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Industry Trends

James D. Zinn, Managing Director of Huron Consulting Group – eDiscovery Trends

This is the third of the 2014 LegalTech New York (LTNY) Thought Leader Interview series.  eDiscoveryDaily interviewed several thought leaders after LTNY this year (don’t get us started) and generally asked each of them the following questions:

  1. What significant eDiscovery trends did you see at LTNY this year and what do you see for 2014?
  2. With new amendments to discovery provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure now in the comment phase, do you see those being approved this year and what do you see as the impact of those Rules changes?
  3. It seems despite numerous resources in the industry, most attorneys still don’t know a lot about eDiscovery?  Do you agree with that and, if so, what do you think can be done to improve the situation?
  4. What are you working on that you’d like our readers to know about?

Today’s thought leader is James D. Zinn. James is Managing Director of Huron Consulting Group.  James leads the technology team at Huron Legal, which includes the data collection, processing, hosting, production, and forensic analysis services along with infrastructure, support, and software development. James has extensive experience managing the strategic and tactical use of technology within investigative and litigation consulting matters.

What significant eDiscovery trends did you see at LTNY this year and what do you see for 2014?

The Legal Tech conference was another good experience for us as a company.  It was an overall good conference for us with good traffic at our booth, great meetings throughout the week and good business opportunities coming from the show.  So, overall our impressions were positive and we felt good about the experience all around.  In fact, I would say that it was one of the best LegalTech experiences ever from our perspective.

As I look around the conference in terms of trends, the biggest trend that I noted was an increase in the discussion about Information Governance.  The whole concept of Information Management and Information Governance has become a popular topic.  There were lots of exhibitors using Information Governance or related language when talking about their products.  There were also several sessions and panel discussions about it, as well.  So, that stood out to me as the biggest trend I saw at the show over the previous year. I think that observation is reflective of an overall trend toward a greater focus on Information Governance and the impact it has on a number of things, including discovery costs and workflow.

The other trend that I see for 2014 is more stratification among the service providers.  Part of the reason for that is continued industry consolidation.  I think there is a growing differentiation between service providers, which we feel from our own experience, as well.  On one hand, a number of providers are continuing to mature and develop their full service offerings while on the other hand; there are new entrants into the market focusing on the application of technology as a differentiator from legacy service providers.

A related trend is greater acceptance of cloud-based solutions.  I think a number of providers are focusing on leveraging cloud-based infrastructures and technologies in their solutions.  I’m sensing an increased acceptance within the marketplace for cloud-based solutions.

With new amendments to discovery provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure now in the comment phase, do you see those being approved this year and what do you see as the impact of those Rules changes?

I don’t have any particular source of information that would lead me to do anything more than speculate on the timing of their approval, but I do see them being accepted this year.  While the amendments have generated a fair amount of discussion, I think they represent a positive trend and will be approved and enacted.  I think the impact on the up front preparation and speed of litigation has been talked about extensively and will be a natural evolution for those who are already well prepared in that area. They will cause even more pain than the last amendments for those who are not as organized.  The impact on the early calendar of litigation may come as a shock to the litigants who aren’t as organized as they need to be.  I also think the introduction of proportionality via the amendments is a good thing and will bring some reasonableness to the burden of discovery that many of our clients face.

It seems despite numerous resources in the industry, most attorneys still don’t know a lot about eDiscovery?  Do you agree with that and, if so, what do you think can be done to improve the situation?

That’s an interesting question because I wonder how much my experience personally and our experience as an organization is influenced by attorneys who are self-selecting.  In other words, do we see a representative sample of attorneys in the marketplace?  I would argue that we’ve seen an increase in the sophistication of our clients, both our clients at law firms and those at corporate legal departments.  To generalize them as a group, they are definitely more educated and more knowledgeable around eDiscovery issues than they were a few years ago.  But, I don’t know if that’s because of the nature of the types of clients we tend to attract are those that have recurring needs for discovery services and have been dealing with it for a number of years.

I do think that, as an industry, there are a lot of resources available to educate, so for those who do not avail themselves of those resources, it may be a reflection of their lack of a regular need for those services.  It’s easy to say that there could always be more education provided, but I think that you’re correct in the assessment that there are a number of good resources already.

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

We pride ourselves on being close to our clients and their needs and so we are continuing the development of our full-service offerings.  Our focus continues to be around holistic solutions to our clients’ problems, discovery being one of them, Information Governance certainly being another, compliance being a third, and so on.  So, in each of these areas, our focus is on how we can provide a complete solution to our clients.  By “complete”, I’m referring to everything from strategy and organizational assistance to help with the implementation of technologies or procedures and then on to the actual provision of services.  Huron is continuing within eDiscovery and beyond eDiscovery within the legal industry to focus on providing relevant, holistic solutions.

Thanks, James, 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 Discovery. eDiscoveryDaily is made available by CloudNine Discovery solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscoveryDaily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

Tom Gelbmann of Gelbmann & Associates, LLC – eDiscovery Trends

This is the second of the 2014 LegalTech New York (LTNY) Thought Leader Interview series.  eDiscoveryDaily interviewed several thought leaders after LTNY this year (don’t get us started) and generally asked each of them the following questions:

  1. What significant eDiscovery trends did you see at LTNY this year and what do you see for 2014?
  2. It seems despite numerous resources in the industry, most attorneys still don’t know a lot about eDiscovery?  Do you agree with that and, if so, what do you think can be done to improve the situation?
  3. What are you working on that you’d like our readers to know about?

Today’s thought leader is Tom Gelbmann. Tom is Principal of Gelbmann & Associates, LLC.  Since 1993, Gelbmann & Associates, LLC, is a consulting practice serving the legal services industry. Tom has an extensive record of working with law firms, corporate counsel and legal services providers as a consultant, advisor, project manager, and has also held the CIO position at two major law firms.  Tom has also been co-author of the leading survey on the electronic discovery market, The Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey; in 2011 he and George Socha converted the Survey into Apersee, an online system for selecting eDiscovery providers and their offerings.  In 2005, he and George Socha launched the Electronic Discovery Reference Model project to establish standards within the eDiscovery industry – today, the EDRM model has become a standard in the industry for the eDiscovery life cycle.

What significant eDiscovery trends did you see at LTNY this year and what do you see for 2014?

While I didn’t attend the show this year (for the first time in many years), I have been monitoring communications about the show and what took place and have talked with a number of attendees, so I do have some perspectives about it.  Not surprisingly, a major theme this year was the surge in attention to Information Governance.  Information Governance is becoming the area that is grabbing attention within organizations, and rightly so.  We’ve been saying for quite some time in “EDRM-land” that if you can get your electronic house in order, eDiscovery challenges are mitigated and costs can be considerably reduced.

One of the results that you’re starting to see is the appearance of tools to help with that whole Information Governance process of: What do you have?  Who has it?  Where is it?  How do you curate it?  How do you identify what you no longer need to hold onto and effectively get rid of it?  And, when litigation does occur, how do you effectively hone in on the ESI that you need for that particular matter?

Another trend that I’m seeing in general is really two somewhat related trends: Metrics and Project Management.  Metrics has been something that has been slow to catch on for a long time, but I think organizations are now catching on to the fact that if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it.  The light is coming on for people who are realizing that “yeah, I’d better start tracking these things”.  Metrics have really started to become more mainstream within the industry.  Associated with that is Project Management.  In eDiscovery, you have to have a well-defined, repeatable process to manage the projects effectively.  The more disciplined you are, the better your outcomes will be.  So, metrics and project management are really “coming of age”.

We’re also seeing more and more activity with mobile devices.  You’ve got smart phones, iPads and other tablets, BYOD, etc.  And, that’s really where more and more ESI will be.  I think mobile platforms are starting to take over as far as the means of communication and, in many cases, that’s where the story is.  And, what eDiscovery is all about is finding out the story.  Not that email is going to dry up any time soon, but you’re starting to see that the growth is in mobile and social media.

It seems despite numerous resources in the industry, most attorneys still don’t know a lot about eDiscovery?  Do you agree with that and, if so, what do you think can be done to improve the situation?

I agree.  From what I’m seeing, it may have gotten a little bit better, but not a whole lot.  For change to come, the impetus has to come from clients.  Clients need to be more demanding and validate their outside counsel attorney’s claims of “I know all about eDiscovery” when maybe all they did was attend a CLE.  There has to be proof of their knowledge, but I’m not sure how clients will go about obtaining that proof.  But, they’re the ones paying the bill, so the impetus will have to come from them.  I don’t think it will come from a bar association.

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

I’m very enthused about EDRM this year from a couple of aspects.  One, we’re very excited that we’re moving towards a non-profit model for EDRM.  There’s been a lot of work so far and there’s still a lot of work to do, but I think we’re on track to complete that this year.  I think that’s really going to serve EDRM well for the longer term.  What I mean by that is that it’s been the “George and Tom show” and we realize that it can’t be if it’s going to continue and flourish for the long term.  There’s a lot of energy and a lot of good minds behind this initiative and I’m looking forward to that.

As far as projects are concerned, the Data Set group has been busy further developing the Privacy & Security Risk Reduction Model.  There are some new frameworks coming out and a few other things that we will hopefully be able to announce fairly soon.  The projects are continuing to create and update helpful tools and frameworks which, to some extent, address the education question you asked me earlier.  Information Governance is one of those project teams that is working on some interesting items.  Also, we started in October with a monthly update, so we’re doing a better job of letting people know about all of the accomplishments of EDRM.  In retrospect, we should have been doing that a lot earlier.  You don’t realize on a day-to-day basis what we’re accomplishing, but when we put together a monthly update, we realize that we did accomplish a lot.  Our 2013 end of year update shows that there were several things we accomplished in 2013 that were valuable to the industry.  So, the future is bright for EDRM from a variety of perspectives.

With regard to Apersee, we’re still working to prove to providers that there is value in maintaining their profiles about their products and services.  We understand that it takes effort to do so and we’re still trying to demonstrate the value to them.  The more providers put into it, the more valuable it becomes to consumers.  The Apersee Special Requests are a bright spot. When we distribute Apersee special requests from the consumer, looking for a specific complex, time-sensitive service, we get dozens of responses from providers within minutes to a couple of hours.  Generally, the consumer tells us within a day or less “Stop, we’ve got enough responses, this is great.”  So, the effectiveness of the Apersee special request tells us that there is a need to be fulfilled.  We’ve been told by consumers that it’s very valuable service, so we’re excited about that.

Thanks, Tom, 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 Discovery. eDiscoveryDaily is made available by CloudNine Discovery solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscoveryDaily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

Houston, Hello! The Sedona Conference is Coming! – eDiscovery Trends
 

If you’re in my hometown of Houston and want to learn more about eDiscovery from a well-respected panel of judges and eDiscovery experts, you have an excellent opportunity next month to do so at The 8th Annual Sedona Conference® Institute Program on eDiscovery in a New Era: New Technologies, New Media, New Rules.

It’s a two-day program on March 13 and 14 at the Hilton Americas Hotel in downtown Houston.  As the Sedona Conference site states:

“The undisputed, non-partisan thought leaders in eDiscovery will gather in Houston to explore emerging challenges and trends that stem from evolving technology. Co-chairs Monica Latin of Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, L.L.P. and Eric Schwarz of Ernst & Young have gathered an extraordinary faculty of judges, top eDiscovery practitioners, in-house counsel, and experts to lead the dialogue on the following topics:

  • Case law update
  • Pending amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
  • Data breach incident investigation and response
  • eDiscovery in a crisis, while under scrutiny, in a regulated industry
  • TAR and predictive coding
  • Professional responsibility with social media, mobile devices and the cloud
  • Corporate counsel perspectives on new media in terms of preservation, collection, and review
  • Judicial Roundtable
  • eDiscovery outside the courtroom”

Judicial experts on the panel include Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, Texas District Judges Lee Rosenthal and Xavier Rodriguez and New York Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck.  There will also be eDiscovery experts on the panel, including Jason R. Baron and Maura Grossman, and corporate experts from Raytheon Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Intel Corporation and BP America, among others.

Sessions include: Case Law and Rules Amendments updates, eDiscovery Under Pressure, Technology Assisted Review (with Jason R. Baron, Maura Grossman and Judge Peck on the panel, that should be a can’t miss!), Professional Responsibility in Social Media and the Cloud, Making the Business Case for eDiscovery, a Corporate Counsel Roundtable and Responding to Data Breach Incidents.  There is also reception after the sessions on the first day.  Sessions end at 1:00 pm on Day 2 to give time for travelers to return home.

The session is still available, but limited to 200 participants.  It’s not free, costing $1,295 for regular attendees – government employees get a discount down to $845 and Working Group Series (WGS) members down to $1,195.  On the site, The Sedona Conference notes that “We are applying for advance accreditation for 660 minutes of MCLE credit, including 60 minutes of ethics credit in states requested by those who register.  For the benefit of ARMA members, we will also apply for ICRM Certification Maintenance Program (CMP) advance accreditation.”  If you have any questions about the status of those CLE and certification accreditations, contact The Sedona Conference.

For more information about the program, including a full agenda and list of speakers, click here.

So, what do you think? Do you plan to attend the program? 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 Discovery. eDiscoveryDaily is made available by CloudNine Discovery solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscoveryDaily 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 Fourth Annual LTNY Thought Leader Series! – eDiscovery Trends

Bad weather, travel cancellations and stolen laptops could not keep us from keeping the tradition alive.  It’s time for another thought leader interview series!

In our efforts to continue to bring our readers perspectives from various thought leaders throughout the eDiscovery community, eDiscoveryDaily has published several thought leader interviews over the nearly 3 1/2 years of our existence.  The past two years at LegalTech New York (LTNY), we were able to conduct interviews with several eDiscovery industry thought leaders and announced the schedule for those interviews after the show.  Click here to see the schedule for last year’s interviews and here to see the 2012 interview schedule with links to each interview we conducted in each year.

We had a full slate of interviews that were cancelled because of our travel difficulties to New York.  Thankfully, every interviewee graciously rescheduled with us over the past few days.  We really appreciate it!  We’re pleased to introduce the schedule for the series, which will begin next Monday, February 24.

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

Monday, February 24: Brad Jenkins, President and CEO of CloudNine Discovery.  Brad has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, as well as 14 years leading customer focused companies in the litigation support arena. Brad has authored many articles on litigation support issues, and has spoken before national audiences on document management practices and solutions.

Thursday, February 27: Tom Gelbmann, Principal Analyst of Gelbmann & Associates and co-founder of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) and Apersee.  Since 1993, Tom has helped law firms and Corporate Law Departments realize the full benefit of their investments in Information Technology.

Friday, February 28: James D. Zinn, Managing Director of Huron Consulting Group.  James is the Laboratory Director for Huron’s National Digital Evidence Laboratory. He manages a team of professionals in the efficient and effective performance of digital evidence and computer forensics examinations. James also helps organizations develop and improve their business processes and technology to provide efficient and cost-effective electronic discovery and computer forensic examinations.

Monday, March 3: Laura Zubulake, Plaintiff in the landmark Zubulake vs. UBS Warburg case.  Laura is also the author of Zubulake’s e-Discovery: The Untold Story of my Quest for Justice, previously discussed on this blog here.

Wednesday, March 5: Alon Israely, Manager, Strategic Partnerships, Business Intelligence Associates (BIA).  Alon has over eighteen years of experience in a variety of advanced computing-related technologies and currently leads the Strategic Partner Program at BIA.

Friday, March 7: Adam Losey, President and Editor-in-Chief, IT-Lex.  Adam is president and editor-in-chief of IT-Lex, a technology law not-for-profit educational and literary organization.  He is also an attorney at Foley & Lardner LLP.  Adam also served as an adjunct professor at Columbia University, where he taught electronic discovery as part of Columbia’s Information and Digital Resource Management Master’s Program.

Monday, March 10: George Socha, President of Socha Consulting LLC and co-founder of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) and Apersee.  As President of Socha Consulting LLC, George offers services as an eDiscovery expert witness, special master and advisor to corporations, law firms and their clients, and legal vertical market software and service providers in the areas of electronic discovery and automated litigation support.

Wednesday, March 12: Jason R. Baron, Of Counsel, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP.  Jason is a member of Drinker Biddle’s Information Governance and eDiscovery practice.  An internationally recognized speaker and author on the preservation of electronic documents, Jason previously served as 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.

Friday, March 14: Tom O’Connor, Director of the Gulf Coast Legal Technology Center.  Tom is a nationally known consultant, speaker and writer in the area of computerized litigation support systems.  A frequent lecturer on the subject of legal technology, Tom has been on the faculty of numerous national CLE providers and has taught college level courses on legal technology.

Monday, March 17: Ralph Losey, Partner and National eDiscovery Counsel for Jackson Lewis, LLP.  Ralph is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida College of Law teaching eDiscovery, a prolific author of eDiscovery books and articles, the principle author and publisher of the popular e-Discovery Team® Blog, founder and owner of an intensive online training program, e-Discovery Team Training, with attorney and technical students all over the world and the creator of the Electronic Discovery Best Practices (EDBP.com) model.

Thursday, March 20: Craig Ball, Law Offices of Craig D. Ball, P.C.  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 over 750 presentations and papers.  Craig’s articles on forensic technology and electronic discovery frequently appear in the national media, and he writes a monthly column on computer forensics and eDiscovery for Law Technology News called Ball in your Court, as well as blogs on those topics at ballinyourcourt.com.

Thanks to everyone for their time in participating in these interviews and rescheduling them after my travel issues!

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 Discovery. eDiscoveryDaily is made available by CloudNine Discovery solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscoveryDaily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

Effective Information Governance Takes Initiative – eDiscovery Best Practices

Despite the fact that I missed LegalTech New York (LTNY) last week because of travel difficulties, eDiscoveryDaily is still conducting our fourth annual LTNY thought leader interview series again this year.  I owe a BIG thank you to the thought leaders who were gracious enough to reschedule with me this week and early next week.  We will publish the schedule for posting the interviews early next week.  Stay tuned!

One of the best side-benefits I get from conducting thought leader interviews for the blog is that I get to learn about new programs in the industry that promote best practices.  I learned about one such new program in my thought leader interview with Jason R. Baron, Of Counsel with Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP and former long-time Director of Litigation for the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).  Through my interview with Jason, I learned that the Information Governance Initiative (IGI), a cross-disciplinary consortium and think tank focused on advancing information governance, launched last week.

As announced on their expansive launch press release, the IGI will publish research, benchmarking surveys, and guidance for practitioners on its website. The research will be freely available, and the group will also be providing an online community designed to foster discussion and networking among practitioners.

The IGI was founded by Barclay T. Blair, who is the group’s executive director and Bennett B. Borden, who is the organization’s chair, with Jason R. Baron as co-chair. Jay Brudz is general counsel.

As Jason stated on the press release, “I see the IGI’s mission as sounding a call to arms that current information practices are unsustainable in our increasingly big data world, and that IG solutions exist that better leverage new technology and smart practices. Unless corporations and government agencies take more concerted actions, information overload and mismanagement may pose a serious threat to the economy and even to the justice system itself.”

The IGI identifies several leading providers as supporters and is also partnering with several organizations to bring IG stakeholders from different disciplines together to work on the information governance problem, including The CFO Alliance and ARMA International.

Best of all, it’s free to join and receive updates from the IGI and to gain access to their publications when they are available.  Click here to join.

Based on the thought leader interviews that I’ve conducted so far, Information Governance was the most talked about trend at this year’s LTNY.  It will be interesting to see what impact the IGI has on providing best practices and guidance for managing information.

So, what do you think?  Are you interested in the IGI? Will you join?  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 Discovery. eDiscoveryDaily is made available by CloudNine Discovery solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscoveryDaily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

Useful eDiscovery Information Resources: Evaluating Products and Services

This blog series – Useful eDiscovery Information Resources – is aimed at giving you information on resources available to eDiscovery professionals… resources aimed at education regarding eDiscovery and resources aimed at keeping professionals up to date regarding the latest and the greatest in the industry.  The first posts in the series can be found here, here, here,here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

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For quality and efficiency purposes, most law firms and corporate law departments standardize on an approach to eDiscovery:

  • They create best practices for how eDiscovery will be handled.
  • They create guidelines for what tasks and volumes of materials will be handled in-house and what will get out-sourced to a service provider.
  • They standardize on a limited number of in-house tools that they’ll use for processing and reviewing eDiscovery.
  • They create a short list of approved online review tools that they’ll use when in-house resources aren’t sufficient for a project.
  • They’ll create a short list of approved service providers that they’ll use for various eDiscovery and litigation support services.

Selecting in-house tools to purchase and creating these service and product “approved lists” is not an easy task.  Done properly, it can take a lot of time.  And it’s not a one-time thing.  Products and service providers need to be routinely reviewed to ensure that they continue to be a good fit, and new technology and service providers should be evaluated.

As a first step, you need to ensure you really understand what the firm needs and wants, and you also need an understanding of the firm’s culture and its clients.  You need to have a good handle on the size of the cases handled by the firm, what attorneys expect of a product or a service, and what selection criteria is most important to the firm (is it price? Quality? Turn-around time?).  And of course, in this initial step, you may find that you have to educate yourself about emerging technology, and likewise educate the attorneys in your firm so that they make the right decisions regarding needs and wants.

Once you’ve got your selection guidelines in place, there’s the tedious task of evaluating and selecting the right products and the right service providers for your organization. You’ll rely on your own experience.  You’ll contact peers in the industry and get opinions from them.  You may post questions on the various internet forums to which you belong.

There are also a couple of web services that can help you here:

  • Apersee:  Developed by George Socha & Tom Gelbmann (the guys behind the Socha-Gelbmann Electrionic Discovery Survey and the EDRM), Apersee is a system for selecting e-discovery providers and products. This statement from the website’s About page best summarizes how it works: “The Apersee Selection Engine allows consumers to choose the criteria that matter most to them, assign priorities to those critera, evaluate the results, and modify their searches… “  Click here for more information on Apersee.
  • eDJ Matrix:  Created by eDJ Group Co-Founder Greg Buckles, the eDJ Matrix is an interactive, dynamic tool that provides information on and evaluations of eDiscovery solutions – both products and services. Click here for more information on the eDJGroup and the eDJ Matrix.

These resources can save you a lot of time – the folks behind these tools have done a lot of the leg-work for you. These tools can really help to narrow down the product and service provider candidates that are a good match for your firm.

I’ll be back next week with the next post in this resources blog series.  In the meantime, let us know if there are specific topics you’d like us to cover.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine Discovery. eDiscoveryDaily is made available by CloudNine Discovery solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscoveryDaily 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 2014 Sessions – eDiscovery Trends

As noted Tuesday and yesterday, LegalTech® New York 2014 (LTNY) is happening this week.  Today is the last day to check out the show if you’re in the cold and snowy New York area with a number of sessions (both paid and free) available and over 218 exhibitors providing information on their products and services.

Perform a “find” on today’s LTNY conference schedule for “discovery” or “information governance” and you’ll get 41 hits.  More eDiscovery sessions still happening!  Here are some of the sessions in the main conference tracks:

10:30 – 11:45 AM:

The Changing of the Guard- How Cutting Edge Corporate Legal Departments Are Reinventing In-House eDiscovery

Nowhere is eDiscovery evolving more quickly than behind the scenes of some of the world’s most savvy enterprises. In this session, hear how cutting edge corporate legal teams have turned the tables on traditional eDiscovery approaches, effectively rewriting best practices for 2014 and beyond. Our panel of experts will discuss:

  • What are ways to significantly reduce legal spend and improve outcomes when managing eDiscovery
  • Why hybrid deployment models are quickly surpassing traditional, on premise only approaches
  • What are ways to revolutionize the communications patterns with outside counsel
  • What are the ROI metrics that really move the ball for forward thinking corporations

Speakers are: Dean Gonsowski, Vice President, Business Development and Head of Global Information Governance, Recommind; Marla Bergman, Goldman Sachs; Meghan Landrum, Google; Cliff Dutton, AIG.

Rightsizing Your Program to Get Funding and Succeed

Enterprise Information Governance programs are often as complex as the problems they are intended to solve, incorporating governance needs and requirements of a multitude of internal and external stakeholders while beholden to industry requirements and tight budgets. In this session, our panel of seasoned experts will help prepare attendees with best practices for breaking down the Information Governance equation in their or their clients’ organizations in order to kick-start an IG program. Topics to be explored include:

  • Assessing current realities to gain an understanding of what information-based threats and opportunities exist
  • Prioritizing threats and opportunities by evaluating risk/reward and estimating remediation ROI, including defensible deletion
  • Achieving cross-stakeholder support for development of an Information Governance framework and program

Panelists are: Julie J. Colgan, Director of Information Governance Solutions, Nuix; Galina Datskovsky, Independent Information Governance Consultant; Jason R. Baron, Of Counsel, Drinker Biddle & Reath; Dan Regard, Managing Director, iDiscovery Solutions; Susan Goodman, MLS, CRM, IGP, CIP, CIPP/US, Director, Records and Information Management (RIM), Consumer Reports.  Moderator: Barclay Blair, President and Founder, ViaLumina.

The TAR Workroom

Now that the industry has more TAR case history and experience to draw upon, workflow guidelines are emerging as well.  This panel will guide participants through a working session examining the lifecycle of a TAR project, including:

  • planning for a TAR project
  • establishing statistical goals based on selected TAR objectives
  • defining the TAR project team’s roles and responsibilities
  • evaluating TAR training options
  • devising QC strategies
  • assessing TAR results
  • deciding optimal pathways for strategic utilization of TAR results
  • documenting the project to ensure defensibility and replicability

Participants will emerge with an understanding of what it takes to plan and implement a successful TAR project.

Panelists are: Mira Edelman, Discovery Counsel, Google; Bennett Borden, Partner and Co-Chair of the Information Governance and eDiscovery Group, Drinker Biddle & Reath; Stuart LaRosa, Senior Search Consultant, Xerox; Julie Brown, Litigation Technology Executive Manager, Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease.  Moderator: Shelia Mackay, Vice President, Consulting, Xerox.

Transforming Discovery Through the Optimization of Legal Intelligencee

Accurately identifying potentially relevant documents in discovery is often described as finding needles in a haystack.  With data growing exponentially, legal counsel is struggling to control the size of the haystack.  However, they can now effectively identify where the needles reside earlier in the process with greater accuracy than ever.   By combining technology and analytical expertise, it is now possible to gather early stage legal intelligence to develop case strategy and efficiently zero in on the needles in mountain of hay.

Speakers are: Dave Deppe, President, UnitedLex; Christine Hasiotis; Senior Counsel & GE Legal Support Solutions Leader, Electric Insurance Company; Jason Yurasek, Litigation Partner, Perkins Cole; Mark McGrath; Associate, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP; Jack Halprin, Head of eDiscovery, Enterprise, Google; Farrah Pepper, Executive Counsel – Discovery, General Electric Company.

12:15 – 1:30 PM:

The rise of the machines? How computers can amplify human intelligence, not replace it.

Since the dawn of time, the ability to make, use and refine tools and machines has helped define and advance the human race. Now more than ever, assistance from technology is paramount in our world. We see and interact with it every day, from our smart phones and tablets to our vehicles and homes. This assistance is equally as important in our industry, with data volumes and client expectations growing at an exponential rate; humans alone can’t keep up.  In this session, you will learn about the different techniques and approaches for assistive technology and how it applies to eDiscovery including:

  • Artificial Intelligence vs. Amplifying Human Intelligence
  • How Human-Machine symbiosis is the next generation of assistive technology
  • The key differences between TAR, CAR, and Predictive Coding
  • How to successfully apply utilize this capability in eDiscovery

Speakers are: Neil Etheridge, Recommind; Patrick Oot, Electronic Discovery Institute; Daniel Lim, Former VP & Deputy G, Guidance Software, Inc.

TAR Ethics Lab – ABA & State Ethics Rules

This program addresses the ethical and legal consequences of using TAR in the context of a shifting landscape of governing rules. Through this interactive lab, participants will become better prepared to meet their ethical and legal obligations and help their clients contain ever-mounting e-discovery costs.

Last year, the American Bar Association (ABA) approved an important new resolution under the duty of competence (Model Rule 1.1) that requires lawyers to “keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology …”  Amendments to rules on communications with clients (Model Rule 1.4), confidentiality (Model Rule 1.6), and supervision (Model Rule 5.3) also impact the use of TAR.  Various state ethics rules have since followed.

In addition, significant changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure regarding e-discovery have been drafted, but the debate continues under Congressional review before any changes go into effect near the end of 2015.

This panel will guide participants through real-life TAR scenarios that promote an understanding of the new ethical and legal landscape of e-discovery.

Panelists are: Anthony Diana, Partner, Mayer Brown; Julie Brown, Litigation Technology Executive Manager, Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease.  Moderator: Gabriela P. Baron, Senior Vice President, Xerox.

In addition to these, there are other eDiscovery-related sessions today.  For a complete description for all sessions today, click here.

So, what do you think?  Have you attended 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 Discovery. eDiscoveryDaily is made available by CloudNine Discovery solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscoveryDaily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to LegalTech – eDiscovery Trends

The weather spared the big game, but came back with a vengeance yesterday.  Was your flight delayed or cancelled trying to get into New York?  For us too – twice.  Oh, and our laptops were stolen while we stopped off at a restaurant to wait out yesterday’s delay.  Don’t get us started.

Anyway, hopefully the rest of you made it, despite the weather.  As noted yesterday, LegalTech® New York 2014 (LTNY) is happening this week and there’s still two more days to check out the show if you’re in the New York area with a number of sessions (both paid and free) available and over 218 exhibitors providing information on their products and services.

Perform a “find” on today’s LTNY conference schedule for “discovery” and you’ll get 53 hits.  More eDiscovery sessions happening!  Here are some of the sessions in the main conference tracks:

9:05 – 10:00 AM:

Day Two Keynote General Session Presentation – Judges Panel: Changing Rules and Best Practices in e-Discovery – Open to All

When it comes to legal technology, few names are more synonymous with the industry than those of our day two panelists. We are thrilled to welcome Judges Lee Rosenthal, Shira Scheindlin, John Facciola, James Francis and Andrew Peck to the keynote stage at LegalTech.  Never before has LegalTech had the privilege of having these five judges grace the stage at the same time.  Plan to arrive early for what promises to be the most insightful and provocative session at LegalTech 2014.

E-Discovery Special Master Craig Ball will lead the discussion, as the judges share their views on today’s legal landscape with an eye towards what the future holds.  Our e-Discovery pioneers will share their experiences and viewpoints to help attendees best prepare for the law and practice of tomorrow.

Panelists are: Honorable Lee H. Rosenthal, United States District Judge, Southern District of Texas; Honorable Shira A. Scheindlin, United States District Judge, Southern District of New York; Honorable John M. Facciola, United States Magistrate Judge, District of Columbia; Honorable James C. Francis, United States Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York; Honorable Andrew J. Peck, United States Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York.  Moderator: Craig Ball, Attorney and Forensic Technologist, Certified Computer Forensic Examiner.

10:30 – 11:45 AM:

Predictive Coding and Analytics Applied on Three Common Scenarios

Analytics can help supplement predictive coding – by visually clarifying its results, accelerating review of the remaining materials, and even assisting in trial and deposition preparation. Using a case study approach, attendees will learn how to develop workflow incorporating both predictive coding and analytics for three common e-discovery scenarios.

Panelists are: Hon. Andrew J. Peck, United States Magistrate Judge,Southern District of New York; Eric Lieber, Director of Legal Technology, Toyota Motor Sales, USA; Jason Lichter, Director of Discovery Services and Litigation Support, Pepper Hamilton LLP.  Moderator: Kathryn McCarthy, Senior Managing Director,  FTI Technology.

The Evolution of Information Governance: Predictive Governance

Predictive Coding technology has already been successfully used for information Governance including defensible disposal use cases. In this session we will explore how the “train by example” iterative training process can be used to train an information governance system to categorize gigantic unstructured data set quickly and accurately and we will explore how predictive technologies can be used to create highly accurate and consistent automated information governance solutions.

Speakers are: Barclay Blair, ViaLumina; Bennett Borden, Partner and Co-Chair of the Information Governance and eDiscovery Group, Drinker Biddle & Reath; Dean Gonsowski, Vice President, Business Development and Head of Global Information Governance, Recommind.

Have we Reached a “John Henry” Moment in Evidentiary Search?

Humans have always played a large role in document review, but the advent of predictive coding raises significant questions about the role of the human reviewer in the future of ediscovery. Is there room for both human and machine in ediscovery, or are human reviewers, like the great John Henry, doomed to become irrelevant by faster, more efficient machines?

Join us as we discuss the evolving role of the human reviewer as the ediscovery community grows increasingly comfortable with technology assisted review.

Speakers are: Ralph Losey, Jackson Lewis; Cliff Dutton, AIG; Jason R. Baron, Drinker Biddle & Reath.  Moderator: Eric Robinson, Kroll Ontrack.

Discovery Insourcing v. Outsourcing – Finding the Right Balance for Your Organization

As Legal Departments continue to face significant resource constraints, identifying new ways to achieve cost savings and efficiencies can make a real impact.  These savings can often be achieved through implementing new technologies for culling and review, as well as reevaluating the internal and external discovery support model to ensure the right resources are doing the right tasks.  Creative and competitive outsourced pricing models have allowed some to get the best of both worlds – reduced risk and cost predictability combined with the latest technology and scalable resources.   Others have found success with increased insourcing often through better partnerships between Legal and IT and creating centralized functions with skilled discovery resources on hand.  This session will focus on innovative options to strike the right balance between insourcing and outsourcing to achieve high levels of cost savings.

Speakers are: Pamela M. Pearson, Managing Counsel, Wells Fargo; Constance Mockaitis, Manager, eDiscovery Legal Operations, AbbVie, Inc.; Jenya Moshkovich, Associate, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler.  Moderator: Stacie Neeter, Senior Director, Huron Legal.

12:30 – 1:30 PM:

Day Two General Session: eDiscovery without the Strings Attached: how the Cloud will Change eDiscovery in 2014 and Beyond – Open to All

Since the inception of eDiscovery, the range of technology solutions available – to help organizations address growing data volumes and rapidly respond to a legal matter – have been somewhat limited.  Options included buying and deploying software for use behind the firewall, or paying a third party to host the technology for you.  The Cloud is changing the paradigm and providing those organizations that don’t have the infrastructure and resources for an in-house solution, or that don’t have the appetite to pay additional fees to a middle man, with a third viable option.  In this session, learn how Cloud-based solutions will change the face of eDiscovery by combining control and flexibility with convenience and cost efficiency.

Panelists are: Timothy Carroll, Partner, Perkins Coie LLP; Alan M. Winchester, Partner, Harris Beach PLLC; Gareth Evans, Partner,Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.  Moderator: George Tziahanas, SVP, Legal and Compliance Solutions, HP Autonomy.

2:00 – 3:15 PM:

Advice from Counsel: One Small Step for E-Discovery, A Giant Leap for Information Governance?

For the fifth consecutive year, the Advice from Counsel survey captures the top e-discovery trends for corporate counsel of Fortune 1000 companies.  This year the survey focuses on the intersection of e-discovery and information governance. Just as common e-discovery workflow and technology can help legal teams  proactively manage data as part of a broader information governance strategy, these strategies promise to reshape e-discovery practices in the coming years. Whether in-house or outside counsel, attendees will learn how leading-edge companies are approaching information governance and how this will impact legal processes for years to come.

Panelists are: Marla Bergman, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs; Anthony Knaapen, Manager of Litigation Discovery, Chevron; Ari Kaplan, Principal, Ari Kaplan Advisors.  Moderator: Sophie Ross, Senior Managing Director, FTI Technology.

The End of Predictive Coding?

2012 was haled as the year of predictive coding. 2013 was declared to be the year of information governance. So as 2014 begins we are faced with the question of what’s next in eDiscovery? In this session we will explore how the concept of predictive coding has evolved and consider if 2014 will mark the end of predictive coding as we know it. Come to learn how the barrier between lawyer and machine is eroding and how real time interaction with advanced analytics is the next big thing in eDiscovery.

Panelists are: Steve Berrent, WilmerHale; Drew Lewis, Recommind.  Moderator: Phil Favro, Recommind.

The Ediscovery Pulse: Metrics You Need to Know

If you have been looking for benchmarks to compare, forecast, or evaluate your ediscovery performance, this session is for you! A panel of judges and ediscovery experts will review and discuss real-time, trended data pulled from thousands of consolidated matters that show key trends and changes in the ediscovery market. Examples of the metrics our panel will discuss include:

  • The average number of custodians per matter
  • The percentage of data processed that is email
  • The average number of produced gigabytes

Panelists are: Wendy Butler Curtis, Orrick; Emily Cobb, Ropes & Gray; Eli Nelson, McKenna Long & Aldridge; Lynn Looby, Dow Chemical.  Moderator: Dean Hager, President & CEO, Kroll Ontrack.

Dispelling Myths: Understanding the Risks of Discovery Outsourcing

Outsourcing discovery is not a new concept in today’s legal landscape. Clients and counsel are always looking for new and innovative ways to balance the duty to preserve and produce information while attempting to add predictability with ever-growing legal expenses. Many law departments have formed strong opinions about whether outsourcing all or some portion of the discovery function is the best approach for their organization. While some view outsourcing as an important part of managing their discovery workload and scaling to meet the unpredictable demand, others shy away from using outside resources. Over time, competing opinions have given rise to confusion, fears and myths that may prevent companies from reaching the most efficient, affordable and effective balance in the discovery process. This session will focus on dispelling the myths often associated with outsourcing and will discuss a range of options, models and lessons learned through years of experience.

Panelists are: Dustin Guzior, Desmarais LLP; David Stanton, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP; Tom Mullane, United Technologies Corp. (UTC); Dawson Horn, American International Group (AIG).  Moderator: Royce Cohen, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP.

3:45 – 5:00 PM:

Global Discovery: Asia, Europe and Beyond

Even if you are not handling matters in Asia or Europe today, you will be within the next three years. From country-specific data privacy laws to cultural and language differences, US-based companies and firms have a number of challenges when conducting cost-effective and defensible e-discovery practices overseas. Incorporating survey results from leading e-discovery practitioners in Asia and Europe, this panel will provide US-based attorneys with a framework for managing multinational discovery matters effectively.

Attendees of this session will learn about:

  • The evolving data privacy regulatory environment across Asia and Europe
  • Common cross border scenarios and key “dos and don’ts” for maintaining data privacy compliance
  • Case studies of recent multinational discovery projects and additional resources

Panelists are: Craig Earnshaw, Senior Managing Director, FTI Technology; David Horrigan, Analyst & Counsel, Content Compliance and Legal Technologies,451; Gareth Evans, Partner, Gibson Dunn; Ellen Frye, Litigation Associate, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP; Jennifer Hamilton, Senior & Global eDiscovery Counsel, John Deere.

Navigating the Technology Minefield – Managing Discovery Challenges from the Cloud, Social Media and BYOD

Just as organizations were becoming comfortable managing discovery within traditional IT environments, technology leaps forward, presenting new opportunities and new challenges.  The growth of emerging technologies such as Cloud Computing, Social Media and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has enabled organizations to reduce costs, while improving scalability, productivity, visibility, communications and customer service.  These innovations, combined with increasing globalization, also introduce new information management challenges and potentially security and privacy risks.  Today’s environment requires new strategies, governance, policies, procedures and systems to effectively manage data and administer a successful discovery program.

Panelists are: Dan Coppola, Huron Legal; Sabrina Mizrachi, FMC Corporation; Jeff Fuisz, Kaye Scholer.

In addition to these, there are other eDiscovery-related sessions today.  For a complete description for all sessions today, click here.

So, what do you think?  Did you make it into 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 Discovery. eDiscoveryDaily is made available by CloudNine Discovery solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscoveryDaily 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 2014! – eDiscovery Trends
 

Today is the start of LegalTech® New York 2014 (LTNY) and, for the fourth year in a row, eDiscoveryDaily 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 over 218 exhibitors providing information on their products and services.

While at the show, we will (also for the fourth year in a row!) be interviewing several industry thought leaders to see what they think are the significant trends for 2014 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!

Perform a “find” on today’s LTNY conference schedule for “discovery” or “information governance” and you’ll get 60 hits.  So, there is plenty to talk about!  Sessions in the main conference tracks include:

10:30 – 11:45 AM:

Cost Control – Enterprise Discovery Management Metrics and Repeatable Processes

The need for electronic discovery will not diminish in the short term which invites an opportunity to apply quantitative methods into the process in order to more effectively manage the people, process and technology.  Tools and techniques, which can provide appropriate Project Planning which can lead to efficient/comprehensive Project Execution, Monitoring and Control.  Lastly, capturing metrics/lessons learned for integration into the Optimization of the enterprise process is a key component contributing to process maturity.

  1. Breakdown of EDRM In-house and Teaming with your Service Provider (5 minutes)
  2. Project Planning – Types of information which help with decision making and cost avoidance
  3. Project Execution – Develop/Acquire Project Team, Quality Assurance, Information Distribution
  4. Monitoring – Real-time reporting on Process, People and leveraging Technology
  5. Lessons Learned – Leveraging Organizational Process Assets (“OPAs”)

Panelists are: Kelly Lack, Counsel, Pacific Gas & Electric Company; Brett Tarr, Director of eDiscovery, Caesars Entertainment, Inc.; Scott A. Carlson, Chair, National eDiscovery Practice Group, Seyfarth Shaw LLP.  Moderator: Rick Nalle, Director, Forensic Technology Services, KPMG LLP.

Is the Best Defense a Good Offense? Proactively Manage Information Governance to Control eDiscovery

The sheer volume of enterprise data is permanently affecting how organizations prepare for eDiscovery.  Even with advanced predictive analytics, it is fast becoming a mathematical impossibility to respond quickly and efficiently to a legal matter when nets are cast wide across many data silos.   This expert panel discusses information governance best practices that can help you proactively prepare for litigation, using methodologies that drive down time and cost while retaining quality and defensibility.

Panelists are: Bennett B. Borden, Co-chair of the Information Governance and eDiscovery Group, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP; Barry Murphy, Co-Founder, Principal Analyst, eDJ Group, Inc; Jason R. Baron, Information Governance and eDiscovery Group, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP.  Moderator: Brian Weiss, VP Subject Matter Experts, HP Autonomy.

Optimizing People, Process, and Technology to Minimize the Total Cost of Discovery

This session will explore how corporate legal departments can take a holistic approach to discovery strategy, and better understand the primary factors that drive cost – people, process, and technology. By optimizing each of these factors, the discovery process becomes more predictable, efficient, and cost-effective:

People: Are the right resources performing each task in the discovery process? Is each participant in the process working to his/her core competencies?

Process: Is the process defined and documented? Does it appropriately balance efficiency and risk-reduction? Are effective QC and QA measures incorporated?

Technology: Is the organization taking full advantage of available technologies, consistent with its risk tolerance? Are outdated technologies driving greater expense and inefficiency?

Speakers are: Maureen O’Neill, SVP, Discovery Strategy (West), DiscoverReady; Casey Flaherty, Corporate Counsel, Kia Motors; Jessica Watts, Associate General Counsel – Discovery, Hewlett-Packard; Alex Ponce de Leon, Discovery Counsel, Intel Corporation; Marla Bergman, Vice President, Associate General Counsel Legal and Regulatory Proceedings, Goldman Sachs.

Doing It Right:  Combining Technology and Cooperation in eDiscovery

“Cooperation” and “transparency” became the buzzwords in 2008, when The Sedona Conference issued its Cooperation Proclamation.  Since then, the world of e-discovery has evolved at warp speed.  Volume has exploded.  Complexity has increased.  Judicial expectations have evolved.  At the center of it all, advancing technology has changed everything.. 

Ariana Tadler, Partner at Milberg LLP and Chair Emeritus, as well as an active member of The Sedona Conference® Steering Committee for Working Group I, leads a panel of eDiscovery thought leaders and practice experts in an overview of eDiscovery in 2014:

Attend this session to learn more about how to proactively combine technology and cooperation to “do e-discovery right,” including:

  • When and how to use cutting edge technologies – and when to avoid them
  • Updates on current “best practices” and judicial expectations
  • How to cooperate in the world of technology-assisted review
  • How to deal with the “pretend cooperator”

Gain from the experience and expertise of seasoned eDiscovery professionals in this mixture of discourse and dialogue.

Panelists are: Maura R. Grossman, Of Counsel, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Ronni Solomon, Partner, King & Spalding; Conor Crowley, Chair of the Steering Committee, The Sedona Conference Working Group on Best Practices for Electronic Document Retention and Production.  Moderator: Ariana J. Tadler, Partner, Milberg LLP.

2:00 – 3:15 PM:

The New Frontier: Predictive Coding for Information Governance

Predictive coding is widely used in e-discovery, and its defensibility has been broadly recognized in US courts. The question is — can the same technology be used to implement an organization’s information governance policy? The basic concept is simple: train the predictive coding system to identify documents belonging to the organization’s retention categories. But does it work?  How do you start? Who should own the process? What are the challenges? What are the benefits? And is it defensible? In this session, our panel will address these issues, bringing to bear their first-hand experience, over the last year, in groundbreaking predictive coding projects in the information governance space.

Panelists are: John Rosenthal, Partner, Chair, E-discovery and Information Management Practice, Winston & Strawn; Bennett Borden, Partner, Drinker Biddle; Barclay Blair, President, ViaLumina; Laura Kibbe, Managing Director, Expert & Professional Services, Epiq. Moderator: Warwick Sharp, Vice President Marketing and Business Development, Equivio.

The Evolution, Uses, and Case Studies of Technology Assisted Review

Many forms of what is called “Technology Assisted Review” (TAR) exist today. Once a controversial and heavily scrutinized method of analysis and review is now gaining mainstream acceptance. Join this session to hear about recent case opinions on TAR and how its variations are applied to specific use cases.

Panelists are: Anthony J. Diana, Partner, Mayer Brown; Maura R. Grossman, Of Counsel, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; The Honorable Dave Waxse, U.S. Magistrate Judge, District of Kansas. Moderator: Eric Crespolini, VP eDiscovery Solutions, HP Autonomy.

Dipping a Toe in the Waters of Predictive Coding and Advanced Analytics – How to Use a Little Cutting-Edge Technology to Make Document Review a Lot Better

This panel will examine the lowest-risk use cases for incorporating predictive coding, statistical sampling, and other advanced analytics into a document review workflow, with little added risk or disruption to established processes. Attendees will come away with ideas for “painless” ways of adopting these tools to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of document review, such as:

  • Prioritizing review
  • Reviewer QC
  • Basic statistical sampling for quality control and quality assurance
  • The latest techniques for email near-dupe grouping and threading
  • Coding propagation

Speakers are: Matt Miller, SVP, Discovery Strategy (East), DiscoverReady; Michelle Spak, Senior Counsel, Duke Energy; Marty Thompson, Senior Counsel, Hess Corporation; Shannon Capone Kirk, E-Discovery Counsel, Ropes & Gray; Thom Wisinski, Chief Knowledge Officer, Haynes & Boone LLP.

Information Governance Best Practices: Taking your Organization to the Next Level

Find out why regulatory compliance and its enforcement ranked as the second most significant threat to organizational growth after economic uncertainty.

  • Do you know how poorly controlled data governance programs increase legal and regulatory risk?
  • Do you know how data is identified, collected, and used during litigation and investigations
  • Can you articulate how to improve compliance, data privacy and information security relative to data governance?

Join Grant Thornton’s Johnny Lee and a panel of experts’ in an in-depth look at the business, litigation and compliance drivers of data governance.  Find out why compliance, IT and legal expert s must collaborate to design sustainable policies and learn how case law, technology and best practices are used as the framework for sound Information Governance practices that mitigate risk.

Panelists are: David Horrigan, Esq., Analyst & Counsel, Content Compliance & Legal Technologies, 451 Research; M. Darren Traub, Partner, Litigation Practice Group, Akerman; Joshua R. Cohen, Partner, Garson DeCorato & Cohen LLP; Gail L. Gottehrer, Partner, Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP. Moderator: Johnny Lee, Managing Director – Forensic, Investigative & Dispute Services, Grant Thornton LLP.

3:45 – 5:00 PM:

The Three Rs of Enterprise Discovery Management

As the electronic discovery industry continues to mature, so must the underlying processes. Enterprises are moving away from an ad-hoc, single-matter reactive response model managed by outside counsel toward the creation of an internally-managed, e-discovery eco-system built on three fundamental Rs:

  • Reduce the volume of data potentially subject to e-Discovery
  • Re-use work product ranging from privilege keyword lists to past production sets
  • Recycle past project knowledge and transform this information into not only more efficient e-Discovery methodologies, but also process improvements that can help the business.

Panelists are: Michael Fluhr, Discovery Counsel, Carroll Burdick & McDonough LLP; Kim-An Hernandez, Senior Counsel, International Paper Company; David Stanton, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. Moderator: Daryl Teshima, Managing Director, Forensic Technology, KPMG LLP.

E-Discovery Caselaw Update

Each year, courts across the country issue hundreds of decisions addressing e-discovery issues. In this program, the panel will take a look at the most significant decisions over the last year, and analyze the state of the law on the most important issues. They will also share their views on how the opinions in 2013 foreshadow trends in 2014.

Speakers are: Amy Hinzmann, SVP, Managed Review, DiscoverReady; Ruth Hauswirth, Special Counsel and Director of Litigation and E-Discovery, Cooley LLP; Scott Coonan, Senior Director of IP, Litigation & Strategy, Juniper Networks; Kelly Lack, Attorney, Litigation Group, Pacific Gas & Electric Company; Jay C. Carle, Partner, E-Discovery and Information Governance, Seyfarth Shaw.

eDiscovery Ethics

The world of eDiscovery hinges on what comes down from the bench.  This session will feature a one-on-one casual conversation on the state of today’s eDiscovery market.  Hear from Judges Andrew Peck and James C. Francis as they discuss their views on the pertinent challenges and issues facing the industry today.  This intimate session will allow attendees true insight into the view from the bench to fully understand where the market is heading and how to best keep ahead of the game.

Speakers are: Honorable James C. Francis, United States Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York; Honorable Andrew J. Peck, United States Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York. Moderator: Anita Engles, Vice President of Product Marketing, Daegis.

In addition to these, there are other eDiscovery-related sessions today.  For a complete description for all sessions today, click here.

eDiscoveryDaily will also be “tweeting” periodically throughout LTNY, so feel free to check out our updates at twitter.com/Cloud9Discovery.

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 Discovery. eDiscoveryDaily is made available by CloudNine Discovery solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscoveryDaily 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’re Going to Attend Just One Session at LegalTech Next Week, Make it This Session – eDiscovery Best Practices

In just a few days, there will be big happenings in the New York area!  No, I’m not talking about the big game, I’m talking about the biggest legal technology event of the year, LegalTech New York (LTNY).  If you’re going to be attending the conference this year (and, if not, why not?), here is a session that is a “must attend” for anyone who wants to know leading judges’ perspectives on eDiscovery rules changes and best practices.

On Day 2 of the conference, Wednesday, February 5 at 9:00am, eDiscovery industry expert Craig Ball will lead a discussion with five renowned judges who have had significant impact on how lawyers manage legal technology.  The Day Two Keynote General Session Presentation – Judges Panel: Changing Rules and Best Practices in e-Discovery will include Craig and the following judges:

  • Honorable Lee H. Rosenthal, United States District Judge, Southern District of Texas
  • Honorable Shira A. Scheindlin, United States District Judge, Southern District of New York
  • Honorable John M. Facciola, United States Magistrate Judge, District of Columbia
  • Honorable James C. Francis, United States Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York
  • Honorable Andrew J. Peck, United States Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York

Most of these judges were discussed in Lisa Holton’s article (E-Discovery: A Front-Row Seat) as “trailblazing” judges in The American Lawyer (we covered it here) and we’ve covered a number of their decisions and opinions over the history of this blog.

As the summary of the session notes, when it comes to legal technology, few names are more synonymous with the industry than these panelists.  Craig will lead the discussion, as the judges share their views on today’s legal landscape with an eye towards what the future holds.  These eDiscovery pioneers will share their experiences and viewpoints to help attendees best prepare for the law and practice of tomorrow.

Craig referenced the session in his own excellent blog, Ball in Your Court, here. As Craig notes, “The judges will be discussing some of what you might expect, e.g., proposed Rules amendments, predictive coding, Rule 502 and expectations of lawyer technical competence.  We will also be exploring a few fresh issues, like the impact all those little screens are having on everyone in and out of court.”   Craig also indicated that there was “still time to add topics and questions of interest to you” – if there is a topic you would like him to cover, you can post a comment to his blog post here or email him at craig@ball.net.

Because this session is a Keynote General Session, it’s open to all attendees, so, if you’re at the show next week, this session is a must see.  Don’t miss it!

LTNY starts next Tuesday and eDiscovery Daily will be covering the show for the fourth straight year.  We will also be conducted our thought leader interview series at the show again for the fourth straight year as well!  After the show, we will publish the schedule for posting the interviews.  Stay tuned!

So, what do you think?  Are you attending LTNY this year?  Do you plan to attend this session?  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 Discovery. eDiscoveryDaily is made available by CloudNine Discovery solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscoveryDaily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.