Industry Trends

I promise that every post for the next several weeks won’t be about the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.  But, this is one more trend worth noting.  To no one’s surprise, many Federal and State courts are also closing and delaying trials because of COVID-19.

According to ABA Journal (A slew of federal and state courts suspend trials or close for coronavirus threat, written by Debra Cassens Weiss), more than 25 federal district courts are pausing jury trials, following a trend that is still gaining ground in state courts.

Several federal appellate and trial-level courts are also barring people who don’t have official court business from entering courthouses. Some are asking pro se litigants with documents to leave them in drop boxes rather than enter the clerk’s office.

One federal courthouse in Rome, Georgia, was closed by court order last Tuesday after a court security officer was hospitalized with flu-like symptoms, according to Courthouse News Service. The guard had worked the week before he was hospitalized even though he was feeling ill. Results of a COVID-19 test were pending as of Wednesday, still no news reported as of yesterday.

In California’s Northern District, all four federal courthouses were closed to the public, the first mass closing of federal courthouses since the judiciary began its response to the coronavirus threat.

Dozens of states are also pausing trials statewide or restricting court visitors, according to the National Center for State Courts, which is keeping a tally. The organization reported last Tuesday that seven additional states (Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri and Virginia) had issued or expanded orders pausing jury trials or restricting court functions in just the last 18 hours. Other states pausing many jury trials include New York, New Jersey, Florida and Massachusetts.

Federal courts that have suspended jury trials include the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of California, the Southern District of California, the Central District of California, the Eastern District of California, the District of Colorado, the District of Connecticut, the Northern District of Illinois (civil trials suspended), the Southern District of Indiana, the Northern District of Iowa, the Eastern District of Louisiana, the Middle District of Louisiana, the Western District of Louisiana, the District of Maryland, the District of Massachusetts, the District of Minnesota, the Southern District of Mississippi, the District of Nebraska, the District of New Hampshire, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Western District of Pennsylvania, the District of Puerto Rico, the Eastern District of Tennessee, the Northern District of Texas, the Southern District of Texas, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Western District of Washington, the Southern District of West Virginia, the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

COVID-19 has even delayed the Robert Durst murder trial.

The Administrative Office of U.S. Courts is keeping track of the orders in this chart.

Even though we may be seeing less case law for a while, there are still several eDiscovery related case law opinions and orders available for coverage since the start of 2020 – 469 in eDiscovery Assistant so far this year.  So, we still have plenty of case law to cover during the interim period.

Stay healthy out there!

So, what do you think?  How have court closures and trial delays affected your practice?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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

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

We’re all adjusting to our “new normal” of Work From Home (WFH) during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis.  But, working with increased demands on teleconferencing solutions may make us want to say “WTF” during our WFH experience these days.  Is there anybody out there?

As reported by The Register (Zoom goes boom, Teams tears at seams: Technology stumbles at the first hurdle for this homeworking malarkey, written by Kieren McCarthy – hat tip to Sharon Nelson of the excellent Ride the Lightning blog), demand for services like Zoom’s conferencing software and Microsoft’s Teams outstripped capacity and outages started occurring at 9am ET on Monday, per the article.

Zoom candidly reported that its software has “degraded performance” and its phone service had a “partial outage.”  For obvious reasons, all remote working companies are scrambling to deal with the sudden flood of users. Zoom has updated its audio-conferencing system in the background in order to allow people running the meeting the ability to change dial-in options – a sign that people who usually do not use its software are having to be guided through it by manager and meeting organizers.

Of course, Zoom has been on a media blitz recently touting their low latency, network optimization, decision to remove a 40-minute limit on free accounts and even offering free video conferencing for schools.  Whoops.  Though the free videoconferencing was a nice offering, so kudos to them for that.  CloudNine uses RingCentral (which is built on Zoom) and I have noticed a couple of issues dialing into meetings this week, but was able to circumvent them by using computer audio instead.  So, there are workarounds; however, I have heard some people have had issues with the computer audio option as well.

Microsoft, which has been heavily promoting its Teams conferencing service recently, has also had issues, which a string of outages. The service was listed by Microsoft as suffering “degradation.”

Needless to say, the COVID-19 virus crisis of 2020 is giving these teleconference platform providers a chance to stress test their systems like never before.

As you may recall, I covered a few eDiscovery related cancellations, postponements and conversions (to virtual events) in Tuesday’s post. Of course, Rob Robinson’s excellent Complex Discovery blog has a much more comprehensive listing of cancellations, postponements and conversions here, which (sadly) includes the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) show in May as well as events for The Sedona Conference and the Masters Conference.

Stay healthy out there!

So, what do you think?  Are you experiencing any challenges during this WFH time for so many?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Image Copyright © Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

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

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

If you’re not sick from COVID-19 (aka, the Coronavirus), you’re probably sick of hearing about COVID-19.  Hopefully, the latter group will indefinitely continue to be much larger than the former group.  Regardless, I won’t bore you with what you already know about COVID-19 and how it has disrupted (and will continue to disrupt) our way of life (well, I won’t bore you much anyway).  But, since this is an eDiscovery blog, let’s talk about how it is already starting to impact our industry.  And, we’ll also talk about what CloudNine is doing about it.

With social distancing taking hold, schools closing, theme parks closing, college and professional sports leagues closing, Broadway going dark and so much more as part of the CDC warning against events of more than 50 people, life is definitely different around the world in the wake of COVID-19, with circumstances evolving continually.  Even Forrest Gump has it.  Many companies in our space have moved much of their workers to work at home status (including CloudNine, more on that below).  Here are just a few impacts in the eDiscovery and legal technology world:

• The University of Florida E-Discovery Conference that was scheduled for this Thursday, March 19 in Gainesville, FL (and via Livestream) has been postponed. Bill Hamilton, who is a University of Florida Levin College of Law Skills Professor and has organized the conference since its inception, made the announcement “with great disappointment” and U-Fla opted to postpone the conference instead of holding it entirely online.  Those of us who attend in person every year and enjoy the collaboration and interaction with other professionals in our industry can appreciate that decision and, hopefully, the conference can be re-scheduled later this year.
• The EDRM Summit/Workshop for June has been converted to a “innovative, inter-active virtual conference this June 25-26 instead of the live-in person at the Duke University campus”. As announced by Mary Mack and Kaylee Walstad last week, doing so “will allow everyone, regardless of geography or health status, to participate, and will save participants travel time and money- it can truly be a global experience, for attendees, speakers and sponsors.”
• And, yesterday, ILTA decided to postpone all in-person events through April 30. As they stated in an announcement yesterday, “ILTA will continue monitoring the global COVID-19 situation and evaluate our decision in the coming weeks.”  So, no change to the annual ILTACON conference in August – yet.

So, that leaves many of us to exercise our Business Continuity plans and perform our duties remotely.  And conduct our meetings via one of several teleconference services out there.  One of the more popular services out there is Zoom (which also happens to be the underlying service for RingCentral, which we use).  Leave it to Craig Ball, who has “taught classes with Zoom for years” to provide a Zoom “cheat sheet” for those who will be using it extensively over the next few weeks.  :o)

Speaking of Business Continuity plans, CloudNine has exercised ours and (as we announced to our customers and partners yesterday) most of our employees are working from home during this challenging time to do our part to minimize the spread of the virus (including me).  This isn’t the first time we’ve had to exercise our Business Continuity plan – we also did so when Hurricane Harvey hit the Houston area in 2017.  Back then, even though our Houston headquarters weren’t flooded, many roads leading to them were, so we instructed our employees to work from home for a week after Houston was hit by the storm.  Despite that, it was business as usual and we were able to continue to provide services and support to our customers and continue to host customer data without interruption in our data center.  So, we fully expect to be able to continue to provide the full range of services and high-quality support you have come to expect, just like we did back then (including this blog).  We’re here for you.

Stay healthy out there!

So, what do you think?  How has COVID-19 impacted you and your way of life?  As always, please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

P.S. — We haven’t forgotten that it’s St. Patrick’s Day today.  Hope you have as much fun as this guy (despite the circumstances)…

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.

I mentioned it a few weeks ago, but (believe it or not) we’re now only about 3 1/2 weeks away from the eighth year for the University of Florida E-Discovery Conference.  And, as usual, the panel of speakers is an absolute who’s who in eDiscovery.

The annual one-day conference will be held this year on Thursday, March 19th from 8:00am to 5:40pm ET.  This year, the focus is to show you how to work smarter, not harder to ensure the success of your project.  As you can always expect from the U-Fla conference, there are a veritable plethora of expert presenters, including Craig Ball, George Socha, Tom O’Connor, Scott Milner, Kelly Twigger, Tessa Jacobs, David Horrigan, Canaan Himmelbaum, Suzanne Clark and Julie Brown, among others.  And, a bunch of distinguished federal and state judges, including U.S. Magistrate Judges William Matthewman, Mac McCoy, Patricia Barksdale, and Gary Jones.  And, I’m honored to be participating for the third straight year as one of the presenters.  Well, sort of – I’m going to be one of the “contestants” in “E-Discovery Jeopardy” where Craig Ball is the “Alex Trebek” and Mike Quartararo and Ian Campbell are the other contestants.  Hopefully, I won’t be singing this song afterward!  ;o)

Once again, there will be an E-Discovery Career Fest the day before the conference.  And, for the first time this year, there will be a Solutions Corner at the conference allowing you to experience short demos of legal technology products that may be mentioned throughout the day.  Here is the agenda for the main sessions at the conference (all times ET):

• 8:15am – 8:50am: THE STATE OF E-DISCOVERY, PRIVACY, AND DATA SECURITY — Our first session begins with an informal chat and dialogue among key industry leaders on the 2020 forces at play in electronic discovery, privacy, and data security.
• 9:00am – 9:50am: GUIDE TO ADVANCED LEGAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR EVERY BUDGET — This session will guide you through a requirements checklist followed by a tour of the ever-changing e-discovery vendor environment.
• 10:00am – 10:50am: FROM SLACK TO SNAPCHAT: TACKLING DISCOVERY BEYOND EMAIL — This session will provide a guide to the new communication world from the handheld device to the cloud and back.
• 11:00am – 11:05am: Industry Update: ACEDS — Mike Quartararo, the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS) President will provide a brief overview of the organization and the latest updates.
• 11:05am – 11:55am: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN DATA DISCOVERY CASE LAW AND LEGISLATION — Two lawyers and a judge who keep close watch on e-discovery case law will join us for an analysis of recent court decisions in e-discovery, data privacy, and data protection.
• 1:00pm – 1:50pm: E-DISCOVERY JEOPARDY — We’ve brought in our very own game show host to engage three of this year’s UF Law E-Discovery Conference Faculty in a battle of wits and wisdom about legal services, e-Discovery, and other topics.
• 2:00pm – 2:55pm: E-DISCOVERY NUTS & BOLTS — You requested it! Our well-received rapid format of short e-discovery presentations returns again this year.
• 3:00pm – 3:05pm: Industry Update: EDRM — Mary Mack, Chief Legal Technologist at EDRM will share a brief overview of the organization and the latest updates.
• 3:15pm – 4:15pm: LEVERAGING SEARCH TO FIND WHAT MATTERS MOST — Let our panel guide you through the thicket of e-discovery search with specific examples and techniques.
• 4:30pm – 5:30pm: JUDGES & EDISCOVERY: A VIEW FROM THE BENCH — Our distinguished panel of Federal Magistrate Judges return to share with you the keys to e-discovery success in the courtroom.

You can register to attend this day long conference packed with practical advice, experts, hot topics, and Florida CLE credit here for only $99 for live streaming and $199 in person.  There are also discounts available for students, University/College Faculty and Staff and Government and Judicial employees.  Last year, the in-person slots were sold out, so that is another reason to act quickly.  It’s the best one-day educational conference of the year!

So, what do you think?  Are you going to attend the University of Florida E-Discovery Conference?  If not, why not?  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.

It’s Valentine’s Day, which means it’s a great day to talk about love!  But, this is an eDiscovery blog, so let me take this opportunity to “spread some love” to all of you who read the blog every day (or at least many days) and help spread that love to others!

When we started the blog nearly ten years ago, we were thrilled when we broke 100 views for the first time.  Now, we have thousands of views every day!  We’ve seen quite a few blogs come and go during that time (or at least go dormant).  And, we have more people than ever who share or reference our content – in just the past week, that includes people like Chris Dix, Linda DeVos, Lilith Bat-Leah, Mike Quartararo, Maribel Rivera, Kaylee Walstad (twice!), Sharon Nelson, Kelly Twigger and Suzanne Clark!  And, that doesn’t include all of my CloudNine colleagues who regularly redistribute our content on LinkedIn and other social channels!

Blogs and publications that have regularly covered us include Rob Robinson’s Complex Discovery blog, Craig Ball’s Ball in Your Court blog, the daily PinHawk Law Technology Digest (tirelessly edited by Jeffrey Brandt), Tom O’Connor’s Techno Gumbo blog (not to mention thanks for all Tom’s original direct articles published on this blog!), and Sharon Nelson’s Ride the Lightning blog, and the ACEDS blog, among others.  Not to mention EDRM, which has redistributed our daily posts for years!  Years!  If you don’t already read these publications regularly, you should!

Thanks to everybody for “spreading the love” about our blog!  We love you back!

Of course, because it’s Valentine’s Day, that means it’s time once again to feature my beautiful wife Paige on our blog!  I hope everyone is as blessed as I am to share this day with the love of my life!  I love you honey!

So, what do you think?  What eDiscovery publications do you love?  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 four years, I reached out to several Legaltech attendees (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.  Here are additional observations from attendees of the show:

“This year ALM re-did the layout of exhibit halls and the exhibitors stepped up their game with bigger booths that also had more open space to engage with attendees. Though much smaller than in previous years, the new flow encouraged traffic to booths and seemed to ignite much needed energy in the conference that had been lacking the past few years. Ted-style talks seemed to be a big theme allowing for quick presentations mixed in with the usual panel style presentations not just in meeting rooms but throughout the venue. And lastly, diversity and data privacy were the two topics that continuously came up in conversations. My last takeaway–provide honest feedback about your experience. The more we do that either through articles such as this or the post-conference survey, the more it will help to improve Legalweek and what happens there (or any conference for that matter).”

— Maribel Rivera, Marketing and Events Specialist

I was actually prepared to be disappointed after last years rather dreary show but instead found myself pleasantly reinvigorated seeing old friends and colleagues such as Monica Bay, Neil Aresty, Patrick Oot, George Socha and Robert Singleton.  It reminded me that my pre show attitude was more jaded than I had realized and that the real strength of the conference is the people it draws together.  If you don’t go you won’t know.

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

“I heard the phrase, ‘Change Management,’ more during the three days of Legaltech at Legalweek than the entire rest of my life combined. Is it an exciting and growing concept or merely window dressing on the tired, overhyped concept of ‘Innovation’? Only time will tell.”

— David Horrigan, Discovery Counsel and Legal Education Director

“‘Management’ was the constant refrain emanating from Legalweek 2020 in New York this week.  Apparently, you can learn to manage just about anything in legal these days with the aid of technology, process design and qualified human resources.  From change management to contract management, case management to eDiscovery project management, and the all-important management of client expectations who look to technology and consultants to solve their most complex problems…the ubiquity of management is here to stay in legal tech.”

— Christy Burke, President, Burke & Company LLC

“This was a very exciting LegalWeek to catch up with friends and colleagues. The conference was buzzing with many industry professionals and I overheard one main theme: short message analysis. Like the early days of email management for eDiscovery, text messages, #Slack, chat etc. are the new wild west for investigators and litigants.”

— Rick Clark, Chief Strategy Officer, ESI Analyst

“Legaltech has gone mainstream. In addition to speaking with their clients and prospects, a number of my contacts mentioned meeting with investors and other professionals interested in learning more about how to incorporate legal technology into their portfolios. The conference itself also seems to have increased global appeal. I was lucky to speak with attendees from Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, India, Israel, the U.K., and Russia.”

— Ari Kaplan, Legal Industry Analyst & Principal, Ari Kaplan Advisors

And, here are my observations from the show:

From a CloudNine perspective, Legaltech was once again a great conference – from our NineForum sessions at the booth once again to our terrific #DrinkswithDougandMary happy hour with EDRM and Compliance Discovery to a number of great meetings with clients and prospects discussing all of the exciting new capabilities and products at CloudNine!  It was a great show for us!

As for the show in general, it seems that the trend for the “show outside the show” has continued.  There are a lot of attendees at the event that never seem to attend the conference officially but are still there because it’s a terrific opportunity to connect (or reconnect) with clients and prospects or to catch up with old friends.  It seems more and more, when I ask folks how the show is going for them, they talk about how their meetings are going, not about the sessions or the interesting new developments they’ve seen at the exhibit hall.  Legaltech seems as busy as always, but actual participation in Legaltech seems to be down once again.  Of course, I’m one of those who was mostly busy out of the show (other than some time at the booth, especially for our NineForum sessions), so I could be wrong.  ;o)

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.

Once again, we’ve completed another Legaltech New York (LTNY).  So, what did attendees at the conference think about this year’s show?  Let’s take a look.

As I’ve done the past four 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.  As always, we had several who responded with their thoughts, so thanks to all who did!  So many that, once again, we’re going to spread these observations over two days.  Here we go!

“LegalTech panel’s this year seemed to emphasize privacy and especially the CCPA (and less on the GDPR than in the past).  Also less emphasis on ‘pure’ ediscovery panels, except at the ‘boot camp’ on Wednesday.   And Drinks with Doug and Mary was as crowded as ever. Global warming is a serious problem, but nice to offer our out of town visitors a LTNY week without bitter cold or snow and slush as in past years.”

—  Judge Andrew Peck (ret.), Senior Counsel, DLA Piper

“This was my ninth Legaltech and the more things change, the more they stay the same.  The look and feel for the entire event was different—new exhibit hall layouts, new branding, new sessions—but it was still the tried-and-true legal technology community we see each year.  Between the happy hours, dinners, and run-ins at the Hilton, the best time was spent catching up with friends and colleagues.  Without a ton of huge announcements during the show, the same went for attendees talking to us vendors in the exhibit hall, beginning each interaction with a simple, ‘What’s new?’”

— Shawn Gaines, VP of Marketing for Relativity

“The two things I find most valuable about LegalWeek each year are connecting with colleagues and seeing the available technology tools that I can utilize in my practice. Because eDiscovery is such a global community of professionals, it’s a treat to get to see colleagues who I’d typically only have calls or exchange emails with, in person. There were many hosted events where colleagues could gather and socialize from the EDRM’s Legal Tech Jumpstart on Monday and Drinks with Doug and Mary on Wednesday to the ACEDS Happy Hour on Wednesday. All of these events were wonderful networking opportunities for renewing relationships and forming new ones. Also, I normally go with goals of finding “gap fillers” – that is, some sort of technology solution to resolve a pain point in my practice. This year, those were foreign language translation and time line builders, and I was able to walk away with new tools to try in both of those areas. Each year I feel LegalWeek gives me a boost that adds momentum to my career, and this year was no different.”

— Suzanne H. Clark, Esq., CEDS, Discovery Counsel, eDiscovery CoCounsel, pllc

“Despite everything I had heard about the annual conference, I wasn’t sure what to expect from my first Legaltech NY. My obsession with learning all I could about a field most of us fall into rather than pursue and the event’s reputation as a party scene had encouraged me to prioritize other conferences with education sessions hyper-focused on eDiscovery throughout my first decade in the industry. Now that I experienced the conference first-hand, I understand and appreciate that the educational value of meeting and connecting with the polymaths who shape the field is commensurate with the value of the panels and sessions they deliver on topics that highlight the broader context of my specializations. I was inspired by the many brilliant minds I met and very much look forward to building on each other’s contributions, innovating together, and solving new challenges both with and around artificial intelligence, the advancement in technology that was appropriately featured as both a problem and solution in sessions this year.”

— Lilith Bat-Leah, CEDS, Director, Data Science, Fronteo

“The highlights for me this Legalweek involved the project management workshop I had the pleasure of conducting on Monday and then talking further with you during the NineForum about the growth and possibilities that lie ahead in project management, not just in legal, but in the new projectized economy that I predict will continue to emerge in 2020.”

— Mike Quartararo, President, Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists

“The conference looked much more attended this year.  #Drinks with Doug and Mary is always a stellar celebration with my cohost, your fabulous self and my partner, Kaylee Walstad.  Thank you CloudNine and ComplianceDS!  Bloggers luncheon was a highlight, thank you, Relativity!  The global nature of Legalweek was notable—we had folks from South Africa, from Ireland, and from UK coming to support EDRM. The outpouring of support from long timers to newcomers for EDRM just warmed my heart.”

— Mary Mack, CEO & Chief Legal Technologist, EDRM

We’ll publish the rest of the observations tomorrow (including mine)!

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.

As noted Tuesday and Wednesday,  Legaltech^® New York (LTNY) is happening this week and, for the tenth(!) year in a row, eDiscovery Daily is here to report about the latest eDiscovery trends being discussed at the show.  Today is the last day to check out the show if you’re in the New York area with a number of sessions available and over 158 exhibitors providing information on their products and services, including our company, CloudNine at booth #3000 in America’s Hall 2.

In addition to that, CloudNine conducted another great NineForum Discovery Education Series where prominent and highly respected eDiscovery and litigation support experts delivered 9 TED-style talks, 20 minutes each, covering important topics impacting the legal community.  And, we also hosted the 4th annual Drinks with Doug (as in me!) and Mary (as in Mary Mack!), sponsored by EDRM, CloudNine and Compliance Discovery Solutions.  Hope you were able to catch us there!

There are several interesting sessions today related to eDiscovery, Information Governance, Cybersecurity and Data Privacy.  Side note: ALM has set up the Legaltech site this year where you have to click “Learn More” for each session to get the full description of it – very annoying!  I’ve opened them all up, so you don’t have to.  :o)  Sessions in the main conference tracks include:

9:00am – 10:00am:

Cite Early! Cite Often! The 2019-2020 Cases That Every Practitioner Should Know

Join us for ALM’s open-to-all legendary Judicial Keynote Session as the panel discusses the cases that made (or missed) the ALM headlines in 2019-2020.  Caselaw discussions will focus on the ever changing landscape of data and biometric privacy, privilege disputes, spoliation, recent news in iPhone forensics and social media discovery in litigation.   The panel will also survey the audience to provide meaningful feedback on ethic obligations under the ABA Rules.

Speakers: Hon. Timothy Driscoll, Justice of the Supreme Court, State of New York; Judge Andrew Peck, Senior Counsel, DLA Piper; Hon. Willie J Epps, Jnr, United States Magistrate Judge, United States Western District of Missouri; Patrick Oot, Partner, Co-Chair, Data & Discovery Strategies Practice Group, Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.; Hon. J Michelle Childs, United States District Judge, District of South Carolina.

10:00am – 11:00am:

ARMA’s Information Governance Implementation Model: The Way Forward For Information Governance

Learn about ARMA’s new model for Information Governance, the ARMA Information Governance Implementation Model (IGIM). In this session you’ll get an overview of this new methodology for helping your organization move forward in your Information Governance endeavors. You’ll also learn how this model can also be utilized for maturity assessment and how ARMA is connecting the IGIM to future resources.

Key Takeaways:

• Receive an overview of the Information Governance Implementation Model
• Understand how the IGIM can be utilized in your organization
• Learn how ARMA is utilizing the IGIM for future resources development

Speakers: Nick Inglis – ARMA International; Ann K. Snyder – ARMA International.

Understanding CCPA & U.S. State Privacy Regimes

In the summer of 2018, California passed its landmark set of privacy statutes, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), effective January 1, 2020. Since that time, numerous other states have added their own legislation, some more data privacy driven and others more focused on data security. That amalgam of laws added to a series of state enforcement agency regulations promulgated in Colorado, New York and Vermont. Pressure from global businesses, such as AT&T and IBM, urging the federal government to create a more comprehensive consumer data privacy law should only increase the number of state – and perhaps even federal- legislative introduced.

Key takeaways:

• Understanding the current status of nationwide state privacy statutes and administrative agency regulations
• As to the many organizations that have undergone GDPR compliance projects, gaining a sense of additional necessary steps to ease CCPA compliance fears
• Gathering specific practical tips to help create a robust and effective compliance program
• Learning about the landscape of U.S. and global enforcement actions

Speakers: Robert Brownstone – Fenwick & West LLP; Isis D. Miranda – Freeman Mathis & Gary LLP; Shannon K. Yavorsky – Venable LLP; David Stauss – Husch Blackwell LLP.

12:30pm – 1:30pm:

7 “Reasonable Steps” for Legal Holds of ESI and Other Documents

A session based on the wildly popular book published by ARMA International, you’ll learn about the 7 “reasonable steps” and get an update on where things have changed since the original publication.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn about the 7 “reasonable steps”.
• Understand how expectations have changed over time.
• Gain actionable knowledge that you can apply to your handling of ESI.

Speakers: John Isaza, Esq – Rimon, P.C.; John Jablonski, Esq – Gerber Ciano Kelly Brady LLP.

What You Don’t Know Will Hurt You: Artificial Intelligence (AI) vs. Individual Privacy Rights

As AI increases its role in day to day activities, concerns surrounding both consumer/user and employee data have grown. With the use of AI comes greater amounts of personally identifiable information (PII) data being stored and utilized, but at what cost?As society becomes more comfortable with the gathering and mining of sensitive personal information, the threat of AI will only increase.

Key Takeaways:

• Considering the impacts of the increased ability of AI driven devices and tools to track and monitor consumers/users and employees
• Tackling data exploitation given that most consumers/users remain blissfully unaware of the amount of data being generated and processed through networks and devices
• Assessing how, with such sensitive data at risk, organizations can enforce accountability and transparency to help better protect data’s private contents?
• Reviewing existing privacy laws and regulations to help determine whether they adequately protect the privacy rights subject to the threat of AI

Speakers: Robert Brownstone – Fenwick & West LLP; Kimberly Quan – Juniper Networks; Joe Gervais – Brightside Benefit; Gordon Calhoun – Lewis Brisbois.

2:00pm – 3:00pm:

Information Governance in the Cloud: Compare and Contrast (2020 update)

Build your cloud knowledge. With CIO surveys showing over 90% of businesses use the public cloud, now is the time to improve your cloud readiness! Engage in lively discussion with the experts who worked directly with Amazon, Box, Google, IBM, Microsoft and other major cloud providers on the IG elements of their cloud solutions. Explore the Cloud’s information governance (IG) features for retention, legal holds, disposition information protection and more! Expanding your knowledge will assure your place at the table as a valued resource, as your organization leverages the cloud.

Key Takeaways:

• Examine key information governance capabilities of cloud solutions
• Compare and contrast cloud support for creation-date versus event-based retention
• Discuss legal hold capabilities
• Consider automated disposition features

Speakers: Carol Stainbrook – Cohasset Associates; Michael Haley – Cohasset Associates.

Privacy Engineering (“Privacy by Design”): What is it & What Do I Need to Know?

As privacy has evolved over time, developers of products, technology, networks and business practices have been realizing the importance of incorporating privacy from the beginning instead of as add on. Privacy engineering ensures that privacy considerations are integrated into product design. As technology continues to evolve a rapid pace ,the necessity for privacy engineering will only continue to grow.

Key Takeaways:

• Knowing the fundamentals behind privacy engineering and understanding its growing importance
• Considering privacy laws that require privacy engineering
• Garnering strategies to help incorporate privacy engineering into product development

Speakers: Robert Brownstone – Fenwick & West LLP; Amie Taal – Strategem Tech Solutions; Robert Bond – Bristows LLP; Matthew Coleman – Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP; Megan Cristina – Slack.

In addition to these, there are other sessions today that may interest you.  For a complete description for all sessions today – and for the entire show, since they’re all on one page (even if you do have to click “Learn More” on each one to see them), click here.

So, what do you think?  Did you attend LTNY this year?  If so, what did you think about the 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.

As noted yesterday, Legaltech^® New York (LTNY) is happening this week and, for the tenth(!) year in a row, eDiscovery Daily is here to report about the latest eDiscovery trends being discussed at the show.  There’s still time to check out the show if you’re in the New York area with a number of sessions available and over 158 exhibitors providing information on their products and services, including our company, CloudNine at booth #3000 in America’s Hall 2.

In addition to that, yesterday and today, CloudNine is conducting its second annual NineForum Discovery Education Series where prominent and highly respected eDiscovery and litigation support experts will deliver 9 TED-style talks, 20 minutes each, covering important topics impacting the legal community.  We’ve got a great list of eDiscovery thought leaders lined up for NineForum again this year, so if you are at the show, come check it out.  The schedule for the topics and speakers, along with everything else CloudNine at Legaltech is available here.  We had five great sessions yesterday, and have four more today to check out!

Not only that, but today from 4pm to 6pm is the 4th annual Drinks with Doug (as in me!) and Mary (as in Mary Mack!), sponsored by EDRM, CloudNine and Compliance Discovery Solutions.  Believe it or not, you can still register here.  Once again, we have a ton of people who have already registered and, trust me, you don’t want to be left out.  We’re going to take over Ruth’s Chris Steak house.  Again.

There are several interesting sessions today related to eDiscovery, Information Governance, Cybersecurity and Data Privacy.  Side note: ALM has set up the Legaltech site this year where you have to click “Learn More” for each session to get the full description of it – very annoying!  I’ve opened them all up, so you don’t have to.  :o)  Sessions in the main conference tracks include:

9:00am – 10:00am:

Plenary Session – Blockchain and Emerging Technology Researcher Bettina Warburg

With a gift of clearly explaining complex—and confusing—technologies, Blockchain researcher Bettina Warburg educates executives in leveraging emergent technologies including AI, IoT, and others. Click here to view her TED talk on how blockchain will transform the economy.

Speaker: Bettina Warburg, Blockchain researcher, entrepreneur and educator, Co-founder, Animal Ventures, Tech on Politics.

11:00am – 12:00pm:

Mobile Data: Issues in Data Privacy and Data Protection

Mobile data has become arguably the most important source of information in litigation, investigations, and just about every form of data discovery—and data privacy and data protection are arguably the biggest challenges with mobile data. Have we lost the battles over data privacy and data protection with our data exposed for all to see? Is more evidence a bad thing? Join us for a lively conversation as leading authorities in legal forensics and mobile technology discuss and debate the vital mobile data issues of the day and discuss mobile protocol best practices.

Key takeaways:

• Key privacy issues posed by mobile data
• Best mobile practices from leading authorities in legal forensics & mobile technology
• Business & discovery implications of mobile technologies

Speakers: David Horrigan – Relativity; Gail Gottehrer – Law Offices of Gail Gottehrer; Ed McAndrew – DLA Piper; Ines Rubio – BSI; Ruth Hauswirth – Cooley LLP; Shahaf Rozanski – Cellebrite, Inc.

Career Up! LegalOps for eDiscovery Professionals & Tech Wonky Attorneys

In this eye-opening session, we’ll identify emerging career opportunities and trends within the LegalOps job market. You’ll also learn the core skills & attributes on which hiring managers are keen.  Digging deeper we’ll examine how this new career track is reshaping law school curricula, as well as the state of certification programs and how they can help advance your career goals. Last, but not least, you’ll learn all about compensation ranges, per role & experience level.

Key takeaways:

• Career statistics & trends in the LegalOps job market
• Certifications & degrees that matter most
• Salary guidelines
• Business of law implications

Speakers: Olivia Gonzalez – Prudential; Tom Morrissey – Purdue Pharma LP; Richard Robinson – Toyota; Paige Edwards – Onit.

1:30pm – 2:30pm:

Your Career in Data Discovery, Data Privacy, and Data Protection

Legal careers are changing rapidly, and technology is a major force driving these professional opportunities. No longer are career paths siloed between law and technology—instead legal technologists in a variety of roles are changing what it means to be a legal professional—especially in data discovery, data privacy, and data protection. The wave that brought us the chief information officer a few years ago is now creating opportunities for new roles such as data privacy officer, chief information security officer, data science attorney, and chief transformation officer. In this session, we’ll examine these new career opportunities with perspectives from legal professionals and legal recruiters.

Key takeaways:

• Career statistics & trends in data privacy and related fields
• Certifications & degrees that matter most
• Salary ranges for various positions
• Business implications

Speakers: David Horrigan – Relativity; Jared Coseglia – TRU Staffing Partners; Ines Rubio – BSI; David Kilgore – Rackspace; Scott Milner – Morgan Lewis; Kelly Twigger – ESI Attorneys, E-Discovery Assistant.

Leveraging Technology for Information Governance and Data Privacy

It’s now routine for organizations to turn to technology to solve eDiscovery problems, but only recently have they started to consider how data analytics and other tools can improve their information governance and data privacy initiatives. This session will explore new applications of legal technology tools for identifying sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information, banking information, and healthcare records, and redacting, anonymizing or otherwise remediating that information.

Key takeaways:

• Cutting-edge LegalTech tools that can classify data, build data maps, and lower data storage costs
• Applications that manage content and contracts Practical suggestions for assessing which technology is right for your unique information governance challenges
• The business implications

Speakers: Matthew Miller – Consilio; Jan Dormsjo – Bank of America; Joanne Lane – Merck; Marla Crawford – Goldman Sachs.

3:00pm – 4:00pm:

Data Privacy and Data Protection Update

With the possible exception of climate change, data privacy and data protection may be the most important issues facing society as we embark on a new decade. Join us for our annual examination of developments in data privacy and protection, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We’ll look at mobile data, social media, and the Internet of Things, analyzing controversies from Amazon’s Alexa to Facebook. In addition, as we look ahead to the 2020 elections, we’ll examine the legal and technical aspects of alleged hacked elections, and what all these data privacy and protection challenges mean for you.

Key takeaways:

• Briefing update on GDPR & CCPA
• How do these data privacy laws impact social media & the IoT
• Examining controversies involving Amazon’s Alexa & Facebook
• A look ahead to the 2020 elections and its data privacy & protection challenges
• Business of law implications

Speakers: Robert Brownstone – Fenwick & West LLP; David Horrigan – Relativity; Johnny Lee – Grant Thornton LLP; Debbie Reynolds – Debbie Reynolds Consulting LLP; Judge Andrew Peck – DLA Piper; Ryan O’Leary – IDC.

Using Analytics to Find the Signal in the Noise for Internal Investigations

Using Analytics to Find the Signal in the Noise for Internal Investigations So much information and so many questions: Today’s organizations need technology that can help them quickly sift through their data to find the answers to pressing internal issues. This session will use case studies to illustrate how various analytics can identify patterns in data, uncover hidden relationships between people and events, translate coded language, and organize disparate information into logical groups and concepts—helping investigators find the signal in the noise.

Key takeaways:

• Matching the right tools and techniques to the particular investigation at hand
• Addressing proactive uses of analytics to prioritize data collection efforts and audit document populations Identify training and monitoring priorities that can ward off impending problems
• The business implications

Speakers: Allison Myers – Consilio; Richard Rauzi – Bank of America; John Koss – Mintz; Drew Pietro – Standard Chartered Bank; Danielle Panetta – Goodwin Procter.

In addition to these, there are other sessions today that may interest you.  For a complete description for all sessions today – and for the entire show, since they’re all on one page (even if you do have to click “Learn More” on each one to see them), click here.

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

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.