Electronic Discovery

It’s Valentine’s Day!  I hope you all have a special someone with which you can share Valentine’s Day.  As you can guess from the picture for this post, I do!  Regardless of that, I hope you all love what you do as much as I do.

Most people know me because of the blog, and you have to love eDiscovery to write about it every day.  I’ve always been a writer in my career, even when I started as a “Big 8” consultant years ago with Price Waterhouse (years before they became PwC).  Yes, it was that long ago.  Even back then, I wrote an article here or there.  I once wrote an article about CAR systems back in the mid-80s – Computer Assisted (microfilm) Retrieval (good luck finding that article today) – and it seemed like the wave of the future back then.  Our company wrote a program that interfaced with microfilm reader printers (does anybody remember those?) where you could search a database to identify documents you wanted to retrieve, then export out the document numbers into our program, which would identify the microfilm cartridge that the operator needed to load into the microfilm reader printer and, once loaded, the program would automatically advance to the selected pages and begin printing.  Then, the process would repeat for each additional microfilm cartridge in the document set.  It was really cool – when it worked right.  ;o)

Today, of course, I write (most) every day for this blog and, while it can sometimes be a bit of a burden, it also pays considerable personal benefits.  Before the blog, I would do a decent job of keeping up with industry trends – until I got really busy on a client project.  Then, I would let that industry research slide, unfortunately.  Now, because of the blog, I am forced to keep up with trends and that has paid considerable dividends in keeping me informed regarding trends in eDiscovery, cybersecurity and data privacy.  As Martha Stewart would say, “it’s a good thing.”

Believe it or not, however, the blog is only part of my job.  My “day job” is as VP of Products and Services with CloudNine, coordinating activities and roadmap for our LAW™, Concordance©, Explore™, and Review™ products (shameless plug warning!).  We just had a great summit meeting with our product team to talk about how to better manage feedback from customers to lead to product improvement.  We have a great team, which makes my job a lot easier!

I recognize that having a job that you truly love is a blessing and I feel truly blessed to love my job!

Of course, my true love is my wife Paige!  She’s the beautiful woman at the top of this blog and the love of my life.  I could write many descriptive blog posts just about her and why she’s so great, but this is an eDiscovery blog, so I’ll leave it to tell her in person today just how great she is and how much I love her.  :o)

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

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

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

As I’ve done the past three years, I reached out to several attendees of Legaltech New York (LTNY) 2019 (some of whom I met with during the show) to get their thoughts and impressions of this year’s show.  We had so many people respond that I decided to split their feedback into two posts.  Yesterday was the first half, here are the remaining observations.  And, no, I didn’t split this into two posts just so I could save myself another day of writing, my observations are at the bottom of this post.  ;o)

As always, these should be taken as their personal opinions and observations regarding the show, not those of their employer or clients (even when they’re talking about the cost of breakfast at the Hilton).  Here are additional observations from attendees of the show:

“My observation was that most companies are working on the same goal(s) that they were last year.  It appears that most companies are still working towards an integrated platform, from collection to production.  Some companies have made strides to making a more cohesive product while others have acquired the tools/products/companies to start their journey.  I didn’t hear as much about Relativity as I have in previous years though RelativityOne is still a product that most companies are ‘keeping an eye on’.  Overall, it was another great Legal Tech and crazy that it was warmer in NYC that most of the country.”

— Eric Kelting, Co-Founder, Complete Legal

“1. I felt like the event overall was extremely smaller than it’s ever been.

2. I also think that the vendors are getting more creative out of necessity to drum up more engagements.
3. They had good speakers but it’s time for a new chapter in our space. I think they should look at how to bridge a few gaps.
4. 2019 is about Masters resolving these issues. We want to make sure the industry is getting what they need. New masters, new and exciting content and more.
5. IBM is way over played these days. They have had the same keynote for two years. He came across as also tired of his own presentation.

All in all, we are in a unique time with legal and technology. Innovations are happening everyday while tried and true solutions are getting better. You have companies acquired which paves the way for new innovation and development. It will be one of the most interesting two years is my prediction.”

— Robert Childress, Founder of The Masters Conference

“This year’s Legalweek was a pleasant surprise after all of the changes and lack of enthusiasm we saw at last year’s show. My top observation is that I had numerous conversations around diversity and inclusivity that may have been spurred by The DAT File podcast Cat Casey and I did with Brandon Law the week before the conference and then fueled by the open letter from 170 general counsel that was posted at beginning of week. Overall, it was an excellent week that helped me reconnect with my network and meet new people with interesting perspectives on the growth of our industry. Additional observations are that more people asked me about personal branding, and I saw more corporations were in attendance bringing small teams to participate in sessions and learn more about eDiscovery.”

— Maribel Rivera, Marketing Consultant

“The highlight for me was that I paid $48 for oatmeal at the Hilton. I seem to have this problem at all Hilton hotels. You sit down for the buffet breakfast and they don’t tell you that it’s $48 whether you east a single raisin or five servings of scrambled eggs. All I ate was a $3.00 bowl of oatmeal and the bill was still $50.”

— Mike Quartararo, Managing Director, eDPM Advisory Services

“This year really seemed to solidify a trend we’ve been seeing at Legalweek for the past couple years—the real conference that happens outside of the conference.  While the expo floor will always be the best place to take in a bunch of new tech and bump into friends and connections, there seemed to be more events happening outside of the Hilton than ever before.  These also extended well beyond happy hours and lunches to bespoke programming like session tracks, hands-on exercises, and amazing guest speakers.”

— Shawn Gaines, VP of Marketing for Relativity

“I did some asking around, checking in with friends and colleagues.  Here is what emerged:

• Many felt a chill in the air, and we aren’t just talking polar vortex. As one person remarked, ‘Not allowing folks to walk around for free (or nearly free) kills the value of the event, from my point of view.’ As someone else noted, ‘It would be nice to see smaller admission packages with educational tracks still attached.’ On the positive side? The addition of cyber cafes and more seating near the sessions and conference floor.
• Acquisitions continue apace – OpenText’s acquisition of Catalyst being the most recent example – and private equity money keeps pouring in. While there are benefits here, people I talked with focused on the dangers, such as the stereotypical PE 3-year build-and-sell strategy that might ultimately hinder the industry more than help it.
• Four key areas highlighted at the conference were cloud (Seems to have more eDiscovery vendors host the data in cloud… Most are primarily US based vendors serving US markets.), analytics (‘Visual analytics and dashboard seems to be more prominent in every eDiscovery tool I’ve seen.’), mobile (‘Continued interest in mobile device developments. Specifically emojis.’), and ease of use (‘I’ve seen a few vendors where they made their review platform very click friendly, which looks very primitive to me, but seems to appeal to the general reviewers.’).”

— George Socha, Managing Director, BDO

And, here are my observations from the show:

For the first time since I’ve been writing the eDiscovery Daily blog, I didn’t ask for a press pass this year.  I was simply too busy with customer and analyst meetings, coordinating our NineForum sessions at the booth and so forth.  So, I didn’t attend any sessions and don’t have specific feedback on any sessions.  I heard good things about some of the sessions and ALM certainly lined up some terrific speakers (as they always do), so I expect they were high quality.

As for what I did observe, the show definitely appears smaller and that was certainly reflected in the exhibit hall, which seemed to have considerably less exhibitors than in years past.  I know part of that trend is consolidation in the industry, but I also know of several companies still around that used to exhibit, but don’t anymore.  Why not?  Clearly, they don’t feel they’re getting the ROI that makes it worthwhile to do so.  Part of that could be attributable to ALM’s decision a few years ago to start charging for admission to the exhibit hall, part of that could be due to changing ways on how customers choose to learn about potential software and services options today.  I would be very interested to see ALM just try one year to go back to the free access to the exhibit hall (yes, I know this will mean a lot of people who have no interest in buying anything, but it might also bring in some more people who are, but don’t want to pay to learn about software and services) to see if that reverses a trend to bring back some exhibitors.  Certainly, it seems worth a try to reverse a trend toward shrinking attendance that threatens the very conference itself.

More and more, Legaltech has become about the meetings around the show itself and not the actual show (many of which are in suites at surrounding hotels).  I would be interested to find out what percentage of people come to Legaltech that never attend a session or visit the exhibit hall.  I’ll bet that percentage is growing…significantly.  There’s a big difference between people who are at Legaltech and the people who are in Legaltech – that second group seems to be shrinking every year.

So, what do you think?  Did you attend Legaltech last week?  What did you think of this year’s show?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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

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

We’ve completed Legaltech New York (LTNY) 2019.  What did attendees at the conference think about this year’s show?  Let’s take a look.

As I’ve done the past three years, I reached out to several attendees (some of whom I met with during the show) to get their thoughts and impressions of this year’s show.  As always, these should be taken as their personal opinions and observations regarding the show, not those of their employer or clients.  We had more people than ever respond with their thoughts, so thanks to all who did!  So many that we’re going to spread these observations over two days.  Here we go!

“This was my 23rd LegalTech conference, and one of the most enjoyable in memory despite the intense cold.  But, my joy sprung from seeing old friends and interviewing Bob Woodward at the E-Discovery Heroes awards.  The central event, LTNY 2019 (who calls it LegalWeek?), lacked the crowds and sprawl of its storied past, shrunken in sympathy with the consolidating vendor community.  I predict it will soon be but a single bustling floor, down from the raucous and rambling three or four it once commanded.  Most everything else about the incredible shrinking LegalTech was business-as-usual with the sad exception of the educational tracks, which have never been less engaging nor more distant from the intersection of law and technology from a practitioner’s perspective.  Experience was paper thin and paper-centric; the distance between the lawyer presenters and the technologies they discussed was scarily evident.

I felt I’d stumbled into a conference about managing the international legal industry, not about using technology in the practice of law.  That may be as much a comment about this old trial dog as about LegalTech itself.  Litigators no longer do; they delegate.  No lawyer I heard on a dais had ever tried a case, save for a few judges and former attorneys general who’d done it when fax machines were cutting edge.  It made me long for the days when LegalTech was exciting because of what was inside the Hilton instead of the many events and networking opportunities orbiting its faded gravity.  ALM is starting to feel more like AOL: overdue for a cold reboot.”

— Craig Ball, Lawyer Technologist

“Although I didn’t attend any sessions this year, I always enjoy seeing long-time friends. I was honored to attend Mary Mack’s bloggers luncheon and spend time with some of my mentors. It was sad to see the exhibitors’ area shrink again this year. Nikolai and I partnered up to record an educational video, so keep an eye out for that!”

— Amy Bowser-Rollins, Editor of LitigationSupportGuru.com

“I am amazed every year at this annual event, Legal Tech.  The participation and involvement by the legal industry, including judges, attorneys, technologists, and legal professionals from the government, corporations, and vendors. This year proved no different.  This year’s Legal Tech event affirmed we work in an incredible eDiscovery community and industry.  More consolidation yet new players introduced themselves.  And the community remains strong and supportive.  Great panels, fun parties, education and friendship….networking and strengthening relationships.  The icing on the cake was the snow.  Sadly no blizzard this year but we did get the cold and snow…. It was great seeing you all and here is to everyone having an amazing and successful 2019….”

— Kevin M. Clark, Litigation Support Manager at Thompson & Knight LLP

“Negatives:

1. I wish I had a dime for every time I heard ‘AI’ …. nobody can explain what it is but everybody is selling it and they have the best.
2. Lot of vendors and law firms talking about how innovative they are … very few sessions of any real substance for end users.  Couple of exceptions were Access to Justice featuring Maura Grossman. Jim Sandman of LSC and Judge Xavier Rodriguez and a demo on O365 Advanced Discovery by Rachi Messing.
3. Lots of activity outside the show hotel …many, many folks doing demos at hotels within a block of the show. Clearly drained attendees off site.
4. Which is OK because the Hilton is dingy, narrow, ill lit and poorly managed.   BRING BACK HENRY DICKER!!

Positives:

1. Great B2B venue…I see people I just don’t get to see much otherwise:  Michael Arkfeld, Rachi Messing, Lincoln Mead, Henry Dicker, Craig Ball ….. oh, never mind!
2. Some off site sessions were great …..client focused, great speakers, well worth the walk even in 5 degree weather.
3. Good place to see what ‘big fish’ in the market are doing even if it doesn’t really apply to me and the client space where I work”

— Tom O’Connor, Director, Gulf Coast Legal Tech Center

“The thing I enjoy the most at LTNY is connecting with my vendors and colleagues.  There’s no substitute for meeting folks in person and spending time in a casual setting with them.

I say again:  Either have LTNY in the summer, or have it in Florida in January.

Disco’s Legaltech NY cartoons were legendary.  Seriously, I want to buy some of those as framed art work for our Discovery Operations area.  Where can I get them?”

— Janice Jaco, eDiscovery Project Manager at Keesal, Young & Logan (on long-term secondment at Walmart’s Home Office)

“The show floor seemed to be a little smaller in size and appears to be more very niche around eDiscovery, Investigations and Compliance. In the past, there were more general law firm software providers, but that seems to be dwindling. The focus on the Cloud also continues to be very big. As usual, there appeared to be a lot of meeting activity and many meetings outside the show – more than ever, it seems.

GDPR was talked about a lot this year, but I did not see a lot of software purely focused on that space, though it was clear there is an increased focus on compliance and investigations, in addition to the traditional focus on litigation.

One trend I noticed this year is the tremendous amount of private equity investors attending this year. The lobby seemed to be full of PEs and Investment Bankers all looking for their next investment.  Between that and all of the investment announcements we’ve seen recently (including our own announcement last year about our affiliation with Peak Rock Capital and our acquisition of the LexisNexis eDiscovery suite), it’s clear that investing in this market has heated up considerably.”

— Brad Jenkins, CEO of CloudNine

So, what do you think?  Did you attend Legaltech last week?  What did you think of this year’s show?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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

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