Industry Trends

As I noted yesterday, the Women in eDiscovery (WiE), Houston Chapter, in partnership with South Texas College of Law and the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS), hosted the second annual “Legal Technology Showcase & Conference” yesterday.  Here are a few pictorial highlights of yesterday’s conference (with a few comments thrown in).

The conference ran from 8:30am to 4:15pm, with a networking happy hour from 4:30pm to 7:00pm.  Both events were at South Texas College of Law in downtown Houston.  Sessions were interspersed with networking time of at least 30 minutes in between, which gave plenty of opportunity to catch up with colleagues and old friends.  The event was a huge success, with a reported total of 239 attendees (considerably more than last year’s inaugural event).  After two years, it may be safe to say that this annual event has already become the most significant eDiscovery conference in the Houston area!

I did not attend the eDiscovery Fundamentals session conducted from 8:30am-9:30am by Scott Lombard who is the Senior Vice President of eDiscovery at JND Legal Administration (I’m sure it was great!).  But I did attend the other sessions.

The keynote address (The Future Practice of Law: AI, Blockchain and Quantum Computing) was presented by Shawnna Hoffman, Global Co-Leader of the IBM Cognitive Legal Practice, IBM from 10:00am-11:00am.  Shawnna is a co-founder of WiE, with years of experience in legal technology with providers like LexisNexis and Navigant.  I took a picture of the room during Shawnna’s keynote address here:

Shawnna did a good job of discussing several aspects of AI, blockchain and quantum computing and related them to eDiscovery and legal technology.  One specific example she related regarding Judge Anthony Capizzi in Montgomery County, Ohio where IBM Watson interfaces with the county’s case management system, providing up-to-the-minute summaries of relevant information, patterns for things such as drug use, which help the judge and team understand the ups and downs in the child’s life.

The next session was Data Privacy & GDPR | The Age of the GDPR – A Perspective Four Months In from 11:30am-12:30pm, with Moderator: Karen Bell, Consul General, British Consulate General Houston and panelists Sheryl Falk, Partner, Winston & Strawn; Emily Fedeles, Associate, BakerHostetler; Helen Geib, General Counsel, QDiscovery; Carolyn Southerland, Managing Director, Morae Global; Thom Wisinski, Chief Knowledge Officer, Haynes & Boone.

That panel (pictured below) had a lot of useful information about how things are going four months into GDPR.  One of the things they mentioned was the Ticketmaster data breach earlier this year which affected EU users and for which Monzo, a mobile-only bank based in the UK, stated that it had spotted signs of the breach and warned Ticketmaster 2 1/2 months earlier than it was reported by Ticketmaster after around 50 of the bank’s customers reported fraudulent transactions on their accounts.  Whoops.

No GDPR violations/fines have been reported – yet.

After a box lunch, the Discovery Project Management: Navigating the Workflow (and budgets) session was conducted from 1:30pm-2:30pm, with Moderator: Scott Zimmerman, Manager of Automated Legal Services, Haynes & Boone and panelists Sarah Buckman, Discovery Consultant, Litigation Solutions, Inc.; Justin Henderson, Senior Project Manager, Consilio; George Mavris, Manager IT Appl – HR / Document Production / ECM, Citgo Petroleum; Jean Rivers, Director of Litigation Support, Berg & Androphy.  This terrific panel did a great job of not only keeping the topic light and funny, but also involving the audience and getting them to share some of their experiences with regard to project management experiences.  Here’s a picture of that panel:

That leaves the panel I was on – AI and TAR for Legal: Use Cases for Discovery and Beyond – from 3:00pm-4:00pm.  The panel was moderated by: Jackie Rosborough, Discovery & Trial Consultant (and Executive Director of Wie), with panelists May Tal Gongolevsky, Counsel, BakerHostetler; Ben Sexton, Director of eDiscovery, JND Legal Administration; Maren Strandevold, Solicitor, Haynes and Boone CDG, LLP and me.  We discussed the ins and outs of AI and TAR, particularly related to the terminology (not everyone sees TAR the same way), the challenges to successful TAR projects (including types of cases, file types and other issues that are more or less conducive to TAR) and what attorneys should expect from TAR.  Obviously, I couldn’t take a picture of our own panel, so you will have to take my word for it.  :o)

The event was possible due to a number of sponsors (pictured below) including CloudNine, who was a Premier Platinum Sponsor and we were happy to participate!  We look forward to next year’s event!

So, what do you think?  Are you based in Houston?  If so, you absolutely have to attend next year’s event!  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, the Women in eDiscovery (WiE), Houston Chapter, in partnership with South Texas College of Law and the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS), will be hosting the second annual “Legal Technology Showcase & Conference”.  The one-day technology showcase will bring together legal thought leadership, innovative technology providers, practitioners, legal support staff and law school students in one venue to network and collaborate on current legal industry trends and innovative technology products.

Thanks to South Texas College of Law, ACEDS, conference sponsors and technology exhibitors, the event is free to attend and open to all professionals within the legal industry including attorneys, litigation support and legal operations professionals, paralegals, legal IT staff, court reporters, consultants, recruiters and vendors.

Today’s event will feature several educational sessions led by industry experts and thought leaders along with a full day of technology exhibits from leading legal technology providers. The event agenda includes a continental breakfast, welcome keynote, three educational sessions, lunch, all day exhibitions, and a post-event happy hour.  Attendees will also have the opportunity to enter in a drawing to win a CEDS scholarship courtesy of ACEDS.

Here is a link to the agenda and also a link to the list of speakers for the conference.

I’m excited to be one of the speakers again this year on the panel discussion AI and TAR for Legal: Use Cases for Discovery and Beyond at 3:00pm and CloudNine is also a Premier Platinum Sponsor for the event (as well as an Exhibitor, so you can come learn about us too).

The conference runs from 8:30am to 4:15pm, with a networking happy hour from 4:30pm to 7:00pm.  Both events are at South Texas College of Law in downtown Houston.

Here’s the bad news.  Unfortunately, I checked last night and they say registrations are closed for the event.  So, unless you’re already registered or know somebody – slip me a $20 and I’ll see what I can do ;o) – you’re out of luck for this year’s event.  Why would I tell you about an event that you can no longer register for?  So, you’ll register earlier next year, that’s why!  :o)

So, what do you think?  Are you going to today’s event?  If so, I’ll see you there!  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Also, I want to thank BakerHostetler for hosting an event on “Executive Presence” yesterday, which was followed by a happy hour.  I learned a lot about how successful executives demonstrate presence (not just at work but in all situations) from a terrific panel and some of my colleagues in a breakout session.

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.

As a loving husband, it’s a bad thing to forget an anniversary.  Thankfully, I forgot the other one.

Holy $#*%@!  I can’t believe I missed the anniversary for the blog!  It snuck up on me.  Anyway, believe it or not, it has been eight years ago last Thursday since we launched the eDiscovery Daily blog!

We launched eight years ago on September 20, 2010.  Back then, we told you to not get “wild” with wildcards and published our first case law post about a case where the spoliator of data was actually threatened with jail time –  our first of 640 posts about case law to date, covering more than 500 distinct cases!  We’ve published over 2,101 lifetime posts, and every post is still available on the site for your reference.  We’re eight, but we’re not behind the eight ball!

As always, we have you to thank for all of that success!  Thanks for making the eDiscovery Daily blog a regular resource for your eDiscovery news and analysis!  We really appreciate the support!

As many of you know by now, we like to take a look back every six months at some of the important stories and topics during that time.  So, here are some posts over the last few months you may have missed.  Enjoy!

OK, let me get this straight: Twitter doesn’t have custody and control over its own direct messages?

Are private Facebook photos discoverable in a personal injury case?  Depends on which court you ask.

Talk about fingering a suspect!  Cops are now opening iPhones with dead people’s fingerprints.

Do you watch movies and TV shows on Netflix or Amazon Prime?  Or, listen to music on Pandora or Spotify?  Then, you may be a user of predictive coding technology and not realize it.

What happens in the Internet each minute in 2018? More than ever.

More than two thirds of data breaches take months to discover.

If you use “sock puppet” accounts to try to defame the author whose copyrighted book you infringed and try to hide it, you might get sanctioned.

What percentage of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests actually result in receiving all of the information requested? 75 percent? 50 percent? You might be surprised.

Can you still be sanctioned after a jury verdict?  Better believe it.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the practice of law, but could it (finally) spell the end of the billable hour?

Are you “primed” to learn best practices for handling social media?  The Sedona Conference® can help!

2018 is certainly on its way to becoming the year of data privacy rights for the individual – especially in California.

Public or private cloud isn’t the only question you should be asking about a cloud solution, you could have as many as three providers associated with your solution.  Do you know how to evaluate them?

Does accessing historical records containing the physical locations of cellphones without a search warrant violate the Fourth Amendment?  Let’s ask SCOTUS!

Over the past few years, private equity firms have invested in over a dozen eDiscovery companies (including this one).

Leave it to Craig Ball to come up with a sensible forensic examination protocol that you can use and learn from.

This is just a sampling of topics that we’ve covered.  Hope you enjoyed them!

Thanks for the interest you’ve shown in the topics!  We will do our best to continue to provide interesting and useful eDiscovery news and analysis.  And, as always, please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic!  On to 9 years!  (Cloud)Nine will be divine!  :o)

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.

If you attended ILTACON last month, you probably enjoyed another great conference.  But, behind the scenes, the show hit a few bumps, especially for the blogger community.  Oh, and the CEO left before the show too.

Before the show on August 9, Bob Ambrogi detailed the departure of ILTA’s CEO Dan Liutikas in his LawSites blog post titled Déjà Vu All Over Again that revisited recent management reshuffling of key ILTA personnel the past three years right around conference time.  Bob’s post included verbiage from a letter sent to ILTA partners by Angela Dowd, president of the ILTA board to announce the departure of Liutikas.

That’s just the CEO.  But, then, there was the whole blogger “fiasco” this year.  Now, that’s serious!  :o)

My colleague, Tom O’Connor detailed the leadership issues and also the blogger issue in his blog post (WHAT IN THE WIDE WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS IS GOING ON AT ILTA?) on his Techno Gumbo site back on 8/13.  As Tom noted, “a number of prominent bloggers who had been long time supporters of the group and its conference were surprised to find that their application for a press pass to attend and report on the show were denied.”

Those bloggers included longtime ILTA participants like Craig Ball, Chris Dale, Kevin O’Keefe of LexBlog and even Tom himself.  For the first time in several years, I did not apply for a press pass as I had a full schedule of meetings and didn’t feel like I would attend enough sessions to make it worthwhile (I still covered the show on this blog, BTW).

Apparently, to qualify for a press pass this year, you had to “work for a publication, news service, broadcast outlet or news site that is regularly issued and published primarily for the dissemination of news, and operates independently from any commercial, political, government or special interest. Only media whose primary responsibility is the coverage of the legal, legal technology, technology industry, workforce tech issues, and related news will be considered for credentials.”

Which eliminated a lot of people.  Would probably have eliminated me if I had applied.  Kevin also covered the topic on his Real Lawyers blog (Legal bloggers are part of the press – for conferences too).  As he noted, “Apparently the goal in declining press passes to the organization’s members is to force those members who blog to pay registration fees and to blog favorably of the conference and the association.”

No, what it does instead is cause them to stay home and not attend – at least in many cases.

Well, Tom’s post was picked up – a lot.  People took notice of ILTA’s issues – at both the leadership level and with regard to its blogger policy.

And, here’s the good news: ILTA seems to have learned from its mistakes on that front.  As Kevin noted in his blog: “During the conference, ILTA reached out to bloggers and other members of the press to formulate a more progressive policy when it came to bloggers… My understanding is that ILTA attempted to work with bloggers who attended so they were included as press and is now looking to bloggers to help formulate a new policy going forward.”

Live and learn!  ILTACON is a great conference every year – hopefully, next year, the behind the scenes issues will take a back seat to the quality of the conference overall.

So, what do you think?  Did you enjoy ILTACON 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.

We’re about three weeks out from the 2018 Relativity Fest conference, conducted every year by Relativity, which is three weeks earlier than last year!  I guess they couldn’t wait!  Anyway, Relativity Fest is an annual conference designed to educate and connect the eDiscovery community and features panel discussions, hands-on labs, breakout sessions, and insights from Relativity staff, Relativity users, and industry leaders.  It’s a big show with over 1,800 attendees and a lot going on.

This year, Relativity Fest is September 30 through October 3 in Chicago at The Hilton Chicago (which was the largest hotel in the world when it opened in 1927 and cost ten times more to build than the original Yankee Stadium).  As a development partner in the Relativity ecosystem, CloudNine will once again be the conference and will be there to provide demonstrations of our Outpost for Relativity capability that automatically ingests and loads data into Relativity based on your specified criteria.

Also, I will be covering the show for eDiscovery Daily, and I’m delighted to say that I will also once again be speaking at a session at the conference.  My session is Social Media Law and Practice, on Tuesday, October 2 at 3:40 pm, with Phil Favro, Consultant with Driven, Amy Sellars, Associate General Counsel with Wal-Mart and Gareth Evans, Partner with Redgrave LLP.

In addition to that session, there are several other interesting looking sessions at the conference.  No “yada, yada, yada” here.  Here are a few of them:

• Beer and Basics: e-Discovery 101 and Relativity Fundamentals, Sunday (9/30) at 5:30pm with Constantine Pappas of Relativity, Peggy Gianuca of The Walt Disney Company, Michael Quartararo of eDPM Advisory Services, Tessa Jacob of Husch Blackwell and my colleague Tom O’Connor of Gulf Coast Legal Tech Company. Starting an eDiscovery than beer and wine?  That’s mighty fine!
• The Internet of Things from a Legal and Regulatory Perspective, Monday (10/1) at 11:00am, a panel led by the ubiquitous David Horrigan (who once again seems to be leading almost every educational panel) that includes Gail Gottehrer of Akerman, Ed McAndrew of Ballard Spahr LLP and noted eDiscovery thought leader Craig Ball. Get Out!
• The Judicial Panel, Monday (10/1) at 1:00pm, with David moderating discussions with Judge Nora Barry Fischer, Judge Xavier Rodriguez, New York Supreme Court Justice Tanya Kennedy and retired Judge Andrew Peck (now Senior Counsel at DLA Piper) – none of whom is a close talker or a low talker – to discuss the latest legal developments in eDiscovery.
• International e-Discovery and Data Protection, Tuesday (10/2) at 8:30am. Chris Dale of the eDisclosure Information Project leads the discussion on a hot topic this year with GDPR.  Serenity now!
• ILTA and Relativity Fest Present Finding the Fun in Writing Fundamentals, Tuesday (10/2) at 11:10am, with David moderating a panel that includes Judge Peck and Gary Kinder of WordRake. Hey, after 2,000 or so blog posts, maybe I can finally learn how to do it right!
• e-Discovery Law and Practice: Case Studies in Cooperation, Wednesday (10/3) at 9:00am, David leads a panel with Chad Roberts and Suzanne Clark of PLLC, Kelly Twigger of ESI Attorneys and Kathleen Porter Kristiansen of Advanced Discovery.

To register to attend Relativity Fest, click here.  It’s not too late!  And, the Cubbies appear headed for the baseball playoffs again – though the Astros are going to win it all again this year.  Hey, I was right when I predicted it last year!

BTW, the Seinfeld references are at the request of David Horrigan, who appreciated my Festivus reference last year.  Cosmo Kramer would be proud.  Though Relativity will be skipping the “airing of grievances” this year (I think)… :o)

So, what do you think?  Are you attending Relativity Fest 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.

People say that fewer and fewer cases go to trial these days. Is that true? Regardless of whether it is or not, what information do you need to know to make an informed decision whether or not to litigate or settle the case and how do you gather that information? Find out in our webcast today!

Today at noon CST (1:00pm EST, 10:00am PST), CloudNine will conduct the webcast Litigate or Settle? Info You Need to Make Case Decisions. In this one-hour webcast that’s CLE-approved in selected states, we how litigation has evolved over the years, how that impacts discovery and what you need to know to decide on the best course of action for each case. Topics include:

• How Litigation Has Evolved
• The Importance of Deciding Correctly
• eDiscovery Considerations
• Covering Your Bases While You Decide
• Benefits of Early Data Analysis
• How Much Each GB Can Cost You
• Why Number of GBs Isn’t All You Need to Know
• Why You Should Test Searches Before Meet and Confer
• Other Tips and Tricks to Know for a Successful Outcome

As always, I’ll be presenting the webcast, along with Tom O’Connor, who wrote a four part blog post series that we have published on the blog in the past couple of weeks.  To register for it, click here.  Even if you can’t make it, go ahead and register to get a link to the slides and to the recording of the webcast (if you want to check it out later).  If you want to know what you need to know to decide whether to litigate or settle a case, this is the webcast for you!

So, what do you think?  Do you struggle with gathering the information you need to make case decisions?  If so, join us today!  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.

As noted yesterday, Tuesday and Monday, the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) annual educational conference of 2017 (otherwise known as ILTACON) is happening this week and eDiscovery Daily has once again covered the show and, this year, CloudNine has been exhibiting at the show and participating in a major way.  This is the last day to check out the show at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, MD if you’re in the Washington DC area with a number of sessions available and as many as 209(!) exhibitors providing information on their products and services.

Here are a couple of sessions to check out today (time displayed is ET):

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM:

Design Thinking in Litigation Support: A practical workshop on how design thinking can be leveraged in litigation support to develop a solution that works for the legal teams. Hear real world examples of how design thinking improved customer service and deliveries, and improved processes and policies.

Takeaways:

• Learn about the basic fundamental steps to design thinking
• Hear about examples of how law firms have used design thinking to improve their legal services to clients.

Speaker: David Bryant Isbell, Managing Director, Global eDiscovery and Data Advisory Baker & McKenzie.

11:15 AM – 12:15 PM:

Transforming Records Managers: Assessing and Adapting to the Changing Skill Needs for Information Governance: Records management is a critical component of Information Governance (IG) but it is only part of the solution. IG is a multi-discipline, organization-wide strategy requiring collaboration and records managers are best positioned to lead the way. Learn how to assess and adapt your records team to the new, more broad skills needed to address information governance.

Takeaways:

• Understand the key skills for Information Governance Program Managers vs. traditional Records Managers and how to assess current skills to identify gaps in skills needed to transition
• Matrix of essential skills and relevant certifications
• An action plan to develop the skills of your team

Speakers: James A. Merrifield, Records & Information Governance Manager Robinson & Cole LLP; Leigh Isaacs, Director, Records & Information Governance White & Case LLP; Terry Coan, Managing Director HBR Consulting LLC.

So, what do you think?  Did you attend ILTACON this year?  If so, what did you think?  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.

As noted yesterday and Monday, the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) annual educational conference of 2017 (otherwise known as ILTACON) is happening this week and eDiscovery Daily will once again be covering the show and, this year, CloudNine will exhibiting at the show and participating in a major way.  There’s still time to check out the show at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, MD if you’re in the Washington DC area with a number of sessions available and as many as 209(!) exhibitors providing information on their products and services.

In addition to exhibiting at the show in booth 936, CloudNine also hosted a happy hour yesterday at the National Harbor’s Public House.  We’re also going to be the sunglass sponsor for the ACEDS Monumental Sunset Cruise today from 7:00 to 10:00pm ET!

Here is one session to check out today (time displayed is ET):

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM:

Litigation Support & Legal Operations: Ideas and Innovation Workshop: Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and actively participate in this interactive session!  This will be a combination of a lightning-round expert panel, a town hall, and a peer-to-peer tabletop workshop. Attendees will have the opportunity to collaborate and solve some of the real world problems we face in litigation support and legal operations, today.  A recap of challenges and solutions will be provided to attendees at the end of the session.

Takeaways:

• The opportunity to participate in collaborative problem solving.
• Exposure to issues attendees may or may not be aware of.
• List of collaborative solutions developed during the session for each of the scenarios identified.

Speaker: David Cowen, President & Managing Partner The Cowen Group.

So, what do you think?  Are you attending ILTACON 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.

As noted yesterday, the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) annual educational conference of 2017 (otherwise known as ILTACON) is happening this week and eDiscovery Daily will once again be covering the show and, this year, CloudNine will exhibiting at the show and participating in a major way.  There’s still time to check out the show at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, MD if you’re in the Washington DC area with a number of sessions available and as many as 209(!) exhibitors providing information on their products and services.

In addition to exhibiting at the show in booth 936, CloudNine will also host a happy hour today from 4:30 to 6:30pm ET at the National Harbor’s Public House (click here to register).  Come and get to know CloudNine, your provider for LAW PreDiscovery®, Concordance® and the CloudNine™ SaaS platform!  We’re also going to be the sunglass sponsor for the ACEDS Monumental Sunset Cruise tomorrow from 7:00 to 10:00pm ET!

Here are a few sessions to check out today (all times ET):

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM:

O365 and eDiscovery: What’s New?: Office 365, Microsoft’s current software suite, is often a “go-to” tool in e-Discovery. We’ll examine the strengths and weaknesses of each applications and get up to speed with all of the newest features. Additionally, we’ll examine the future of e-Discovery and what to expect from Microsoft as its products evolve.

Speakers include: Derek Nagel Esq., Consultant; John Collins, Director, Information Governance / Compliance The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC).

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM:

EDiscovery Directors’ Roundtable: What Keeps You Up at Night?: Litigation Support and eDiscovery Directors are tasked with running a business within a business.  The challenges you face go beyond the case specific:  From expanding services to other practice areas, how to best present your team’s value to clients and firm stakeholders, understanding your staffing and staff development needs and forecasting technology trends, to addressing evolving, complex data privacy and security concerns.  Your job is to keep your business model relevant and profitable in an increasingly competitive and consolidated industry.  This session will provide a forum for directors to share and learn from each other in a “safe” environment.  The session is for law firm professionals at the director level only.

Takeaways:

• Gather, share, and identify growth opportunities for your department within your firm.
• Learn what’s worked for others in gathering metrics and presenting those to firm management.
• Compare and strategize how to overcome challenges and pain points unique to this role.

Speakers include: Joy Holley, Director of Practice Support Bryan Cave, LLP; Chris Haley, Director of Legal Technology Troutman Sanders LLP; Brian Jenson, Director, Litigation Support & E-Discovery Services Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

Information Governance Roundtable: Come and enjoy a rich and detailed discussion among law firm information governance professionals. They will dive deep into current issues and future risks and issues of note.

Speakers include: Tamara Tureson, Compliance and Records Manager Faegre Baker Daniels LLP; Joshua Johns, Manager of CTS Platform, Process and Information Governance Faegre Baker Daniels LLP; Brian McCauley, Director of Information Governance Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP; Brianne Aul, Firmwide Senior Records and Information Governance Manager Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, L.L.P.; Jill Sterbakov, Information Governance Compliance Attorney Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, L.L.P.

So, what do you think?  Are you planning to attend ILTACON 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.

The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) annual educational conference of 2018 (known as ILTACON) kicked off yesterday with several networking events, and begins in earnest today with the first day of sessions.  As always, eDiscovery Daily will once again be covering the show and, this year, CloudNine will exhibiting at the show and participating in a major way.  Over the next four 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.

In addition to exhibiting at the show in booth 936, CloudNine will also host a happy hour on Tuesday, August 21 from 4:30 to 6:30pm ET at the National Harbor’s Public House (click here to register).  Come and get to know CloudNine, your provider for LAW PreDiscovery®, Concordance® and the CloudNine™ SaaS platform!  We’re also going to be the sunglass sponsor for the ACEDS Monumental Sunset Cruise on Wednesday, August 22 from 7:00 to 10:00pm ET!

If you’re in the Washington DC area, come check out the show at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, MD – there are a number of sessions available and as many as 209(!) exhibitors providing information on their products and services.  Sessions of interest (including one I’m speaking at today at 1pm!) in the main conference tracks include (all times ET):

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM:

The Future of eDiscovery: A Discussion Amongst Industry Leaders: What does the future of eDiscovery hold? Hear from industry leaders as they discuss their predictions of both the short and long-term future of the eDiscovery market. They’ll analyze anticipated disrupters and how their organizations are planning for change. Additionally, they’ll share practical steps for law firms to begin preparing themselves today.

Takeaways:

• Hear from industry vision leaders on what they see as our future in the eDiscovery space will be and how they are planning for any change within their organization.
• Learn about the market disruptors?
• What should law departments or law firms be thinking and preparing for?

Speakers include: Andrew Sieja, President & CEO Relativity; Jay Leib, Founder and CEO NexLP; Erin Harrison, Managing Director Baretz+Brunelle; Atanu Banerjee, Group Program Manager Microsoft Corporation.

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM:

eDiscovery Training Roadmap: In this interactive and informative session, we will walk through how to train and develop your eDiscovery staff. The discussion will help you determine who the stakeholders are and what skills do they need to succeed. We will also discuss eDiscovery best practices, training strategies, and defining work processes. The discussion will include types of training that won’t work and war stories from our veteran eDiscovery experts.

Speakers include: Gillian Glass, Director of Practice Support, Paralegals and Records Farella Braun + Martel LLP; Joy Murao, Founder, CEO Practice Aligned Resources.

eDiscovery and Litigation Support for Small Firms: Which Hat Should I Wear Today?: eDiscovery is a critical component of litigation these days. Learn how small firms can effectively manage eDiscovery and litigation support without a dedicated department and while juggling multiple tasks.

Speakers include: Brett Burney, Principal Burney Consultants; Doug Austin, Vice President of Products & Services CloudNine; Dana Wesley Sarti, Litigation Support Coordinator, Information Security Contact Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber LLP; Sherry Rather, Litigation Support Coordinator Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber LLP.

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM:

Managing Out-of-the-Ordinary Projects in eDiscovery: How does your firm approach out-of-the-ordinary projects?  This session will provide hands on practical information on how to approach non-ordinary projects.  Every project should be approached in the same manner, using fundamental project management steps.  We will review these steps and provide insight on how some special projects were successful using these fundamentals.

Speakers include: Michael Quartararo, Managing Director eDPM Advisory Services; Richard Brooman, Litigation Support Project Manager Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr; Jessica Hasen, Counsel, E-Discovery Services and Strategy Perkins Coie; Jeremiah Weasenforth, Managing Project Attorney Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

And, of course, you don’t want to miss the Exhibit Hall Opening Reception from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM ET, where “there’s an open world of video games at ILTA’s Partner Video Game HQ” where attendees can play lots of video games while enjoying food and drink.  Come join us at booth #936 and try to beat us in a game of Mario Kart 8 – you could win a Nintendo Switch!

So, what do you think?  Are you planning to attend ILTACON 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.