowledge on how to stay in front of these changes is more vital than ever. LegalWeek 2017 was instrumental in providing that knowledge, and more, for all who attended.”

David Horrigan, e-Discovery Counsel and Legal Content Director at kCura: “This year, ALM expanded the show from Legaltech to Legalweek, bringing more legal issues into a larger overall event.  I think many speakers did a great job in showing how technology relates to all areas of the law.  For instance, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky was one who did an outstanding job of bringing other areas of the law into the rest of the program.  Many sessions did an excellent job of really hitting home how technology and the law aren’t just for programmers and legal teams—they affect everyday life.”

Craig Ball, Noted eDiscovery Thought Leader and Author of Ball in Your Court blog: “Though I enjoyed LTNY 2017 as much as any before (and for me it’s been two decades of LTNY), this year’s show seemed a shadow of its former self.  Traffic was down, and the plenary keynotes saw a fraction of their customary attendance.  Consolidation among e-discovery vendors was striking in terms of its impact on the show floor.  Maybe not an entirely bad thing as e-discovery had all but taken over the show.  I witnessed these things but expect that ALM will report that LTNY was still bigger and better and HUGER by every measure.  As they say in New York, Mazeltov!”

“I thought the decision to charge for floor and plenary admission was not implemented wisely.  I’d charge a modest amount online to register but credit it back when attendees showed up.  Considering how much vendors pay to be onsite, the admission charge felt…tacky.”

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

As for my own thoughts, it seems to me that more and more of the activities are outside the conference as attendees take the opportunity provided by the biggest legal technology show of the year to arrange meetings to further business relationships.  While that’s great for doing business, it’s not as great for the show itself as many of the attendees find it difficult to find time to actually attend sessions or visit the exhibit hall.  Many of the people I spoke with during the show had yet to attend the show itself.

Personally, I always try to find time to attend at least a few sessions and the ones I attended this year were first rate, as always.  My particular favorite was the keynote on Day 2 (February 1) of the conference regarding effects of the December 2015 Rules amendments discussed by several judges and attorneys reflecting both the defense and plaintiff viewpoints.  As for the Exhibit Hall, I spent some time in the Hall and spoke with several of the exhibitors, who noted that attendance in the Exhibit Hall seemed diminished compared to previous years (especially after the first day).  It will be interesting to see if exhibitors raise concerns over the decision to charge for Exhibits only passes and the potential impact it has on attendance in the Hall.

So, what do you think?  Did you attend this year’s LegalTech?  If so, what did you think of the conference?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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.

Thursday LTNY 2017 Sessions: eDiscovery Trends

As noted yesterday and Tuesday, LegalWeek 2017 – which includes of course the marquee event 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.  This is the last day to check out the show if you’re in the New York area with a number of sessions (both paid and free) available and at least 182 exhibitors providing information on their products and services.

While at the show, we will (for the seventh 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.  Mark your calendars!

American Lawyer Media (ALM) has redesigned their site so that all three days are on a single page, so you can’t really perform a “find” anymore to get the number of hits for “discovery” or “information governance” for the day.  Nonetheless, based on Monday’s post, there is still plenty to talk about!  Sessions in the main conference tracks include:

10:30 – 11:30 AM:

E-Discovery for Investigations and Criminal Matters

Traditionally, e-discovery has been a part of complex commercial litigation, but as electronically stored information becomes a ubiquitous part of everyday life, the frontiers of e-discovery are expanding to new areas of law and corporate governance.  These areas include the expanded use of e-discovery in investigations and criminal matters.  Join us for this session as speakers from government and private practice discuss these growing fields in e-discovery.

Speakers to include: Moderator: David Horrigan, E-Discovery Counsel & Legal Content Director, kCura; Panelists: Edward J. McAndrew, Partner, Ballard Spahr, Xavier Rodriguez, United States District Judge, Western District of Texas, Ronald Sharpe, U.S. Attorney District, Virgin Islands, Stan Stampson, Senior Counsel, The World Bank.

Update on Effects of Brexit on Privacy and Data Protection Considerations

Now that Brexit is a reality, organizations doing business or even serving customers in the United Kingdom are struggling to understand which data protection requirements they should follow and how. Technically the General Data Protection Requirements (GDPR) of the European Union will no longer apply to the UK. So what are organizations supposed to do if they are doing business not only in the UK but also in other EU countries? In this session, a panel of experts will walk the audience through the salient UK requirements, as well as the salient GDPR requirements.

Speakers to include: Moderator: John Isaza, Partner, Rimon PC; Panelist: Richard Hogg, Global InfoGov Solutions Leader, IBM, Jason C. Stearns, Director – Legal & Compliance Group, BlackRock, Jill M. Williamson, Counsel, Rimon PC.

12:30 – 1:30 PM:

New Frontiers for International e-Discovery

Cross-Border e-discovery has always presented challenges for practitioners and clients alike.  With the increase in data privacy and protection requirements around the globe, Brexit in the United Kingdom, the upcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the demise of the EU-US Safe Harbor, and the uncertain future of the EU-US Privacy Shield, these challenges are only growing.  To prepare for the future of international e-discovery, hear this panel of US and international legal experts discuss ways to navigate the new frontiers of international e-discovery.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Steve Couling, Vice President of International Sales, kCura; Panelists: Chris Dale, Founder, eDisclosure Information Project,  Karyn Harty, Partner, McCann Fitzgerald, Davin Teo, Managing Director Forensic Technology, Alvarez & Marsal Disputes & Investigations Limited, David Horrigan, E-Discovery Counsel & Legal Content Director, kCura.

Data Disposition Strategies from the Trenches

Despite advances in technology and legal clarifications, organizations continue to struggle with hitting the delete button on back-up tapes. This is due in part to a grave misunderstanding of where the law currently stands on the issue, as well as legitimate concerns about inadvertent spoliation or the perception that it was intentional. In this session, without naming names, a panel of experts will walk the audience through the legal methodology and thought processes used to help clients reach a studied and vetted decision to finally hit the delete button.

Speakers to include: Moderator: John Isaza, Partner, Rimon PC; Panelist: Richard Hogg, Global InfoGov Solutions Leader, IBM, Jason C. Stearns, Director – Legal & Compliance Group, BlackRock, Jerry Cohen, Partner, Burns & Levinson LLP.

Stop the Lip Service: Real Advocacy Under the Federal Rules

While counsel has been overrun with news that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have changed – very little guidance has been provided to in-house counsel and large data holders on how to leverage the 2015 Amendments to prevent discovery side-shows that waste time and drive costs.  This program will discuss how to use the new rules to your organization’s advantage in litigation, including effectively negotiating scope in discovery, cutting short unduly burdensome and disproportionate requests; and re-scoping preservation requirements with concepts of proportionality. Hosted by the Electronic Discovery Institute.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Zach Warren, Editor-In-Chief, Legaltech News; Panelists: Jamie Brown, Consulting Attorney – Law and Technology, Barclay’s, Patrick Oot, Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP, Robert Owen, Partner, Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, LLP, George Socha, Managing Director, BDO Consulting.

2:00 – 3:00 PM:

The Future of e-Discovery Law, Business, and Practice

In this final session of Legaltech New York 2017, members of the bar and bench and industry analysts predict the future of e-discovery, including how the law will change, how the industry will change, and how law firms and corporations will deal with exploding data volumes in the coming decades of the 21st Century.

Speakers to include: Moderator: David Horrigan, E-Discovery Counsel & Legal Content Director, kCura; Panelists: Monica Bay, Fellow, CodeX: The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, Dennis Garcia, Assistant General Counsel, Microsoft, James Francis IV (S.D.N.Y), United States Magistrate Judge, Daniel Martin Katz, Professor, Illinois Tech – Chicago Kent College of Law, Andrew Jimenez, CEO, Fronteo USA.

Social Media: Ethics and Records Considerations

Social Media presents a host of challenges for organizations, not the least of which involve its impact on legal ethics and records retention considerations. John Isaza will lead a panel of experts and walk the audience through legal ethics implications arising from a social media presence, including best practices on how to address those ethical concerns. A related topic of discussion will be the records that could arise from social media, including best practices on how to declare, classify and manage the resulting records.

Speakers to include: Moderator: John Isaza, Partner, Rimon PC; Panelists: Jerry Cohen, Partner, Burns & Levinson LLP, Kevin Fumai, Managing Counsel, Oracle, Jefferey Ogden Katz, Member, The Patterson Law Firm LLC.

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?  Did you attend LTNY this year?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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.

Wednesday LTNY 2017 Sessions: eDiscovery Trends

As noted yesterday, LegalWeek 2017 – which includes of course the marquee event 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 (both paid and free) available and at least 182 exhibitors providing information on their products and services.

While at the show, we will (for the seventh 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.  Mark your calendars!

American Lawyer Media (ALM) has redesigned their site so that all three days are on a single page, so you can’t really perform a “find” anymore to get the number of hits for “discovery” or “information governance” for the day.  Nonetheless, based on Monday’s post, there is still plenty to talk about!  Sessions in the main conference tracks include:

9:00 – 10:00 AM:

The Effects of the December 2015 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure from 3 Perspectives (Judges, Defense & Plaintiff)

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. Elizabeth D. Laporte, United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California, Ariana Tadler, Partner, Milberg LLP, Paul D. Weiner, National eDiscovery Counsel | Shareholder, Littler Mendelson P.C.

10:30 – 11:30 AM:

The Data Privacy Landscape: Emerging Laws Affecting Cross-Border Discovery

In this session, a panel of leading eDiscovery experts will offer best practices for navigating the current state of cross-border data transfers unscathed. The panel will evaluate the impact of the General Data Protection Regulation, the EU-US Privacy Shield, blocking statutes and other data localization developments from around the globe, including in Russia, South America and the Asia-Pacific. Panelists will also review differing definitions of privacy in light of recent case law and discuss how they affect organizations’ legal obligations and suggest strategies for implementing safeguards and reducing the risks posed by these developing laws.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Drew Macaulay, Consilio; Panelists: Natascha Gerlach, Senior Attorney, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (Brussels, Belgium), Taylor M. Hoffman, Global Head of eDiscovery Management & Senior Vice President, Swiss Re America Holding Corporation, John Davis, Executive Director and Counsel – Global eDiscovery, UBS, Catherine Castaldo, Global Chief Privacy & Data Protection Counsel, GE Capital.

5 Forces Changing Corporate eDiscovery: What Law Firms Need to Know

Corporate eDiscovery is evolving, and savvy law firms are adapting to new client demands. This session brings together in­house and outside experts to discuss quantitative and qualitative benchmark data from dozens of interviews with AmLaw 200 firms and Fortune 500 companies. Join us for an interactive session that covers real client issues like data security, cloud consolidation, outsourcing, reporting, TAR adoption… and see how corporate legal and outside counsel are actually working with each other in the new model.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Hal Marcus, Director of Product Marketing, OpenText Discovery; Panelists: Ari Kaplan, Ari Kaplan Advisors, Rachelle Rennagel, eDiscovery Special Counsel, Pillsbury, Sharika de Freitas, Senior Manager, Discovery Solutions & Technology, Viacom, Mira Edelman, Discovery Counsel, Google.

3 Situations, 2 Lawyers, 1 Corporation: Using Relativity in a Data Breach, an Investigation & Litigation

Hypothetical scenarios with real-world Relativity workflows. Learn how a fictitious corporation in the financial services sector leverages new document review work streams to assist with three different types of hypothetical legal matters—a data breach response, an investigation, and litigation.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Cathleen Peterson, SVP – Consulting & Advanced Review Services, Kroll Ontrack; Panelist: Bernard (Brian) Hensgenbaugh, Partner, Baker Mackenzie.

1:30 – 2:30 PM:

Finding a New Safe Harbor: Using Technology and 1LR to Comply With Cross-Border Data Privacy Rules

The nullification of the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Agreement was a shot heard around the legal world. In the vacuum created by the collapse of this framework, and with new data privacy laws continuously emerging, organizations have been struggling to determine how best to proceed with cross-border data transfers for litigation, compliance and regulatory investigations. In this panel, international e-discovery experts will discuss how various approaches to compliance, including tools such as deduplication, predictive coding, automatic redaction and anonymization.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Michael Becker, Consilio; Panelist: Jeff Nass, Senior Counsel – eDiscovery, Boehringer Ingelheim, Ashley Baynham, Partner, Brown Rudnick, Brian Corbin, Vice President & Assistant General Counsel, Legal Discovery Management, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

TAI: Technology Assisted Investigations for the Enterprise

How many lawyers does it take to investigate an email server? Analytics are a force multiplier for modern investigators, empowering lean teams to understand and review millions of documents. Join this session to learn about the expert techniques and tools used by top lawyers, data scientists, and regulators to expedite fact finding, inform decisions, and better support their clients. This session will present practical strategies and real life success stories that you can start replicating right away to find smoking gun emails—or prove the lack thereof.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Adam Kuhn, eDiscovery Attorney, OpenText Discovery; Panelists: Robert Keeling, Partner, Sidley Austin, John Davis, Executive Director and Counsel – Global eDiscovery, UBS, David Yerich, Director – eDiscovery, UnitedHealth Group, Laura Roman, E-Discovery Specialist, New York Stock Exchange, Stephen Medlock, Senior Associate, Mayer Brown.

Mobile Device Investigations: From Android to iPhone and Back

A smartphone from a key employee lands on your desk, what next? Spend 60 minutes with a mobile forensics expert and in-house counsel/IT, who will discuss various scenarios involving forensics and perform a live smartphone acquisition to help you see actual data available that might help an investigation or litigation. Questions that will be answered include: (1) What mobile device data might be helpful during litigation? (2) What common legal and IT challenges are associated with mobile forensics investigations? (3) How do mobile device investigations differ from computer investigations?

Speakers to include: Moderator: Jason Bergerson, Director of Consulting Operations, Kroll Ontrack; Panelists: Rich Robinson, eDiscovery & Information Manager, JCPenney, Michael J. Burg, Corporate Counsel, DISH Network L.L.C., Clifford E. Nichols, Senior Counsel, Day Pitney.

Cost Predictability in eDiscovery:  A Real Innovation That Is Long Overdue

You have already heard it:  ECA, TAR, AI and AFAs are the answers. Despite all the hype, there are legal departments that can control and predict the internal and external contributors to the total cost of eDiscovery. They are doing so in the face of typical uncontrollable variables like the number of custodians in a matter, the number of pages per document that are in a gigabyte of data, and the speed at which documents are reviewed. In this session, our experts go beyond the theoretical and will discuss their first-hand experiences in creating predictable eDiscovery budgets and reducing total eDiscovery costs.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Jamie Berry, Senior Vice President of Questio Operations, UnitedLex; Panelists: Constance Mockaitis, Senior Manager, eDiscovery, AbbVie, Jacob Herstek, Vice President and Senior Legal Counsel, HSBC Bank USA, NA, Judith Beall, Associate General Counsel & Senior Vice President, Bank of America, Ellen Blanchard, Senior Corporate Counsel, eDiscovery, T-Mobile.

3:00 – 4:00 PM:

Global Investigations and Multilingual Data – How to Manage the Risks Presented by Multilingual Datasets

Global businesses speak many languages. While conducting business in multiple languages is necessary and inevitable it also creates grave business risks as some of the most egregious and concerning compliance issues become much harder to detect.  Sound risk management requires an effective approach to reviewing multilingual datasets.  In this thought-provoking session, attendees will get a refreshing flavor for how delightfully complex multilingual reviews can be.  The speakers will illustrate the challenges of searching multilingual data and explain workflow choices for the review of multilingual documents.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Ben Rusch, Consilio; Panelist: Farrah Pepper, Executive Counsel Discovery, General Electric Company, Mark Hjerpe, Partner, Divergent Translations.

Enough Already! Predictive Coding is for Every Matter

Machine learning isn’t just for multi­million document discovery— it’s not even just for discovery. Come learn how continuous machine learning is being used every day for litigation, investigations, due diligence and more as a natural extension of human analysis. No complicated written protocols, advanced project management, or extraordinary involvement by SMEs needed. This session will include a discussion of the latest case law, trends, and perceived “barriers”.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Hal Marcus, Director of Product Marketing, OpenText Discovery; Panelists: Ethan Ackerman, Associate, Morgan Lewis, Kiriaki Tourikis, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, JPMorgan Chase, Dawson Horn, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, AIG Corp, Alexis Mitchell, Principal Data Scientist, OpenText Discovery.

Information Governance – Hindsight is 20/20: A Moderated Debate

It’s an InfoGov showdown! Panelists will debate the merits of taking a reactive approach (“we did the best we could give the situation”) versus applying a proactive model (“you could have been better prepared if you had done this”) in a global discovery matter. This session will provide you with a playbook on how to implement a global Information Governance program, balancing against the practical constraints preventing organizations from making infogov a priority – from people that have lived through both reactive and proactive approaches to discovery.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Tom Barce, Director of Consulting Services, Kroll Ontrack; Panelists: Patrick J. Burke, Senior Counsel, Seyfarth Shaw, Ben Hubble, Manager – Records Management, Wendy’s, Jessica Escalera, Global Head of Legal Discovery Operations, Barclays.

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.

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.

Welcome to LegalTech New York 2017!: eDiscovery Trends

Today is the start of LegalWeek 2017 – which includes of course the marquee event LegalTech® New York (LTNY) – and, for the seventh(!) 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 (both paid and free) available and at least 182 exhibitors providing information on their products and services.

While at the show, we will (as always) 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.  Mark your calendars!

American Lawyer Media (ALM) has redesigned their site so that all three days are on a single page, so you can’t really perform a “find” anymore to get the number of hits for “discovery” or “information governance” for the day.  Nonetheless, based on Monday’s post, there is still plenty to talk about!  Sessions in the main conference tracks include:

12:45 – 1:45 PM:

EDRM & NOT eDiscovery?

For more than a decade, the EDRM framework has served as guidance during the legal discovery process. Today, these principles are being applied in different scenarios and contexts to assist industries with challenges such as data migration, company mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and more. Join us for an interactive discussion with a global panel of legal, technical, and corporate operational professionals to discuss these unique applications of the EDRM.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Darren Pauling, Managing Director, Forensic Technology, KPMG; Panelists: Seth Eichenholtz, Head of Electronic Discovery, Mastercard, Jeff Sharer, Partner and Co-Chair – Data Law Practice, Akerman LLP, Julie Heller, Global Head of eDiscovery Programs, AIG.

Shielding the Organization from Data Risk & E-Discovery Failures

Data risk can strike an organization from many angles – from external attacks to internal malfeasance to third party negligence – and have real consequences for the e-discovery process.  How do security risks such as data leakage, shadow IT and third party negligence lead to e-discovery failures? And how can organizations eliminate preventable e-discovery mistakes such as failure to preserve, failure to protect and the inadvertent release of privileged information?  Attend this panel to discuss who bears responsibility and how to prevent failures while instituting best practices in light of the latest case law and new federal rules.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Jason Ray, Managing Director, FTI Technology; Panelists: Ignatius Grande, Senior Discovery Attorney, Hughes Hubbard, Jordan Razza, Senior Counsel and Director of U.S. Litigation, Diageo, Matthew Fisher, Global Head of Records and Information Management, Diageo.

2:15 – 3:15 PM:

eDiscovery, the Cloud & Beyond

Join us for a collaborative conversation about strategies, technologies, and workflows surrounding eDiscovery and the Cloud. Our panel of professionals will discuss pre-migration considerations, implications for preservation and collection, the potential to perform “in place” culling, and opportunities for Information Governance and Litigation Readiness. Being able to adapt strategies to the cloud will provide a roadmap for the future while driving down the cost of eDiscovery.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Brett Trizzino, KPMG; Panelists: Thane Vallette, Associate General Counsel, HP, Bonnie Kennedy, eDiscovery Manager, Delta, Jeff Nass, Senior Counsel – eDiscovery, Boehringer Ingelheim.

Corporate Data Assessments: The New Game Changer?

Where do you begin in implementing a data governance and security plan? How to secure executive buy-in? How can you incorporate shifting regulatory frameworks to ensure compliance? What if you plan to move to Microsoft Office 365? How does this impact your broader data management strategy? These are just some of the questions that can stymie and stall corporate data governance initiatives. Increasingly, corporations are shifting to a data assessment model, which can help proactively 1) identify threats, 2) map an organization’s data universe and 3) help identify an action plan that is presentable to the c-suite. Attend this session to learn more about what these data assessments should incorporate, who should be involved, and how you can customize the data assessment to your own organizational needs.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Jake Frazier, Senior Managing Director, FTI Technology; Panelist: Judy S. Lao, Chief Legal Officer, Blackstone Group, Ben Robbins, E-Discovery and Information Governance, LinkedIn, Jenya Moshkovich, Partner, Barnes & Thornburg, Jason C. Stearns, Director, BlackRock.

3:45 – 4:45 PM:

The Future of Analytical Strategies

It’s no secret that company data volumes and the costs to manage them continue to grow at exponential rates. The application of advanced analytical technologies and methodologies are helping company legal departments by providing critical insight into data in effective, timely, and affordable ways. During this discussion, industry professionals will share their strategies and experiences using emerging tools, technologies, and workflows in various combinations to quickly and effectively understand populations of both structured and unstructured data as well as the impact of these approaches on legal departments.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Tom Keegan, KPMG; Panelists: Michelle Six, eDiscovery Counsel, Kirkland & Ellis, Brett Tarr, Counsel-Litigation & E-Discovery, Caesar’s Entertainment, Erick Drobinski, eDiscovery Counsel, Gilead Sciences.

Advice from Counsel: Data and Risk-Intensive Investigations

From corporate fraud and IP theft to regulatory investigations, legal teams are hard-pressed to quickly find, understand and act upon data in investigations. What are some of the strategies that top legal teams use to proactively prepare for data-intensive investigations? Which analytics tools are best suited for uncovering different pieces of information? How can you balance investigative needs with adherence to various data privacy and State Secrets laws? This panel represents the 5th consecutive year FTI will present the results of our annual Advice from Counsel corporate law survey at LTNY. Showcasing case studies and best practices from leading legal teams, this session is one not to miss!

Speakers to include: Moderator: Sophie Ross, Senior Managing Director, FTI Technology; Panelists: Marla Crawford, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs, Jessica Ross, Counsel, Deutsche Bank, Kelly Clay, Senior Counsel, GSK, Ari Kaplan, Principal, Ari Kaplan Advisors.

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.

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.

At LegalTech, Word Clouds are the Word: eDiscovery Trends

For many people (including me), today is a travel day for LegalTech New York (LTNY), er, LegalWeek.  On a day like today, it helps me to have an easy topic to write about.  So, thanks to InsideLegal for a great LegalTech observation!

In InsideLegal’s 2017 Legaltech NY Word Cloud (along with 7 year flashback), written by JoAnna Forshee, the site has generated a word cloud from the LTNY agenda to give an overview of what will be covered in the sessions, which visually displays the words/themes included in the event’s agenda of sessions.  That word cloud is above.

Over the years, I’ve observed that eDiscovery is a front and center theme for the show and based on the word cloud (and my own observations), this year is no exception.  “eDiscovery” (along with “legal” and “data”) are the most popular words in the agenda.  Probably even less surprising is that “Sponsored By” is probably the biggest term after those three (along with “technology”) – so “Sponsored By” is on a par with the term “technology” at a technology show.  Yeah, that figures.

Actually, InsideLegal has been doing this every year since 2011 (hey, that’s the first year eDiscovery Daily started covering the show!) and the post also provides the word clouds for the previous 6 years as well.  In each of those years (except for the first one in 2011), the term “eDiscovery” is at least as big (if not bigger) than any other term in the word cloud.  It’s interesting to see other terms that are big in certain years (such as Information Governance in 2014 and 2015).  Only in 2011 is “eDiscovery” not the top term (in that year the biggest terms were “legal” and “technology” (go figure!), as well as “data”.

So, it certainly appears that, once again, eDiscovery will take center stage at the conference this year.  Starting tomorrow, 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 not, please feel free to join us!  And, as always, please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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.

What Every Attorney Should Know About eDiscovery in 2017: eDiscovery Trends

Early this year, I asked if we’ve (finally) reached the age of technical competence of attorneys.  Perhaps we’re not there yet.  However, CloudNine is sponsoring a webcast today which may help bridge the gap.

Today’s webcast at noon CT (1pm ET, 10am PT) is titled What Every Attorney Should Know About eDiscovery in 2017 and will be conducted via the BrightTALK network.  This is a one-hour session that Karen DeSouza (Director of Review Services here at CloudNine) and I have conducted for the past couple of years for hundreds of legal professionals for CLE credit in Texas.  It’s a good fundamental session that covers a lot of things attorneys need to know in eDiscovery today, including

  • Key Terms to Know Regarding eDiscovery
  • Phases of the eDiscovery Life Cycle
  • Federal and State Rules Regarding Electronically Stored Information (ESI)
  • Competency Ethical Duties of Attorneys Regarding eDiscovery
  • Important Cases in the Evolution of eDiscovery Best Practices
  • Useful Resources for eDiscovery Continued Education

The webcast is CLE Approved in Texas and Florida.  The Texas approval is 1.0 hours of CLE credit, with 0.25 hours of Ethics credit.  To obtain approval in Texas, you will need to send your information (along with bar number) after the webcast to Karen at kdesouza@cloudnine.com, so that she can log your credit hour.

The Florida approval is for 1.0 hours of CLE, with 1.0 hours of Technology CLE credit.  As you’ll remember, Florida late last year mandated three hours of technology CLE for attorneys over a three year period, starting January 1 of this year.  So, if you’re in the Florida Bar, this an opportunity to get one of those hours!

To sign up for today’s webcast, click here.

So, what do you think?  Do you have your eDiscovery fundamentals down?  If not, please feel free to join us!  And, as always, please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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.