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Electronic Discovery

EDRM Isn’t THE WORD, It’s 300 Pages of Words (Terms): eDiscovery Best Practices

As I fly back home to flooded Houston after an enjoyable and successful ACEDS conference (and try to type this while the guy in front of me insists on reclining his seat), it’s worth noting that other stuff is going on too.  One notable item from this week is that EDRM released (or should I say re-released) its Glossary of Terms.

While the Glossary existed before, it wasn’t previously available in a downloadable PDF format.  Now it is.  It doesn’t just provide terms from “A” to “Z” – it provides terms from “1” – i.e., SEC Rule 10b(5) – to “.E” – i.e., .Ex01 File.  317 total pages of defined terms in all, with some described in just a sentence and others described over as much as a page.  The Glossary not only provides a detailed definition of each term, it also identifies the source of that term and its definition.  Examples:

  • While you might think “Bag and Tag” (page 24) is what I did with my luggage when I got to the airport today, it’s actually defined as “The process of receiving, recording, and securing client source data as evidence. The first link in the chain of custody.” (come to think of it, that’s pretty similar)
  • While you might think that “Comic Mode” (page 54) is something that a comedian goes into before a show, it’s actually defined as “Human-readable data, recorded on a strip of film which can be read when the film is moved horizontally to the reader.”
  • While you might think that a “Family Range” (page 114) is land owned by a wealthy Texas rancher, it’s actually defined as “the range of documents from the first Bates production number assigned to the first page of the top most parent document through the last Bates production number assigned to the last page of the last child document.”

Get the idea?

In downloadable and easily searchable form, it can serve as a handy reference if you run across a term that you’re not familiar with during your discovery activities.

EDRM also provides six specialized glossaries that you can reference for specific subsets (these terms and others are also included in the main downloadable glossary).  They are:

  • EDRM Collection Standards Glossary: The EDRM Collection Standards Glossary is a glossary of terms defined as part of the EDRM Collection Standards.
  • EDRM Metrics Glossary: The EDRM Metrics Glossary contains definitions for terms used in connection with the updated EDRM Metrics Model published in June 2013.
  • EDRM Search Glossary: The EDRM Search Glossary is a list of terms related to searching ESI.
  • EDRM Search Guide Glossary: The EDRM Search Guide Glossary is part of the EDRM Search Guide. The EDRM Search Guide focuses on the search, retrieval and production of ESI within the larger e-discovery process described in the EDRM Model.
  • IGRM Glossary: The IGRM Glossary consists of commonly used Information Governance terms.
  • The Grossman-Cormack Glossary of Technology-Assisted Review: Developed by Maura Grossman of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Gordon Cormack of the University of Waterloo, the Grossman-Cormack Glossary of Technology-Assisted Review contains definitions for terms used in connect with the discovery processes referred to by various terms including Computer Assisted Review, Technology Assisted Review, and Predictive Coding.

All of the glossaries are available here to the general public.  If you think the glossary is missing any terms that need to be defined, you can also go here to submit a definition to EDRM.

Over the next few days, I will have some observations from the ACEDS conference.  But, that can wait until tomorrow – this guy in front of me is making it really hard to type.  :o(

So, what do you think?  Have you downloaded the EDRM glossary yet?  Please share any comments you might have with us or let us know if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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

Wednesday ACEDS Conference Sessions: eDiscovery Trends

The ACEDS conference concludes today after kicking off yesterday (and conducting pre-conference seminars the day before).  Let’s take a look at today’s sessions.

The conference is being held today and tomorrow at the Grand Hyatt New York (located at 109 East 42nd Street at Grand Central Terminal).  I will be covering the conference for eDiscovery Daily and will provide info about the sessions before each day, so that attendees will know what’s available.  And our parent company, CloudNine will be one of the exhibitors at the show, at booth #106.  If you’re there, come by and see us!

Unlike other conferences where I have to search for the sessions that relate to eDiscovery, I don’t have to do that here – they all relate to eDiscovery, Information Governance or Cybersecurity.  Here are the sessions for today, the last day of the conference:

8:00 – 9:00 AM:

The Anatomy of a Tweet

Social media is increasingly important to many civil and criminal cases, but do you know how to securely and accurately preserve a Tweet or Facebook post? Social media is dynamic and fluid, so the standards that apply in other forms of discovery will simply not work in the social context. We have a panel of social media insiders who will explain how to obtain evidence from any social platform, with and without user login credentials.

Speakers: William Wilkinson, Director, Forensic Technology, BDO; Rob Robinson, Managing Director, Complex Discovery; Julie K. Brown, Litigation Technology Manager, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP; Calvin Weeks, Computer Forensics Manager, Eide Bailly LLP.

Establishing the Parameters of Ethical Conduct in the Legal Technology Industry – LTPI Working Session

Eric Mandel, Board of Directors for the Legal Technology Professionals Institute (LTPI) will facilitate an open workshop on the proposed ethical standards for eDiscovery Professionals. The LTPI Ethical framework will include: Operational guidance for developing an ethical framework for legal technology professionals, focusing particularly on:

  • Good faith basis in work recommended
  • Reasonableness in efforts
  • Reasonableness in costs
  • Usability for end purposes
  • Fidelity of processes (no “lossiness”)
  • Compliance with laws governing disclosures
  • Accuracy of results
  • Usability to all stakeholders or consumers
  • Ability to certify the foregoing in good faith

Speaker: Eric Mandel, Chair and President, Legal Technology Professionals Institute.

Women to Know: What’s Your Pitch/What’s Your Story

Speakers: David Cowen, President and Managing Director, The Cowen Group; Tania Mabrey, Founder, Sagacity Technology Consultants LLC.

The Essence of E-Discovery Education

E-Discovery education presents unique challenges for lawyers, paralegals, litigation professionals, and judges. This panel will explore educational pathways integrating e-discovery law, technology and practice in degree programs, certification programs, training programs, and continuing legal education that will highlight recommendations on how to teach e-discovery as well as what prospective students should look for in a quality e-discovery educational program.

Speakers: Rachel See, Lead Technology Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board; Bill Hamilton, Faculty and Executive Director, University of Florida Law, International Center for Automated Information Retrieval; Vice-Chancellor Bryan University; Hon. James C. Francis IV, US Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York.

9:30 – 10:30 AM:

GENERAL SESSION: Tracking Terrorism in the Digital Age & Its Lessons for EDiscovery – Judicial Perspectives

The FBI and Apple Computers are now locked in a court battle over how to unlock an iPhone 5C belonging to Syed Farook, the San Bernardino terror shooter. But this battle is just one small piece of a larger fight over digital privacy, terrorism, and security that will not be settled anytime soon.

The recent terror attacks in California, Paris, Turkey, Beirut, and elsewhere are a terrible human tragedy and we join the worldwide condemnation and offer our deepest sympathies to the victims. But as e-discovery specialists, we are now at the forefront of the fight to bring these criminals to justice, and seek to help advance the science and understanding of terror networks so as to help bring perpetrators to justice and prevent future atrocities.

This panel of Judges will discuss how they battle terrorism in the digital realm.

Speakers: Ronald J. Hedges, Principal, Ronald J. Hedges LLC; Hon. James C. Francis IV, US Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York; Hon. Matthew Sciarrino, Jr, Judge, New York State Supreme Court – Criminal Term – Kings County; Hon. Xavier Rodriguez, US District Judge, US District Court, Western District of Texas.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM:

“Bring it In” House

Many of the warhorses of the litigation support industry were first created in the 1980s. While they were groundbreaking when initially released, there is plenty of new technology available to create your own litigation workflow. We’ve brought in experts who can explain alternative platforms- including cloud-based services and mobile applications. They will show how to build litigation workflows that work for your firm and how to secure data beyond the basic security options found in many software platforms. In addition, we will also show you an important third option for the tech savviest attorneys- building your own in-house platform from free or inexpensive software.

Speakers: George Socha, President & Founder, Socha Consulting, LLC; Julie K. Brown, Litigation Technology Manager, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP; Tina Garbarino, Manager of the e-Discovery Services Team at NBCUniversal.

EDna Challenge Part 2

A few years ago, Craig Ball wrote a widely-read and influential paper called “E-Discovery for Everybody: The EDna Challenge.”  Craig asked a group of e-discovery experts how they recommended conducting e-discovery in a case involving a budget of only $1,000. Recognizing that e-discovery costs have increased exponentially, we’ve assembled an all-star panel to revisit the question for 2016 on a $5000 budget. You will learn proven and cost-effective methods as well as some creative new ways to do discovery on a shoestring budget.

Speakers: Tania Mabrey, Founder, Sagacity Technology Consultants LLC; Craig D. Ball, ESI Special Master, Computer Forensic Examiner and Attorney; Tom O’Connor, Senior ESI Consultant, Advanced Discovery.

The Living Dead of E-Discovery

Long after a case is dead and buried, the data often lives on, haunting its former owners. Too many of us keep data from old cases, which only raises costs and creates potentially dangerous security risks. For example, how do you delete data stored with outside counsel or in the cloud or on a third-party’s servers? ESI from old cases increases the risk of a data breach, particularly when the ESI contains PHI and PII. Our panel will address this vital but often ignored aspect of modern litigation.

Speakers: Rachel See, Lead Technology Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board; Cindy MacBean, Manager of Litigation Support Services at Watt Tieder law firm in McLean; Alex Ponce de Leon, Discovery Counsel, Google, Inc.; Chris Dix, Attorney, Smith Hulsey & Busey.

12:00 – 1:15 PM:

ACEDS Awards Luncheon

Honoring Craig Ball of Craig D. Ball, P.C., Allison Brecher of Marsh and McLennan, Sheila Grela of Kennedy and Souza and Kim Taylor of Ipro.

1:15 – 2:15 PM:

The Crystal “Ball”: A Look Into the Future of E-Discovery

Craig Ball will look out into the future and lay out a roadmap for the ACEDS community to contribute to justice and efficiency. Craig is known as a speaker who pulls no punches. Expect an incisive talk spanning forensics, the cloud, legal ethics and creative ways to solve disputes involving technology in the legal system and what you can do to stay competent in EDiscovery as the landscape continuously changes.

Speaker: Craig D. Ball, ESI Special Master, Computer Forensic Examiner and Attorney.

2:45 – 3:45 PM:

Metrics That Matter

The Six Sigma for E-Discovery session will present an overview of how e-discovery professionals can use Six Sigma to improve to quality and efficiency of their processes. Topics will include a discussion on collecting and using metrics, along with a briefing on basic statistical terms. Attendees will also be introduced to Six Sigma based team management tools that support the effective (and ethical) management of e-discovery projects, including, communication protocols, process mapping, and assessing the costs of poor quality.

Speakers: Scott M. Cohen, Director of E-Discovery & Information Governance, Winston & Strawn LLP; Kimberly Williams, Founder and CEO, RedShift Legal, Inc.

Avoiding Sanctions in 2016

With the new Rule 37(e), the Federal Rules now reserve the most severe sanctions only for cases in which one party destroys or withholds evidence with an intent to deprive the other party. In theory, this means that means that it will be harder for parties to be sanctioned for a failure to preserve evidence, provided good faith efforts were made. Of course, reality is always more complicated. Find out how the law is evolving to meet this new standard and what is now considered a sanctionable offense in e-discovery. Current cases with a Rules focus will be explored.

Speakers: Alex Ponce de Leon, Discovery Counsel, Google, Inc.; Alvin F. Lindsay, CEDS, Partner, Hogan Lovells, Miami; Hon. Xavier Rodriguez, US District Judge, US District Court, Western District of Texas.

Master Class: Interviewing in eDiscovery

Ever wished you could be a fly on the wall for a real interview in a law firm or eDiscovery vendor? Now is your chance! TRU Staffing Partners’ founder and CEO, Jared Coseglia, will be teaching a one-of-a-kind Master Class on “Interviewing in eDiscovery.” This interactive session will feature mock interviews with actual professionals in the industry intermingled with coaching from one of the foremost global leaders in legal technology career representation and staffing. The event will include a variety of interviews including an eDiscovery project manager, a technical litigation support analyst, and an eDiscovery consultant in a theatrical environment for all to observe and ask questions. Attendees will gain valuable insight on how to ask the right questions (as potential employer and employee), how to position yourself for the right role, how to better prepare for the interview, how to talk about compensation, and more.

Speakers: James Bekier, Director of Litigation Services for Baker Hostetler; Jared M. Coseglia, Founder & CEO, TRU Staffing Partners; Philip Favro, Consultant, Discovery & Information Governance, Driven, Inc.

ProBono: Planning, Strategies and Implementations

We all want to use our talents to give back to the world, but often don’t know how. This ACEDS webinar will tell you how to find pro bono legal work that makes you happy while making the world a little better. Pro bono organizations need all kinds of help- training, co-counsel work, as well as goods and services. Our presenters will tell you how to figure out where your natural talents are and how to integrate pro bono work with your life and career so that it is a not burden, but a joy.

Speakers: Suzanne Clark, Attorney, eDiCT, LLC; Tom O’Connor, Senior ESI Consultant, Advanced Discovery.

Hope to see you there!

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

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

Welcome to the ACEDS Conference!: eDiscovery Trends

The ACEDS conference informally kicked off yesterday with its pre-conference seminars and I enjoyed “talking shop” (from a blogging perspective) with Rob Robinson, Robin Thompson, Ari Kaplan and Tom O’Connor (among others).  Now, that the appetizer is out of the way, let’s move on to the main course!

The conference is being held today and tomorrow at the Grand Hyatt New York (located at 109 East 42nd Street at Grand Central Terminal).  I will be covering the conference for eDiscovery Daily and will provide info about the sessions before each day, so that attendees will know what’s available.  And our parent company, CloudNine will be one of the exhibitors at the show, at booth #106.  If you’re there, come by and see us!

Unlike other conferences where I have to search for the sessions that relate to eDiscovery, I don’t have to do that here – they all relate to eDiscovery, Information Governance or Cybersecurity.  Here are the sessions for today:

9:00 – 10:00 AM:

Future Forward Stewardship of Privacy and Security

David Shonka, Acting General Counsel for the Federal Trade Commission, will focus on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and its future forward stewardship of privacy and security.  Specific topics will include current regulatory frameworks, guidelines and recommendations, the FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp. case and observations on the Commentary on Privacy and Information Security: Principles and Guidelines for Lawyers, Law Firms, and Other Legal Service Providers published by The Sedona Conference™.

Speaker: David Shonka, Acting General Counsel for the Federal Trade Commission.

10:30 – 11:30 AM:

The Art & Science of Computer Forensics: Why Hillary Clinton’s Email & Tom Brady’s Cell Phone Matter

Ever wonder what a data forensic examiner is looking for or what they see during an investigation? Experienced forensic examiners will be on-hand to show you what digital evidence looks like, down to the bits and bytes of every piece of information. They will show you what is stored in a modern computer system, what metadata reveals, and what you can reasonably expect to find in a modern digital forensic examination. Other topics covered are:

  • Which recovered files/fragments are considered fact testimony vs. opinion testimony
  • A primer on getting your expert accepted by the court.
  • What written reports should look like
  • What are cost expectations for forensic examinations and what are realistic examination timelines in 2016.

Speakers: Christine Chalstrom, Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and President, Shepherd Data Services; David A. Greetham, CFE, Vice President, e-Discovery Operations, Ricoh Americas Corporation; Calvin Weeks, Computer Forensics Manager, Eide Bailly LLP; Stephanie L. Giammarco, Partner, BDO Consulting, New York.

The Secrets No One Tells You: Taking Control of Your Time, Projects, Meetings, and Other Workplace Time-Stealers

We all live under pressure. Clients, judges, attorneys, and bosses issue constant and often contradictory instructions. It’s a recipe for stress, pressure, dissatisfaction – unless you know Bill and Steve’s excellent survival secrets. In this high-energy, interactive session, they’ll share tips, tricks, and techniques for productive meetings, managing email and interruptions, kicking projects into gear, even figuring out what clients actually want. Steve and Bill will show you not just how to survive, but how to thrive in this environment. Bonus: bring your own questions and problems for some on-the-spot suggestions on taking control of a hectic work environment.

Speakers: Bill Speros, Attorney Consulting in Evidence Management, Speros & Associates, LLC; Steven B. Levy, CEO, Lexician.

Ethics Rules for the Tech Attorney

We all know that lawyers can’t be Luddites anymore. ABA Model Rule, Rule 1.1 says lawyers should keep up with changes in the law and its practice, “including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.”  But technical competence means a lot more than just knowing a few buzzwords and phrases. This panel that includes bar association ethics administrators, will get into the practical technical considerations every lawyer must understand and be able to critically assess in the course of representing a client in today’s digital world.

Speakers: Kiriaki Tourikis, Vice President, Assistant General Counsel, JPMorgan Chase; Ronald J. Hedges, Principal, Ronald J. Hedges LLC; Michael Simon, Principal of Seventh Samurai LLC.

Hiring & Retaining E-Discovery Leaders

In budget constrained environments, how do you attract and retain top talent? In ethically nuanced situations, how do you create an open, supportive environment that challenges people to be better?  How do you support your people while holding them accountable?  While it is easier to spot educational opportunities for hard skills, how do you expand the leadership potential of your team?

Speakers: David Cowen, President and Managing Director, The Cowen Group; Kenya Dixon, Assistant Director, Division of Litigation Technology and Analysis, Federal Trade Commission.

12:00 – 12:45 PM:

Piecing the Puzzle Together: Understanding How Associations can Enhance Your Career

Looking at the number of associations available, you may often find yourself trying to figure out what the benefit of joining each is and how each apart or together can most benefit your career. During this session, leaders from EDRM, Legal Technology Professionals Institute, ILTA, Women in eDiscovery, and others will give you a look into how each of them provide you the benefits of professional development, networking, and mentoring; how the benefits they provide work with other organizations and associations; and what they see the future holding.

Speakers: Beth Finkle, Executive Director, Women in e–Discovery; Bryn Bowen, CRM, Director of Information Services, Schulte Roth & Zabel; Stephen Dooley, Assistant Director of Electronic Discovery & Litigation Support, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; Maribel Rivera, Principal, Maribel Rivera Marketing; George Socha, President & Founder, Socha Consulting, LLC; Eric Mandel, Chair and President, Legal Technology Professionals Institute; Mary Mack, Executive Director, ACEDS.

2:00 – 3:00 PM:

Tracking Terrorism in the Digital Age & Its Lessons for EDiscovery – A Technical Approach

The FBI and Apple battle over how to unlock an iPhone 5C belonging to Syed Farook, the San Bernardino terror shooter is just one small piece of a larger fight over digital privacy, terrorism, and security that will not be settled anytime soon.

The recent terror attacks in California, Paris, Turkey, Beirut, and elsewhere are a terrible human tragedy and we join the worldwide condemnation and offer our deepest sympathies to the victims. But as computer forensics specialists, we are now at the forefront of the fight to bring these criminals to justice, and seek to help advance the science and understanding of terror networks so as to prevent future atrocities.

Join us at the ACEDS E-Discovery Conference in New York City as our expert discusses how to battle terrorism in the digital realm. In this session, we will discuss ominous trends, including:

  • Why terrorist plotters are able to avoid leaving digital clues or traceable evidence.
  • How encrypted communications tools are making it easier than ever for parties to hide, destroy, and obscure their data trails online.
  • Which encrypted communications tools are making it easier than ever for parties to hide, destroy, and obscure their data trails online.
  • How to break terrorism rings without violating privacy rights for the rest of us.

Speakers: Roy Zur, CEO, Cybint.

E-Discovery Project Management: Ask Forgiveness, Not Permission

Undertaking an organization-wide legal project management or PMO initiative within a corporate legal department, at a law firm or a service provider is not something to be undertaken lightly. The executive level buy-in, the resources needed, and the patience required can all be daunting. But quite apart from applying project management to overall operations, the question presented to this panel is whether project management methodologies may be applied in more discreet circumstances; specifically, to the e-discovery processes of the EDRM.  Several industry experts will discuss how project management may be used to maximize efficiency, control risk, and produce sound, defensible results across the EDRM without the high-level buy-in needed for an organization-wide initiative. Attendees will take away some best practices in project management and learn the small, important things that will make your electronic discovery projects successful.

Speakers: Jason D. Wallach, Partner, Blank Rome LLP; Albert J. Buckwalter, Director – Litigation Support Group, Department of Justice – Civil Rights Division; Mike Quartararo, Director of Litigation Support Services, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP.

The Limits of Proportionality

At the 2015 ACEDS E-Discovery Conference, Judge Grimm, a leading architect and proponent of the changes to FRCP 26(b), told the audience that proportionality had been “lost” in the old rules. He also argued that the new amendments to the Federal Rules will make it more likely that judges will actively enforce the requirement.  Even US Supreme Court Justice Roberts’ recently-issued “State of the Judiciary” report for 2016 emphasized the importance of the new proportionality rules.

Speakers: Bill Millican, Corporate Director of Training and Development, Xact Data Discovery; Alex Ponce de Leon, Discovery Counsel, Google, Inc.; Hon. Xavier Rodriguez, US District Judge, US District Court, Western District of Texas.

What Your Data Governance Team Can Do For You

In pursuit of e-discovery excellence, the data itself can present several challenges.  As companies encounter litigation requiring data collection, at the same time, companies are encountering a renaissance of insight and business value that can be derived from the very same data.  The team often at the helm of overseeing data management activities in pursuit of business value is Enterprise Data Governance.  Data Governance teams set policy, identify accountability for improving data, and ensure the organizations’ overall treatment of data is improving.  If you are asking any of the following as an e-discovery professional, your data governance team may be able to help you.

  • Where is the data I need? What does this stuff mean?  (Metadata)
  • Is this data any good? Should I be using it?  (Data Quality)
  • Who is responsible for this data set? (Stewardship)

Speaker: Laura Hahn, Senior Manager, Enterprise Data Governance, TD Ameritrade.

Financial Industry Roundtable (Invitation Only)

Closed session to practitioners in the financial industry to have candid conversations about the solutions and challenges in this particular market.  This session will not be recorded and no materials will be distributed.  Possible topics include: voice, archiving, trade reconciliation, Advanced use of TAR and suggestions are welcome.

Speaker: Jason Velasco, eDiscovery Engineering and Architecture, Deutsche Bank.

Using Analytics & Visualizations to Gain Better Insight into Your Data

Big Data plays a big role in litigation for many law firms and organizations. Having the ability to cull down your data earlier in the litigation cycle enables your firm or organization to work more efficiently and competitively. Technology is increasingly playing a key role in helping firms and organizations effectively identify and manage the data most important to your litigation. This session will discuss the emerging trends around analytics in e-Discovery, and how your firm or organization can implement best practices to ensure the highest quality results at a lower cost than traditional document reviews.

Speaker: Dean Kuhlmann, Vice President of Business Development, Brainspace.

3:30 – 4:30 PM:

Defending and Defeating TAR

This session focuses on three sets of TAR’s purported capabilities from two alternative perspectives:  How to defeat TAR’s use or to defend it.

It is led by Judge Ron Hedges who describes the challenge and invites observations from three attorneys who have lead e-discovery projects for a combined 50+ years—and they live to tell about it—and invites observations from you.

Speakers: Gina Sansone, Manager of Litigation Support, AXINN; Bill Speros, Attorney Consulting in Evidence Management, Speros & Associates, LLC; Ronald J. Hedges, Principal, Ronald J. Hedges LLC; Adam Wright Strayer, Esq., Director leading Technology-Assisted Review.

Managing Your Project Manager’s Project Manager: Who’s On First?

Inevitably in any e-discovery matter, there can be as many as three project managers handling a case at any given time. Between the client, law firm and service provider, it’s often difficult to determine who should take the lead, direct traffic, manage budgets and most importantly, manage people. Steven Levy, author of Legal Project Management: Control Cost, Meet Schedules, Manage Risks and Maintain Sanity, will moderate this lively and challenging debate among project managers from all three perspectives to help organizations understand how to work together and manage the e-discovery process, lead the charge, understand boundaries, manage budgets and, most importantly, play nice together in the sandbox.

Speakers: Angelique Harris, Litigation Services Manager, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP; Todd Hartley, Counsel, Nissan North America, Inc.; Nick Reizen, Vice President of E-Discovery, Xact Data Discovery; Steven B. Levy, CEO, Lexician.

E-Discovery & Compliance

Contributing authors to the Thompson Reuters West treatise, eDiscovery for Corporate Counsel, will lead a spirited discussion of eDiscovery trends with a focus on how they affect the practice of corporate legal departments, including the overlap with compliance.

Speakers: Ignatius Grande, Senior E-Discovery Attorney/Director of Practice Support at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP; Alitia Faccone, Chief Marketing Officer at Wilentz, Goldman & Sptizer, P.C.; Philip H. Cohen, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, LLP; Kenneth N. Rashbaum, Partner, Barton LLP; Gregory V. Bell, Principal Attorney Editor, Thomson Reuters; Carole Basri, Adjunct Professor for Corporate Compliance at Fordham Law School.

Solving the Privilege Problem

The FRCP and the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) have given lawyers tools to avoid inadvertently waiving privilege in most e-discovery circumstances. However, in many cases, including some involving tech-savvy litigants like Facebook, Apple, and Samsung, parties have lost the privilege protection. This session will help parties avoid these mistakes once and for all. Topics include:

  • Handling privilege review in light of new Rules, case law, and technology
  • Sample 502, clawback and protective orders
  • How to obtain a workable 502(d) order

Speakers: James L. Bernard, Partner, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP; Helen Bergman Moure, Principal, Lex Aperta; Philip Favro, Consultant, Discovery & Information Governance, Driven, Inc..

Hope to see you there!

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

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

ACEDS Starts Today! (Sort Of): eDiscovery Trends

As we noted in our “pre-game” look at the ACEDS conference, today is the first day of the conference!  Well, tomorrow is actually the first day of the conference, but today ACEDS will be offering three pre-conference seminars that should enable attendees identify better ways to address their cybersecurity needs, learn blogging tips and tricks from experienced bloggers (including me) and prepare for the CEDS exam.

These full day seminars should have something for everybody.  They are:

Pre-Conference CEDS Live Exam Prep Seminar

The Pre-Conference CEDS Live Exam Prep Seminar is the ultimate tool to teach you crucial knowledge of the e-discovery process and better prepare you for the Certified E-Discovery Specialist Certification exam. Once completed, you will be more prepared to become a CEDS and control costs and minimize risks associated with e-discovery. Subjects covered span a wide range of e-discovery knowledge: pre-litigation issues, sources of ESI, cost; budgeting, review methods and more.  Note: This event includes lunch on-site.

Instructor: Helen Bergman Moure, CEDS – Principal, Lex Aperta.  Rate: $495.

Cyber Security for Legal Professionals

The Cyber Security for Legal Professionals pre-conference seminar brings together global experts from government, industry, law firms and service providers to discuss and learn about pressing security issues with a special emphasis on e-discovery, evidence and risk mitigation. There will be a live ethical hacking/dark web demonstration, a discussion of the FTC’s trend forward enforcement around security and the Sedona Conference™ white paper on Security, what to expect when reporting to or being informed by the FBI about a breach, cyberinsuance and protocols for retaining evidence while ameliorating live threats.  A certificate of attendance will be given to attendees, and CLE will be applied for in NY, PA and CA.  Non-Member Price: $695, Member Price: $595, Government Price: $395.

Speakers: David Shonka, acting General Counsel for the FTC; Roy Zur, CEO of Cybint; SSA Jay Kramer, NYO Cyber Division; Courtney Lancaster, Fidelis Cybersecurity and Baltimore Chapter Lead for the Women’s Society of Cyber Jujitsu.

Law Student Blogger/Social Invitational

The Law Student Blogger/Social Invitational pre-conference seminar brings together global blogging and social participants from the eDiscovery and Legal Technology community with law students forward thinking enough to create and share their knowledge via online media while still in school. While our hosts Ari Kaplan, Rob Robinson, Doug Austin and Robin Thompson are prolific and accomplished online professionals, we expect to learn just as much from our law student attendees as our hosts. Expect a lively discussion, with tips on tools, methodologies and sources to contribute to justice, build a brand, maximize networks and to attract followers and potential employers.  Law Student Price: $100, Member Price: $295, Non-Member Price: $595.

Speakers: Ari Kaplan, Principal, Ari Kaplan Advisors; Rob Robinson, Managing Director, Complex Discovery; Doug Austin, Editor, eDiscovery Daily; Robin Athlyn Thompson, Vice President, Marketing, BIA.

Click here for more information or here to register.  You can still make it if you register promptly(!) this morning.  Tomorrow, the regular conference begins in earnest and I will be covering the conference for eDiscovery Daily and will provide info about the sessions before each day, so that attendees will know what’s available.  And our parent company, CloudNine will be one of the exhibitors at the show, at booth #106.  If you’re there, come by and see us!

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

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

Here is Your “Pre-Game” Look at The ACEDS Conference: eDiscovery Trends

It’s practically here!  The ACEDS conference is next week!  Here is a “pre-game” (i.e., “pre-conference”) look at some of the events at next week’s conference being held at the Grand Hyatt New York (located at 109 East 42nd Street at Grand Central Terminal) from Monday, the 18th through Wednesday, the 20th.

Next week, I will be covering the conference for eDiscovery Daily and will provide info about the sessions before each day, so that attendees will know what’s available.  And our parent company, CloudNine will be one of the exhibitors at the show, at booth #106.  If you’re there, come by and see us!

Here are a couple of notable events/sessions each day:

Monday, April 18:

This day is technically not the conference, but the pre-conference seminars at ACEDS and there are some good ones to choose from.

Obviously, I’m going to highlight the Law Student Blogger/Social Invitational seminar, which is designed to bring together blogging and social participants from the eDiscovery and Legal Technology community with law students forward thinking enough to create and share their knowledge (or consider doing so) via online media while still in school.  You’ll get to learn from experienced bloggers like Ari Kaplan, Rob Robinson, Robin Thompson and me!  We won’t have any tax tips on tax day, but will have plenty of blogging tips!  If you already have a blog or are interested in starting a blog, join us and learn about the benefits of blogging, how to get started, establishing your blogging workflow, avoiding liability and leveraging social media for professional and personal benefit.

Also, on Monday, EDRM is having its Spring Workshop on that Monday at the same venue in conjunction with the ACEDS conference as well, so if you’re an EDRM member, you can get a 25% discount for attending both.

Speaking of EDRM, they have just released a new EDRM model wall poster to serve as a training tool for legal professionals and eDiscovery practitioners.  Consider this the EDRM diagram “on steroids” – it replaces the Information Governance box with the full-fledged IGRM diagram and provides a brief description within each phase box of that corresponding phase.  Very useful!  In addition to the EDRM sponsors and EDRM’s affinity sponsor ACEDS recognized on the bottom of the poster, it’s cool to see eDiscovery Daily recognized as EDRM’s education partner.  :o)

Tuesday, April 19:

The conference starts in earnest!  The opening keynote presentation at 9am on Tuesday will be presented by David Shonka, Acting General Counsel for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who will discuss the FTC’s Future Forward Stewardship of Privacy and Security, covering current regulatory frameworks, guidelines and recommendations.  A very timely topic indeed!

At 2:00 on Tuesday is a session with an interesting title – E-Discovery Project Management: Ask Forgiveness, Not Permission, presented by Jason D. Wallach, Albert J. Buckwalter and Mike Quartararo.  They will discuss how project management may be used to maximize efficiency, control risk, and produce sound, defensible results across the EDRM without the high-level buy-in needed for an organization-wide initiative.  We need more project management related topics, so I will be interested to attend this session.

Wednesday, April 20:

Rise and shine!  At 8am, Rob Robinson, Julie Brown and Calvin Weeks will present The Anatomy of a Tweet, where they will discuss how to obtain evidence from any social platform, with and without user login credentials.

At 11am, Tania Mabrey, Craig Ball and Tom O’Connor will discuss the EDNA Challenge Part 2, where they follow up on Craig’s original challenge from a few years ago (discussed in his paper E-Discovery for Everybody: The EDna Challenge) to conduct eDiscovery in a case on a budget of only $1,000.  The new challenge is to do so at a cost of $5,000 (but then again, data volumes have risen dramatically, so it may be even more of a challenge).  At 1:15, Craig will also look into his crystal “Ball” (get it?) to discuss the future of eDiscovery.

To register for the conference, click here.  Prices vary, depending on a variety of factors, such as whether you’re an ACEDS member, employee of a government or non-profit organization, or student and whether you’re attending the entire conference or one of the pre-conference seminars.

So, what do you think?  Are you attending the ACEDS conference next week?  If not, why not?  Please share any comments you might have with us or let us know if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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

Well, That Didn’t Take Long! Apple v. the US Government Gears Up for Round Two: eDiscovery Trends

When the FBI was able to access the iPhone used by one of the gunmen in the San Bernardino terrorist shooting, effectively ending the six week dispute between Apple and the FBI over privacy and security, we said the battle was over – for now.  Apparently, “for now” was the same as “not for long”.

According to re/code (Apple-FBI Encryption Battle Shifts to New York, written by Dawn Chmielewski), the U.S. Attorney’s office notified a federal judge in Brooklyn on Friday that the government plans to press forward with its request to have Apple assist in unlocking a phone seized in a Brooklyn drug case, moving the low-profile case to center stage in the ongoing debate over encryption.

“The government’s application is not moot and the government continues to require Apple’s assistance in accessing the data that it is authorized to search by warrant,” U.S. Attorney Robert Capers wrote to the court.

Apple had requested a delay in the case until it could be determined whether the FBI’s new technique for hacking an iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino shooters could also unlock the device in the Brooklyn case.

Back in February, a federal judge ordered Apple to give investigators access to encrypted data on the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, a court order that Apple has fought, accusing the federal government of an “overreach” that could potentially breach the privacy of millions of customers.  That same day, Apple CEO Tim Cook published an open letter, pledging to fight the judge’s ruling that it should give FBI investigators access to encrypted data on the device.  And, the two sides battled over the issue in court until the FBI was successfully able to access the iPhone on its own toward the end of March.

As many predicted, it was only a matter of time before another dispute with a government agency over Apple security made its way to the courtroom.  When that government agency is not able to find a way to access the Apple device and requests assistance from the court, I would expect to see a long drawn-out court battle over the issue – one that privacy and security advocates will undoubtedly continue to debate.

So, what do you think?  Is this the case where the true battle between Apple and the US government will be waged?  Please share any comments you might have with us or let us know if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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

Beep, Beep! Terminating Sanctions against Defendant for Spoliation Affirmed on Appeal: eDiscovery Case Law

As Wile E. Coyote has learned, you don’t want to mess with the Roadrunner.  Especially if you’ve been found to have willfully spoliated data…  :o)

In Roadrunner Transportation Services, Inc. v. Tarwater, Nos. 15-55448 and 14-55529 (9th Cir., Mar. 18, 2016), the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s entry of default judgment and award of attorneys’ fees in favor of the plaintiff, ruling that the district court did not abuse its discretion by entering default judgment as a sanction for the defendant’s deletion of data from his laptop computers .  The Ninth Circuit also affirmed the district court’s award of $325,000 in attorneys’ fees to the plaintiff and also affirmed the lower court ruling to limit the plaintiff’s compensatory damages to the four customers specifically identified in the First Amended Complaint.

In considering the defendant’s appeal of the district court’s entry of default judgment and award of attorneys’ fees in favor of his former employer and the plaintiff’s cross-appeal of the district court’s compensatory damages award, the Ninth Circuit ruled, as follows:

“1. The district court did not abuse its discretion by entering default judgment as a sanction for Tarwater’s deletion of data from his laptop computers…There was ample evidence that Tarwater deleted emails and files on his laptops after receiving multiple preservation demands from Roadrunner, and even after the court explicitly ordered Tarwater to preserve “all data” on his electronic devices. In addition to Tarwater’s own admissions, a third-party computer expert concluded that files on one of Tarwater’s devices had been deleted and overwritten during the litigation, and that the deletions likely “bypasse[d] the [computer’s] Recycle Bin” through a user-initiated process. In light of the evidence of spoliation, and the nature of Roadrunner’s claims, the district court did not clearly err in finding that Tarwater willfully destroyed the data, that Roadrunner had been deprived of its “primary evidence of Tarwater’s alleged misappropriation and related misconduct,” and that a less drastic sanction could not have adequately redressed the prejudice to Roadrunner.”

“2. The district court did not abuse its discretion by awarding Roadrunner $325,000 in attorneys’ fees…The court carefully considered the billing entries and reasonableness of the hourly rates for Roadrunner’s attorneys and reduced the award to reflect an appropriate level of staffing for the case. The district court also properly accounted for the degree of success achieved by Roadrunner, as well as the public’s interest in protecting trade secrets.”

“3. The district court properly limited Roadrunner’s compensatory damages to the four customers specifically identified in the First Amended Complaint.”

“AFFIRMED.”

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

We’re just one week away from the pre-conference seminars at ACEDS!  For the first time, ACEDS is offering a number of pre-conference events focused on some of the most important issues and trends in eDiscovery. These include a cybersecurity seminar addressing the recent data breaches at major law firms, a networking forum hosted by Women in E-Discovery, and the Law Student Blogger/Social Invitational pre-conference seminar with Ari Kaplan, Rob Robinson, Robin Thompson and me!  If you already have a blog or are interested in starting a blog, join us and learn about the benefits of blogging, how to get started, establishing your blogging workflow, avoiding liability and leveraging social media for professional and personal benefit.  Hope to see you in New York on Monday!

Image © Warner Bros.

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.

“Panama Papers” Hack Wasn’t an Inside Job, Says Founding Partner: eDiscovery Trends

It seems that everybody is talking about the huge data leak of 11.5 million documents (2.6 total TB of data – that’s right, terabytes) at Panama-based law firm Mossak Fonseca that appears to have exposed illicit offshore holdings of global political leaders and celebrities (among others), dubbed the “Panama Papers”.  Now, a founding partner at the firm has indicated that the leak was not an inside job.

“We rule out an inside job. This is not a leak. This is a hack,” founding partner Ramon Fonseca told Reuters at the company’s headquarters in Panama City’s business district.  “We have a theory and we are following it,” he continued, without elaborating.

“We have already made the relevant complaints to the Attorney General’s office, and there is a government institution studying the issue,” he added, flanked by two press advisers.

Claiming that “[t]he (emails) were taken out of context”, Fonseca said that “The only crime that has been proven is the hack.  No one is talking about that. That is the story.”

As the Reuters article notes, governments across the world have begun investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published a report on Monday based upon a yearlong study of some 2.6 TB of leaked data, mostly emails from the law firm that span four decades.

The papers have revealed financial arrangements of prominent figures, including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain and Pakistan and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the president of Ukraine.  On Tuesday, Iceland’s prime minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, resigned, becoming the first casualty of the leak.

The idea that the data was hacked externally as opposed to someone inside the firm stealing or copying a hard drive or tape seems difficult to believe.  It takes a long time to transmit 2.6 terabytes of data – we’re talking weeks, not days, of continuous transmission.  Either the firm was utterly clueless as their sensitive data was being pulled right out from under their noses for a long period of time or there is more to the story.

One story that was somewhat humorous this week was that George Mason University was forced to tweak the renaming of its law school to honor the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia because of an unfortunate acronym.  The school had to change the proposed name from the Antonin Scalia School Of Law (see the problem here?) to the Antonin Scalia Law School.

The acronym for Mossak Fonseca is an unfortunate acronym too.  I’ll bet when the members of that firm realized that their data had escaped out into the public, they uttered a few unfortunate acronyms of their own (possibly in both Spanish and English).

So, what do you think?  Do you believe that the data was hacked from the outside?  Or do you think something else happened?   Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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

Even a “Luddite” Can Learn the Ins and Outs of Data Backups with this Guide: eDiscovery Best Practices

You have to love an instructional guide that begins with a picture of Milton Waddams (the sad sack employee obsessing over his red stapler in the movie Office Space) and ends with a nice consolidated list of ten practice tips for backups in discovery.

Leave it to Craig Ball to provide that and more in the Luddite Lawyer’s Guide to Backup Systems, which Craig introduces in his Ball in Your Court blog here.  As Craig notes in his blog, this guide is an update from a primer that he wrote back in 2009 for the Georgetown E-Discovery Institute.  He has updated it to reflect the state-of-art in backup techniques and media and also added some “nifty” new stuff and graphics to illustrate concepts such as the difference between a differential and an incremental backup.  Craig even puts a “Jargon Watch” on the first page to list the terms he will define during the course of the guide.

Within this 20 page guide, Craig covers topics such as the Good and Bad of Backups, the differences between Duplication, Replication and Backup, the Major Elements of Backup Systems and the types of Backup Media and characteristics of each.  Craig illustrates how restoration to tape (despite popular opinion to the contrary) could actually be the most cost-effective way of recovering ESI in a case.  And, Craig discusses the emergence of the use of the Cloud for backups (which should come as no surprise to many of you).  He concludes with his Ten Practice Tips for Backups in Civil Discovery, which is a concise, one-page reference guide to keep handy when considering backups as part of your information governance and discovery processes.

Whether you’re a Luddite lawyer or one who is more apt to embrace technology, this guide is sure to provide an essential understanding of how backups are created and used and how they can be used during the discovery process.  Backups may be the Milton Waddams of the eDiscovery world, but they’re still important – remember that, at the end of the movie, Milton was the one relaxing on the beach with all of the money.  :o)

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

Image © Twentieth Century Fox

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.

Court Denies Plaintiff’s Request for Native ESI Format, Approves Request for Index: eDiscovery Case Law

In Stormo v. City of Sioux Falls, et. al., No. 12-04057 (D. S.D., Feb. 19, 2016), South Dakota District Judge Karen E. Schreier, ruling on several motions, denied the plaintiff’s motion to compel with regard to requiring the defendants to provide electronically stored information in its native format and metadata for these documents, but granted it with regard to providing an index explaining information about the documents.

Case Background

In this pro se lawsuit where the plaintiff sued the defendants for violations of his civil rights with respect to his status as a landowner and landlord, the court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment in part. The plaintiff then filed a second amended complaint with additional claims.  As Judge Schreier noted, “Discovery is ongoing and fraught with complications. Stormo has filed numerous motions, often raising unrelated, irrelevant, or indecipherable arguments. Defendants have neither responded to all of Stormo’s discovery requests adequately nor complied with all of the court’s orders sufficiently.”

In the plaintiff’s latest motion, the plaintiff moved the court to, among other things, compel defendants to provide electronically stored information in its native format, provide metadata for these documents, and provide an index explaining information about the documents.

With regard to the metadata, the plaintiff argued that metadata would allow him to discover whether the data is “forensically sound,” specifically: when it was created, accessed, or modified.  Countering, the defendant argued that providing the metadata would be overly burdensome and stated that they have no system that tracks the metadata sought by the plaintiff and they would have to go through each document and retrieve the metadata from the program with which the document was created.  As for the request for the index, the plaintiff claimed that the defendants produced a jumbled group of documents which is not labeled or indexed in any manner, but the defendants argued that they produced documents in an organized fashion and in the form kept in the ordinary course of business.

Judge’s Ruling

Judge Schreier began her analysis by citing Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34(b)(2)(E), which states:

“(i) A party must produce documents as they are kept in the usual course of business or must organize and label them to correspond to the categories in the request; (ii) If a request does not specify a form for producing electronically stored information, a party must produce it in a form or forms in which it is ordinarily maintained or in a reasonably usable form…”

With regard to the plaintiff’s request to compel the defendants to reproduce documents in their native format, Judge Schreier stated that “He claims that he made a general request for all electronically stored information in its native format at the time of his initial document request…He does not, however, explain what is wrong with the format in which defendants have produced the documents. Therefore, the motion to compel is denied as it concerns his request to reproduce documents in their native format.”

With regard to the request for metadata, Judge Schreier stated:

“Defendants’ response may fail to articulate how this discovery is extraordinary or unusual, but Stormo has failed to show the metadata’s relevancy to his claims. His motion to compel argues that he wants the metadata to be sure that the documents were not created for or altered in anticipation of litigation…Stormo has not explained why he thinks defendants might have done this. There is no indication that they have altered the documents. Stormo fails to convince the court that the metadata is relevant to his claims, the request falls outside of the parameters of discovery, and therefore, his motion to compel is denied as it concerns his request for metadata.”

As for the request for an index, Judge Schreier ruled on this point in favor of the plaintiff, noting that “Stormo requests only “a) the bates number or other identifier of the document; b) the name of the person who is custodian of the document; c) the original source and author of the document; and d) the document request number and request number of any requests that the document is responsive to” for each document…Supplying this information is not overly burdensome on defendants. Therefore, Stormo’s motion to compel is granted as it concerns preparation of an index that supplies the information described above.”

So, what do you think?  Was the plaintiff’s request for native format documents and metadata unreasonable?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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