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Industry Trends

Are We More Confident in eDiscovery Business Than We Were a Year Ago?: eDiscovery Trends

The results are in from the Complex Discovery Winter 2017 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey, which has just concluded and (as was the case for the 2016 Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall surveys) the results are published on Rob Robinson’s terrific Complex Discovery site.  How confident are individuals working in the eDiscovery ecosystem in the business of eDiscovery?  Let’s see.

As always, Rob provides a complete breakdown of the latest survey results, which you can check out here.  So, to avoid redundancy, I will primarily focus on trends over the past four surveys to see how the responses have varied from quarter to quarter and (for the first time since this is the second year of the quarterly survey) will take a look at a year over year comparison to the Winter 2016 survey.

The Winter 2017 Survey response period was initiated on January 20, and continued until registration of 100 responses on February 6. Rob notes that this limiting of responders to 100 individuals is new with the Winter 2017 survey and is designed to create linearity in the number of responses for each quarterly survey (it also gets rid of those pesky decimal points in the results). This quarter the 100 responses were received at the fastest rate in the history of the survey.  So, in the future, if you want your voice heard, respond early!

Percentage of Provider Respondents Rising Back Up: Of the types of respondents, 56 out of 100 were either Software and/or Services Provider (40%) or Consultancy (16%) for a total of 56% of respondents as some sort of outsourced provider (over half of total respondents – I’m counting law firm respondents as consumers even though they can also be providers as well).  Law firm respondents comprised a majority of the remaining respondents with 33%.  No other type of respondents was over 4%.  Here’s a graphical representation of the trend over the past four quarters:

When comparing this year’s Winter survey to last year’s survey, it is clear that (despite the rise in percentage of provider respondents this time), the survey is still more diverse than before, especially with regard to the percentage of law firm respondents:

Not Quite Half of Respondents Consider Business to Be Good: Less than half (49%, to be exact) of respondents rated the current general business conditions for eDiscovery in their segment to be good, with 9% rating business conditions as bad.  Last quarter, those numbers were 56.6% and 6.2% respectively, so this quarter reflects less bullish than last quarter.  Will that trend continue?  We’ll see.  Here is the trend for the last four quarterly surveys.

When comparing against last year’s Winter survey, the difference is even more pronounced with nearly a 10% decrease of respondents rating current general business conditions for eDiscovery in their segment to be good.

Almost Everyone Still Expects eDiscovery Business Conditions to be as Good or Better Six Months From Now: Almost all respondents (96%) expect business conditions will be in their segment to be the same or better six months from now (slightly above last quarter’s 94.7%), but the percentage expecting business to be better fell to an all-time low of 40%.  Revenue (at combined 90% for the same or better) and profit (combined 86%) dropped from last quarter.  Here is the profits trend for the last four quarterly surveys.

When compared against last year’s Winter survey, the distribution for profits six months from now was less bullish with a 6% decrease of respondents expecting higher profits and a 4% increase of respondents expecting lower profits.

Increasing Volumes of Data and Budgetary Constraints Are Most Impactful to eDiscovery Business: Increasing Volumes of Data and Budgetary Constraints were tied for the top of the most impactful factors to the business of eDiscovery over the next six months at 26% each (perhaps budgeting is more notable during the winter?).  Increasing Types of Data (17%) stayed at third, followed by Data Security (15%), with Lack of Personnel and Inadequate Technology (both at 8%) bringing up the rear.  The graph below illustrates the distribution across the most recent four quarterly surveys.

A year ago, Budgetary Constraints was voted as the most impactful to eDiscovery business, so maybe there is something to the time of year theory with regard to budget considerations.

Still a Fairly Even Split Among the Roles: Last time, the “rank and file” dominated the responses with 73.5% of total responses.  This time, Executive Leadership respondents rose back up (to 38%), though Operational Management was the leader (at 39%) and Tactical Execution dropped a bit (down to 23%).  Here’s the breakdown of the last four quarters.

The survey is certainly more distributed than last year, where Executive Leadership was a clear majority of the responses.  Does that mean that the “rank and file” are less bullish than Execs?  Or does it mean that eDiscovery professionals in general are less bullish than before?  Hmmm…

Again, Rob has published the results on his site here, which shows responses to additional questions not referenced here.  Check it out.

So, what do you think?  What’s your state of confidence in the business of eDiscovery?  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.

Thoughts About LegalTech New York 2017: eDiscovery Trends

Another LegalTech New York (LTNY) – or “LegalWeek” as they now like to call the event – is in the books.  What did attendees at the conference think about this year’s show?  Let’s take a look.

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, how it differed from past shows (if at all) and if they had suggestions for improvements.  As a few pointed out in responding, these are their personal opinions and observations regarding the show, not those of their employer or clients.  Here is what they had to say:

George Socha, Managing Director at BDO: “Cybersecurity concerns are driving IG investments, many of which will draw on e-discovery tools, techniques and expertise.”

Shawn Gaines, Director of Marketing Communications at kCura: “As always, Legaltech was an awesome place to meet up with the rest of the legal technology community, leading to great meetings and one-on-one conversations.  Traffic in the exhibit hall started strong, but seemed to fade earlier than usual, perhaps due to what seemed like a smaller set of exhibitors.  The quality of the people there, however, still can’t be beat—and there aren’t too many other opportunities like this to bring together people from all ends of the industry.”

Rob Robinson, Author of the Complex Discovery blog: “Having participated in some way in Legaltech since 2006, it is always fascinating to see how many authors and reporters parachute into the information stream of Legaltech in early January and then add their icing to the cake of content being shared by industry experts. This reporting serves the purpose of highlighting topics but many times falls short of the investigative and educational journalism that could benefit industry professionals. Instead of just providing a mouthpiece and distribution network for the comments of individuals and companies that pay for access, it would be incredibly refreshing and beneficial to see these authors and reporters also focus on how technologies can benefit end users…Cost recovery may be a sound financial business model for ALM, but charging attendees a fee to learn more about exhibitors who have already paid for the opportunity to share their information and offerings with attendees seemed overreaching. As an event’s success is directly related to the quality and quantity of its attendees, it might be beneficial for ALM to deeply consider the impact of future access cost changes on not only finances but on perception.”

Greg Buckles, eDiscovery Consultant & Evangelist – The EDJ Group Inc.: Orange is the new black – again.  Automation and efficiency everywhere, but do the end customers really care?  Does fast track processing directly to Relativity just convert your technology to a commodity?  LTNY losing traction? Booths down, crowd down and most briefing suites in adjacent hotels?

Michele Lange, Director of Thought Leadership at KrolLDiscovery: “Habitual LTNY attendees were happy to report that the stalwart event remained largely unchanged as part of the greater Legalweek experience, with many attendees welcoming the additional, high-quality keynotes occurring throughout the week. Attendees also commented on the reduction in time in the educational sessions – from 75 to 60 minutes – to better align with CLE requirements.  Panelists (many of which were newcomers to the LTNY speaking stage) were more succinct in their remarks, resulting in better, more focused discussions this year.”

Andrew Haslam, eDisclosure Project Manager at Squire Patton Boggs: “For the fourth year in a row, the number of exhibitors was down, what was stretched across three areas, could easily have fitted into 2. There used to be a whole section of training organisations, nary a one this time around. Without the central show, all the fringe activities will struggle to justify themselves, to reuse the Ernest Hemmingway’s quote from Andrew McAfee’s wonderful day 1 Keynote, ‘How did you go bankrupt?’ ‘Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly.’ Are we seeing ALM tipping into a sudden decline? Was this the reason for charging people an admittance fee, or was it a far nobler desire to keep out the ‘mouchers’.  Let’s see what next year brings.”

Drew Macaulay, Managing Director at Consilio: “My impression of LegalTech this year was that it was definitely quieter in the exhibit halls, but still busy in the educational tracks, particularly those that related to regulatory investigations and cross border discovery challenges and best practices. In particular, there was a lot of interest in the potential impact of the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation, which comes into force in May 2018 and has broad implications for law firms, corporations and eDiscovery firms alike.”

Bill Piwonka, Chief Marketing Officer at Exterro: “Legal Week this year was in tune with the trends we’ve been seeing, namely that while people in the industry are becoming more e-discovery proficient, there is still much to be learned. With the FRCP amendments, new technologies, ever-growing data volumes and types, and a large number of organizations moving to the cloud, the latest knowledge on how to stay in front of these changes is more vital than ever. LegalWeek 2017 was instrumental in providing that knowledge, and more, for all who attended.”

David Horrigan, e-Discovery Counsel and Legal Content Director at kCura: “This year, ALM expanded the show from Legaltech to Legalweek, bringing more legal issues into a larger overall event.  I think many speakers did a great job in showing how technology relates to all areas of the law.  For instance, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky was one who did an outstanding job of bringing other areas of the law into the rest of the program.  Many sessions did an excellent job of really hitting home how technology and the law aren’t just for programmers and legal teams—they affect everyday life.”

Craig Ball, Noted eDiscovery Thought Leader and Author of Ball in Your Court blog: “Though I enjoyed LTNY 2017 as much as any before (and for me it’s been two decades of LTNY), this year’s show seemed a shadow of its former self.  Traffic was down, and the plenary keynotes saw a fraction of their customary attendance.  Consolidation among e-discovery vendors was striking in terms of its impact on the show floor.  Maybe not an entirely bad thing as e-discovery had all but taken over the show.  I witnessed these things but expect that ALM will report that LTNY was still bigger and better and HUGER by every measure.  As they say in New York, Mazeltov!”

“I thought the decision to charge for floor and plenary admission was not implemented wisely.  I’d charge a modest amount online to register but credit it back when attendees showed up.  Considering how much vendors pay to be onsite, the admission charge felt…tacky.”

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

As for my own thoughts, it seems to me that more and more of the activities are outside the conference as attendees take the opportunity provided by the biggest legal technology show of the year to arrange meetings to further business relationships.  While that’s great for doing business, it’s not as great for the show itself as many of the attendees find it difficult to find time to actually attend sessions or visit the exhibit hall.  Many of the people I spoke with during the show had yet to attend the show itself.

Personally, I always try to find time to attend at least a few sessions and the ones I attended this year were first rate, as always.  My particular favorite was the keynote on Day 2 (February 1) of the conference regarding effects of the December 2015 Rules amendments discussed by several judges and attorneys reflecting both the defense and plaintiff viewpoints.  As for the Exhibit Hall, I spent some time in the Hall and spoke with several of the exhibitors, who noted that attendance in the Exhibit Hall seemed diminished compared to previous years (especially after the first day).  It will be interesting to see if exhibitors raise concerns over the decision to charge for Exhibits only passes and the potential impact it has on attendance in the Hall.

So, what do you think?  Did you attend this year’s LegalTech?  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.

Thursday LTNY 2017 Sessions: eDiscovery Trends

As noted yesterday and Tuesday, LegalWeek 2017 – which includes of course the marquee event LegalTech® New York (LTNY) – is happening this week and eDiscovery Daily is here to report about the latest eDiscovery trends being discussed at the show.  This is the last day to check out the show if you’re in the New York area with a number of sessions (both paid and free) available and at least 182 exhibitors providing information on their products and services.

While at the show, we will (for the seventh year in a row!) be interviewing several industry thought leaders to see what they think are the significant trends for 2017 and, which of those are evident at LTNY.  After the show, we will announce the series of thought leader interviews and identify when each will be published.  Mark your calendars!

American Lawyer Media (ALM) has redesigned their site so that all three days are on a single page, so you can’t really perform a “find” anymore to get the number of hits for “discovery” or “information governance” for the day.  Nonetheless, based on Monday’s post, there is still plenty to talk about!  Sessions in the main conference tracks include:

10:30 – 11:30 AM:

E-Discovery for Investigations and Criminal Matters

Traditionally, e-discovery has been a part of complex commercial litigation, but as electronically stored information becomes a ubiquitous part of everyday life, the frontiers of e-discovery are expanding to new areas of law and corporate governance.  These areas include the expanded use of e-discovery in investigations and criminal matters.  Join us for this session as speakers from government and private practice discuss these growing fields in e-discovery.

Speakers to include: Moderator: David Horrigan, E-Discovery Counsel & Legal Content Director, kCura; Panelists: Edward J. McAndrew, Partner, Ballard Spahr, Xavier Rodriguez, United States District Judge, Western District of Texas, Ronald Sharpe, U.S. Attorney District, Virgin Islands, Stan Stampson, Senior Counsel, The World Bank.

Update on Effects of Brexit on Privacy and Data Protection Considerations

Now that Brexit is a reality, organizations doing business or even serving customers in the United Kingdom are struggling to understand which data protection requirements they should follow and how. Technically the General Data Protection Requirements (GDPR) of the European Union will no longer apply to the UK. So what are organizations supposed to do if they are doing business not only in the UK but also in other EU countries? In this session, a panel of experts will walk the audience through the salient UK requirements, as well as the salient GDPR requirements.

Speakers to include: Moderator: John Isaza, Partner, Rimon PC; Panelist: Richard Hogg, Global InfoGov Solutions Leader, IBM, Jason C. Stearns, Director – Legal & Compliance Group, BlackRock, Jill M. Williamson, Counsel, Rimon PC.

12:30 – 1:30 PM:

New Frontiers for International e-Discovery

Cross-Border e-discovery has always presented challenges for practitioners and clients alike.  With the increase in data privacy and protection requirements around the globe, Brexit in the United Kingdom, the upcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the demise of the EU-US Safe Harbor, and the uncertain future of the EU-US Privacy Shield, these challenges are only growing.  To prepare for the future of international e-discovery, hear this panel of US and international legal experts discuss ways to navigate the new frontiers of international e-discovery.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Steve Couling, Vice President of International Sales, kCura; Panelists: Chris Dale, Founder, eDisclosure Information Project,  Karyn Harty, Partner, McCann Fitzgerald, Davin Teo, Managing Director Forensic Technology, Alvarez & Marsal Disputes & Investigations Limited, David Horrigan, E-Discovery Counsel & Legal Content Director, kCura.

Data Disposition Strategies from the Trenches

Despite advances in technology and legal clarifications, organizations continue to struggle with hitting the delete button on back-up tapes. This is due in part to a grave misunderstanding of where the law currently stands on the issue, as well as legitimate concerns about inadvertent spoliation or the perception that it was intentional. In this session, without naming names, a panel of experts will walk the audience through the legal methodology and thought processes used to help clients reach a studied and vetted decision to finally hit the delete button.

Speakers to include: Moderator: John Isaza, Partner, Rimon PC; Panelist: Richard Hogg, Global InfoGov Solutions Leader, IBM, Jason C. Stearns, Director – Legal & Compliance Group, BlackRock, Jerry Cohen, Partner, Burns & Levinson LLP.

Stop the Lip Service: Real Advocacy Under the Federal Rules

While counsel has been overrun with news that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have changed – very little guidance has been provided to in-house counsel and large data holders on how to leverage the 2015 Amendments to prevent discovery side-shows that waste time and drive costs.  This program will discuss how to use the new rules to your organization’s advantage in litigation, including effectively negotiating scope in discovery, cutting short unduly burdensome and disproportionate requests; and re-scoping preservation requirements with concepts of proportionality. Hosted by the Electronic Discovery Institute.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Zach Warren, Editor-In-Chief, Legaltech News; Panelists: Jamie Brown, Consulting Attorney – Law and Technology, Barclay’s, Patrick Oot, Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP, Robert Owen, Partner, Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, LLP, George Socha, Managing Director, BDO Consulting.

2:00 – 3:00 PM:

The Future of e-Discovery Law, Business, and Practice

In this final session of Legaltech New York 2017, members of the bar and bench and industry analysts predict the future of e-discovery, including how the law will change, how the industry will change, and how law firms and corporations will deal with exploding data volumes in the coming decades of the 21st Century.

Speakers to include: Moderator: David Horrigan, E-Discovery Counsel & Legal Content Director, kCura; Panelists: Monica Bay, Fellow, CodeX: The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, Dennis Garcia, Assistant General Counsel, Microsoft, James Francis IV (S.D.N.Y), United States Magistrate Judge, Daniel Martin Katz, Professor, Illinois Tech – Chicago Kent College of Law, Andrew Jimenez, CEO, Fronteo USA.

Social Media: Ethics and Records Considerations

Social Media presents a host of challenges for organizations, not the least of which involve its impact on legal ethics and records retention considerations. John Isaza will lead a panel of experts and walk the audience through legal ethics implications arising from a social media presence, including best practices on how to address those ethical concerns. A related topic of discussion will be the records that could arise from social media, including best practices on how to declare, classify and manage the resulting records.

Speakers to include: Moderator: John Isaza, Partner, Rimon PC; Panelists: Jerry Cohen, Partner, Burns & Levinson LLP, Kevin Fumai, Managing Counsel, Oracle, Jefferey Ogden Katz, Member, The Patterson Law Firm LLC.

In addition to these, there are other eDiscovery-related sessions today.  For a complete description for all sessions today (and for the entire show, since they’re all on one page), click here.

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

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. 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 LTNY 2017 Sessions: eDiscovery Trends

As noted yesterday, LegalWeek 2017 – which includes of course the marquee event LegalTech® New York (LTNY) – is happening this week and 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 (both paid and free) available and at least 182 exhibitors providing information on their products and services.

While at the show, we will (for the seventh year in a row!) be interviewing several industry thought leaders to see what they think are the significant trends for 2017 and, which of those are evident at LTNY.  After the show, we will announce the series of thought leader interviews and identify when each will be published.  Mark your calendars!

American Lawyer Media (ALM) has redesigned their site so that all three days are on a single page, so you can’t really perform a “find” anymore to get the number of hits for “discovery” or “information governance” for the day.  Nonetheless, based on Monday’s post, there is still plenty to talk about!  Sessions in the main conference tracks include:

9:00 – 10:00 AM:

The Effects of the December 2015 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure from 3 Perspectives (Judges, Defense & Plaintiff)

Speakers to include: Moderator: Patrick Oot, Partner, Shook Hardy & Bacon; Panelists: Hon. Andrew J. Peck, United States Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York, Hon. Xavier Rodriguez, United States District Judge, Western District of Texas, Hon. Elizabeth D. Laporte, United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California, Ariana Tadler, Partner, Milberg LLP, Paul D. Weiner, National eDiscovery Counsel | Shareholder, Littler Mendelson P.C.

10:30 – 11:30 AM:

The Data Privacy Landscape: Emerging Laws Affecting Cross-Border Discovery

In this session, a panel of leading eDiscovery experts will offer best practices for navigating the current state of cross-border data transfers unscathed. The panel will evaluate the impact of the General Data Protection Regulation, the EU-US Privacy Shield, blocking statutes and other data localization developments from around the globe, including in Russia, South America and the Asia-Pacific. Panelists will also review differing definitions of privacy in light of recent case law and discuss how they affect organizations’ legal obligations and suggest strategies for implementing safeguards and reducing the risks posed by these developing laws.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Drew Macaulay, Consilio; Panelists: Natascha Gerlach, Senior Attorney, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (Brussels, Belgium), Taylor M. Hoffman, Global Head of eDiscovery Management & Senior Vice President, Swiss Re America Holding Corporation, John Davis, Executive Director and Counsel – Global eDiscovery, UBS, Catherine Castaldo, Global Chief Privacy & Data Protection Counsel, GE Capital.

5 Forces Changing Corporate eDiscovery: What Law Firms Need to Know

Corporate eDiscovery is evolving, and savvy law firms are adapting to new client demands. This session brings together in­house and outside experts to discuss quantitative and qualitative benchmark data from dozens of interviews with AmLaw 200 firms and Fortune 500 companies. Join us for an interactive session that covers real client issues like data security, cloud consolidation, outsourcing, reporting, TAR adoption… and see how corporate legal and outside counsel are actually working with each other in the new model.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Hal Marcus, Director of Product Marketing, OpenText Discovery; Panelists: Ari Kaplan, Ari Kaplan Advisors, Rachelle Rennagel, eDiscovery Special Counsel, Pillsbury, Sharika de Freitas, Senior Manager, Discovery Solutions & Technology, Viacom, Mira Edelman, Discovery Counsel, Google.

3 Situations, 2 Lawyers, 1 Corporation: Using Relativity in a Data Breach, an Investigation & Litigation

Hypothetical scenarios with real-world Relativity workflows. Learn how a fictitious corporation in the financial services sector leverages new document review work streams to assist with three different types of hypothetical legal matters—a data breach response, an investigation, and litigation.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Cathleen Peterson, SVP – Consulting & Advanced Review Services, Kroll Ontrack; Panelist: Bernard (Brian) Hensgenbaugh, Partner, Baker Mackenzie.

1:30 – 2:30 PM:

Finding a New Safe Harbor: Using Technology and 1LR to Comply With Cross-Border Data Privacy Rules

The nullification of the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Agreement was a shot heard around the legal world. In the vacuum created by the collapse of this framework, and with new data privacy laws continuously emerging, organizations have been struggling to determine how best to proceed with cross-border data transfers for litigation, compliance and regulatory investigations. In this panel, international e-discovery experts will discuss how various approaches to compliance, including tools such as deduplication, predictive coding, automatic redaction and anonymization.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Michael Becker, Consilio; Panelist: Jeff Nass, Senior Counsel – eDiscovery, Boehringer Ingelheim, Ashley Baynham, Partner, Brown Rudnick, Brian Corbin, Vice President & Assistant General Counsel, Legal Discovery Management, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

TAI: Technology Assisted Investigations for the Enterprise

How many lawyers does it take to investigate an email server? Analytics are a force multiplier for modern investigators, empowering lean teams to understand and review millions of documents. Join this session to learn about the expert techniques and tools used by top lawyers, data scientists, and regulators to expedite fact finding, inform decisions, and better support their clients. This session will present practical strategies and real life success stories that you can start replicating right away to find smoking gun emails—or prove the lack thereof.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Adam Kuhn, eDiscovery Attorney, OpenText Discovery; Panelists: Robert Keeling, Partner, Sidley Austin, John Davis, Executive Director and Counsel – Global eDiscovery, UBS, David Yerich, Director – eDiscovery, UnitedHealth Group, Laura Roman, E-Discovery Specialist, New York Stock Exchange, Stephen Medlock, Senior Associate, Mayer Brown.

Mobile Device Investigations: From Android to iPhone and Back

A smartphone from a key employee lands on your desk, what next? Spend 60 minutes with a mobile forensics expert and in-house counsel/IT, who will discuss various scenarios involving forensics and perform a live smartphone acquisition to help you see actual data available that might help an investigation or litigation. Questions that will be answered include: (1) What mobile device data might be helpful during litigation? (2) What common legal and IT challenges are associated with mobile forensics investigations? (3) How do mobile device investigations differ from computer investigations?

Speakers to include: Moderator: Jason Bergerson, Director of Consulting Operations, Kroll Ontrack; Panelists: Rich Robinson, eDiscovery & Information Manager, JCPenney, Michael J. Burg, Corporate Counsel, DISH Network L.L.C., Clifford E. Nichols, Senior Counsel, Day Pitney.

Cost Predictability in eDiscovery:  A Real Innovation That Is Long Overdue

You have already heard it:  ECA, TAR, AI and AFAs are the answers. Despite all the hype, there are legal departments that can control and predict the internal and external contributors to the total cost of eDiscovery. They are doing so in the face of typical uncontrollable variables like the number of custodians in a matter, the number of pages per document that are in a gigabyte of data, and the speed at which documents are reviewed. In this session, our experts go beyond the theoretical and will discuss their first-hand experiences in creating predictable eDiscovery budgets and reducing total eDiscovery costs.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Jamie Berry, Senior Vice President of Questio Operations, UnitedLex; Panelists: Constance Mockaitis, Senior Manager, eDiscovery, AbbVie, Jacob Herstek, Vice President and Senior Legal Counsel, HSBC Bank USA, NA, Judith Beall, Associate General Counsel & Senior Vice President, Bank of America, Ellen Blanchard, Senior Corporate Counsel, eDiscovery, T-Mobile.

3:00 – 4:00 PM:

Global Investigations and Multilingual Data – How to Manage the Risks Presented by Multilingual Datasets

Global businesses speak many languages. While conducting business in multiple languages is necessary and inevitable it also creates grave business risks as some of the most egregious and concerning compliance issues become much harder to detect.  Sound risk management requires an effective approach to reviewing multilingual datasets.  In this thought-provoking session, attendees will get a refreshing flavor for how delightfully complex multilingual reviews can be.  The speakers will illustrate the challenges of searching multilingual data and explain workflow choices for the review of multilingual documents.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Ben Rusch, Consilio; Panelist: Farrah Pepper, Executive Counsel Discovery, General Electric Company, Mark Hjerpe, Partner, Divergent Translations.

Enough Already! Predictive Coding is for Every Matter

Machine learning isn’t just for multi­million document discovery— it’s not even just for discovery. Come learn how continuous machine learning is being used every day for litigation, investigations, due diligence and more as a natural extension of human analysis. No complicated written protocols, advanced project management, or extraordinary involvement by SMEs needed. This session will include a discussion of the latest case law, trends, and perceived “barriers”.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Hal Marcus, Director of Product Marketing, OpenText Discovery; Panelists: Ethan Ackerman, Associate, Morgan Lewis, Kiriaki Tourikis, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, JPMorgan Chase, Dawson Horn, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, AIG Corp, Alexis Mitchell, Principal Data Scientist, OpenText Discovery.

Information Governance – Hindsight is 20/20: A Moderated Debate

It’s an InfoGov showdown! Panelists will debate the merits of taking a reactive approach (“we did the best we could give the situation”) versus applying a proactive model (“you could have been better prepared if you had done this”) in a global discovery matter. This session will provide you with a playbook on how to implement a global Information Governance program, balancing against the practical constraints preventing organizations from making infogov a priority – from people that have lived through both reactive and proactive approaches to discovery.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Tom Barce, Director of Consulting Services, Kroll Ontrack; Panelists: Patrick J. Burke, Senior Counsel, Seyfarth Shaw, Ben Hubble, Manager – Records Management, Wendy’s, Jessica Escalera, Global Head of Legal Discovery Operations, Barclays.

In addition to these, there are other eDiscovery-related sessions today.  For a complete description for all sessions today (and for the entire show, since they’re all on one page), 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.

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 LegalTech New York 2017!: eDiscovery Trends

Today is the start of LegalWeek 2017 – which includes of course the marquee event LegalTech® New York (LTNY) – and, for the seventh(!) year in a row, eDiscovery Daily is here to report about the latest eDiscovery trends being discussed at the show.  Over the next three days, we will provide a description each day of some of the sessions related to eDiscovery to give you a sense of the topics being covered.  If you’re in the New York area, I encourage you to check out the show – there are a number of sessions (both paid and free) available and at least 182 exhibitors providing information on their products and services.

While at the show, we will (as always) be interviewing several industry thought leaders to see what they think are the significant trends for 2017 and, which of those are evident at LTNY.  After the show, we will announce the series of thought leader interviews and identify when each will be published.  Mark your calendars!

American Lawyer Media (ALM) has redesigned their site so that all three days are on a single page, so you can’t really perform a “find” anymore to get the number of hits for “discovery” or “information governance” for the day.  Nonetheless, based on Monday’s post, there is still plenty to talk about!  Sessions in the main conference tracks include:

12:45 – 1:45 PM:

EDRM & NOT eDiscovery?

For more than a decade, the EDRM framework has served as guidance during the legal discovery process. Today, these principles are being applied in different scenarios and contexts to assist industries with challenges such as data migration, company mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and more. Join us for an interactive discussion with a global panel of legal, technical, and corporate operational professionals to discuss these unique applications of the EDRM.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Darren Pauling, Managing Director, Forensic Technology, KPMG; Panelists: Seth Eichenholtz, Head of Electronic Discovery, Mastercard, Jeff Sharer, Partner and Co-Chair – Data Law Practice, Akerman LLP, Julie Heller, Global Head of eDiscovery Programs, AIG.

Shielding the Organization from Data Risk & E-Discovery Failures

Data risk can strike an organization from many angles – from external attacks to internal malfeasance to third party negligence – and have real consequences for the e-discovery process.  How do security risks such as data leakage, shadow IT and third party negligence lead to e-discovery failures? And how can organizations eliminate preventable e-discovery mistakes such as failure to preserve, failure to protect and the inadvertent release of privileged information?  Attend this panel to discuss who bears responsibility and how to prevent failures while instituting best practices in light of the latest case law and new federal rules.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Jason Ray, Managing Director, FTI Technology; Panelists: Ignatius Grande, Senior Discovery Attorney, Hughes Hubbard, Jordan Razza, Senior Counsel and Director of U.S. Litigation, Diageo, Matthew Fisher, Global Head of Records and Information Management, Diageo.

2:15 – 3:15 PM:

eDiscovery, the Cloud & Beyond

Join us for a collaborative conversation about strategies, technologies, and workflows surrounding eDiscovery and the Cloud. Our panel of professionals will discuss pre-migration considerations, implications for preservation and collection, the potential to perform “in place” culling, and opportunities for Information Governance and Litigation Readiness. Being able to adapt strategies to the cloud will provide a roadmap for the future while driving down the cost of eDiscovery.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Brett Trizzino, KPMG; Panelists: Thane Vallette, Associate General Counsel, HP, Bonnie Kennedy, eDiscovery Manager, Delta, Jeff Nass, Senior Counsel – eDiscovery, Boehringer Ingelheim.

Corporate Data Assessments: The New Game Changer?

Where do you begin in implementing a data governance and security plan? How to secure executive buy-in? How can you incorporate shifting regulatory frameworks to ensure compliance? What if you plan to move to Microsoft Office 365? How does this impact your broader data management strategy? These are just some of the questions that can stymie and stall corporate data governance initiatives. Increasingly, corporations are shifting to a data assessment model, which can help proactively 1) identify threats, 2) map an organization’s data universe and 3) help identify an action plan that is presentable to the c-suite. Attend this session to learn more about what these data assessments should incorporate, who should be involved, and how you can customize the data assessment to your own organizational needs.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Jake Frazier, Senior Managing Director, FTI Technology; Panelist: Judy S. Lao, Chief Legal Officer, Blackstone Group, Ben Robbins, E-Discovery and Information Governance, LinkedIn, Jenya Moshkovich, Partner, Barnes & Thornburg, Jason C. Stearns, Director, BlackRock.

3:45 – 4:45 PM:

The Future of Analytical Strategies

It’s no secret that company data volumes and the costs to manage them continue to grow at exponential rates. The application of advanced analytical technologies and methodologies are helping company legal departments by providing critical insight into data in effective, timely, and affordable ways. During this discussion, industry professionals will share their strategies and experiences using emerging tools, technologies, and workflows in various combinations to quickly and effectively understand populations of both structured and unstructured data as well as the impact of these approaches on legal departments.

Speakers to include: Moderator: Tom Keegan, KPMG; Panelists: Michelle Six, eDiscovery Counsel, Kirkland & Ellis, Brett Tarr, Counsel-Litigation & E-Discovery, Caesar’s Entertainment, Erick Drobinski, eDiscovery Counsel, Gilead Sciences.

Advice from Counsel: Data and Risk-Intensive Investigations

From corporate fraud and IP theft to regulatory investigations, legal teams are hard-pressed to quickly find, understand and act upon data in investigations. What are some of the strategies that top legal teams use to proactively prepare for data-intensive investigations? Which analytics tools are best suited for uncovering different pieces of information? How can you balance investigative needs with adherence to various data privacy and State Secrets laws? This panel represents the 5th consecutive year FTI will present the results of our annual Advice from Counsel corporate law survey at LTNY. Showcasing case studies and best practices from leading legal teams, this session is one not to miss!

Speakers to include: Moderator: Sophie Ross, Senior Managing Director, FTI Technology; Panelists: Marla Crawford, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs, Jessica Ross, Counsel, Deutsche Bank, Kelly Clay, Senior Counsel, GSK, Ari Kaplan, Principal, Ari Kaplan Advisors.

In addition to these, there are other eDiscovery-related sessions today.  For a complete description for all sessions today (and for the entire show, since they’re all on one page), 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.

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.

At LegalTech, Word Clouds are the Word: eDiscovery Trends

For many people (including me), today is a travel day for LegalTech New York (LTNY), er, LegalWeek.  On a day like today, it helps me to have an easy topic to write about.  So, thanks to InsideLegal for a great LegalTech observation!

In InsideLegal’s 2017 Legaltech NY Word Cloud (along with 7 year flashback), written by JoAnna Forshee, the site has generated a word cloud from the LTNY agenda to give an overview of what will be covered in the sessions, which visually displays the words/themes included in the event’s agenda of sessions.  That word cloud is above.

Over the years, I’ve observed that eDiscovery is a front and center theme for the show and based on the word cloud (and my own observations), this year is no exception.  “eDiscovery” (along with “legal” and “data”) are the most popular words in the agenda.  Probably even less surprising is that “Sponsored By” is probably the biggest term after those three (along with “technology”) – so “Sponsored By” is on a par with the term “technology” at a technology show.  Yeah, that figures.

Actually, InsideLegal has been doing this every year since 2011 (hey, that’s the first year eDiscovery Daily started covering the show!) and the post also provides the word clouds for the previous 6 years as well.  In each of those years (except for the first one in 2011), the term “eDiscovery” is at least as big (if not bigger) than any other term in the word cloud.  It’s interesting to see other terms that are big in certain years (such as Information Governance in 2014 and 2015).  Only in 2011 is “eDiscovery” not the top term (in that year the biggest terms were “legal” and “technology” (go figure!), as well as “data”.

So, it certainly appears that, once again, eDiscovery will take center stage at the conference this year.  Starting tomorrow, we will point out sessions related to eDiscovery (and Information Governance), so you can plan on which sessions to attend.

So, what do you think?  Are you attending LegalTech this week?  If not, please feel free to join us!  And, as always, please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. 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.

What Every Attorney Should Know About eDiscovery in 2017: eDiscovery Trends

Early this year, I asked if we’ve (finally) reached the age of technical competence of attorneys.  Perhaps we’re not there yet.  However, CloudNine is sponsoring a webcast today which may help bridge the gap.

Today’s webcast at noon CT (1pm ET, 10am PT) is titled What Every Attorney Should Know About eDiscovery in 2017 and will be conducted via the BrightTALK network.  This is a one-hour session that Karen DeSouza (Director of Review Services here at CloudNine) and I have conducted for the past couple of years for hundreds of legal professionals for CLE credit in Texas.  It’s a good fundamental session that covers a lot of things attorneys need to know in eDiscovery today, including

  • Key Terms to Know Regarding eDiscovery
  • Phases of the eDiscovery Life Cycle
  • Federal and State Rules Regarding Electronically Stored Information (ESI)
  • Competency Ethical Duties of Attorneys Regarding eDiscovery
  • Important Cases in the Evolution of eDiscovery Best Practices
  • Useful Resources for eDiscovery Continued Education

The webcast is CLE Approved in Texas and Florida.  The Texas approval is 1.0 hours of CLE credit, with 0.25 hours of Ethics credit.  To obtain approval in Texas, you will need to send your information (along with bar number) after the webcast to Karen at kdesouza@cloudnine.com, so that she can log your credit hour.

The Florida approval is for 1.0 hours of CLE, with 1.0 hours of Technology CLE credit.  As you’ll remember, Florida late last year mandated three hours of technology CLE for attorneys over a three year period, starting January 1 of this year.  So, if you’re in the Florida Bar, this an opportunity to get one of those hours!

To sign up for today’s webcast, click here.

So, what do you think?  Do you have your eDiscovery fundamentals down?  If not, please feel free to join us!  And, as always, please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. 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.

“Legalweek, The Experience” 2017 is One Week From Today!: eDiscovery Trends

What is “Legalweek, The Experience”, you say?  LegalWeek is LegalTech New York, along with six other “events-within-an-event” that will be going on next week in New York at the New York Hilton Midtown, starting next Tuesday, January 31 and concluding on Thursday, February 2.  Let’s take a look at some of the sessions and events worth particular note for eDiscovery professionals.

Several Tracks Dedicated to eDiscovery: There is at least one educational track each day devoted to eDiscovery, with Forward Thinking in eDiscovery on Tuesday, The Challenges of Cross-Border eDiscovery and Ediscovery Everywhere on Wednesday and E-Discovery’s New Frontiers on Thursday.  So, there are plenty of eDiscovery related sessions during the conference (and at least three different ways to spell eDiscovery apparently).  There are also at least a couple of tracks related to Information Governance (IG) and Cybersecurity (Data Security and Governance on Tuesday and 2017: Information Governance Challenges and Solutions on Thursday).  So, there are plenty of interesting sessions to check out.

Tuesday Highlights: At 12:45pm, the session EDRM & NOT eDiscovery? looks intriguing – the panelists apparently apply the EDRM framework to non-discovery related challenges such as data migration and company mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.  Another interesting session is at 2:15pm (eDiscovery, the Cloud & Beyond) which looks to discuss IG and litigation readiness for data in the cloud.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention that CloudNine and ACEDS is hosting Drinks with Doug (that’s me!) and Mary (as in Mary Mack, Executive Director of ACEDS!) at Ruth’s Chris Steak House at 148 West 51st Street on Tuesday from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.  It’s a “PowerPoint free” event to hang out with other conference attendees over a drink.  Space is filling up, but you can still RSVP here if you’ll be at the show and want to attend.  Come join us!

Wednesday Highlights: At 9:00am, the session The Effects of the December 2015 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure from 3 Perspectives (Judges, Defense & Plaintiff), with panelists like Judges Peck, Rodriguez and Laporte, as well as some notable law firm panelists seems like a can’t miss opportunity to get insight as to how the 2015 Rules changes have impacted discovery.  With recent developments in international discovery privacy laws, The Data Privacy Landscape: Emerging Laws Affecting Cross-Border Discovery at 10:30am should be a good look at a quickly changing landscape.

Thursday Highlights: For those who think eDiscovery is only about litigation, consider attending the 10:30am session E-Discovery for Investigations and Criminal Matters to learn more about its expanding role in new areas of law and corporate governance.  And, it’s always interesting to see thought leaders predict the future, which is what will happen at The Future of e-Discovery Law, Business, and Practice at 2:00pm.

Exhibit Hall: Of course, the largest legal technology conference of the year wouldn’t be complete without an extensive list of exhibitors.  This year, according to my count, there are 182 exhibitors (which is actually a few more than last year, reversing a slide in the number of exhibitors since 2013).  One thing which will be interesting this year: for the first time “Exhibits-Plus” passes are not free like they have been in previous years – it now costs $45 to get into the State of the Industry Address, Keynotes, Emerging Technology and Super Sessions and, of course, the Exhibit Hall (still a lot for the money).  Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how the first-time cost will affect attendance at the show and the Exhibit Hall.

As always, we will cover the show here at eDiscovery Daily, including a list of eDiscovery and IG related sessions each day.  Check here for the sessions you may want to check out at the conference!

So, what do you think?  Are you attending LegalTech, er, LegalWeek next week?  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.

(The) Winter (eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey) is Coming: eDiscovery Trends

Winter is Coming!  And, by “winter”, I mean the Winter 2017 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey created by Rob Robinson and conducted on his terrific Complex Discovery site.  It’s the second year of the quarterly survey and we covered all four rounds of the survey last year (those results are here, here, here and here).  Now, it’s time for the Winter 2017 Survey to start a new year!

As before, the eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey is a non-scientific survey designed to provide insight into the business confidence level of individuals working in the eDiscovery ecosystem. The term ‘business’ represents the economic factors that impact the creation, delivery, and consumption of eDiscovery products and services.

This year’s survey consists of nine multiple choice questions focused on factors related to the creation, delivery, and consumption of eDiscovery products and services and may be useful for eDiscovery-related business planning.  It’s a simple nine question survey that literally takes about a minute to complete.  Who hasn’t got a minute to provide useful information?  As always, individual answers are kept confidential, with the aggregate results to be published on the Complex Discovery blog upon completion of the response period, which goes through Tuesday, February 28.

The more respondents there are, the more useful the results will be!  What more do you need?  Click here to take the survey yourself.

Now that we have entered a second year for the survey, we can start to evaluate year over year results to differentiate those variations from quarterly fluctuations.  Knowledge is power!

So, what do you think?  Are you confident in the state of business within the eDiscovery industry?  Share your thoughts in the survey and, as always, please share any comments you might have with us or let us know if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Image Copyright © Home Box Office, Inc.

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.

Looking Back at Predictions That I Made Three Years Ago: eDiscovery Predictions Revisited

Sometimes, in addition to the many other resources that I use to look for blog post ideas, I like to look back at my old posts from the past to see if there’s a topic that warrants a fresh look.  When I did that yesterday, I stumbled on two posts that comprised six eDiscovery predictions for 2014 that I wrote three years ago.  I thought it might be fun to look back at those posts to see how those predictions fared.

Here are the six predictions that I made back then:

Prediction 1: Predictive coding technologies will become more integrated into the discovery process, for more than just review.

Prediction 2: The proposed amendments will be adopted, but it will be a struggle.

Prediction 3: The eDiscovery industry will continue to consolidate and many remaining providers will need to continue to reinvent themselves.

Prediction 4: Data security will be more of an emphasis than ever, yet we will continue to see more data breach stories than ever.

Prediction 5: Small to medium sized law firms will need to leverage virtual resources more than ever to compete.

Prediction 6: Educating attorneys on eDiscovery best practices will continue to be a slow, painful process.

Let’s take a look at them, one by one:

Prediction 1: Predictive coding technologies will become more integrated into the discovery process, for more than just review.

Well, we have all been perhaps a little optimistic and maybe a bit overzealous on the pace of adoption of predictive coding technology, maybe even more so with its application to other areas besides review.  And, according to Gartner, machine learning (the technology behind predictive coding) is at the Peak of Inflated Expectations.  So, we’re probably a bit behind where I thought we would be at this point.

Nonetheless, there have been strides.  The Information Governance Initiative launched in February 2014 (after my predictions, I might note – I had no advance intel) with a mission of “sounding a call to arms that current information practices are unsustainable in our increasingly big data world, and that IG solutions exist that better leverage new technology and smart practices”.  And, we’ve certainly seen a greater emphasis on data discovery recently (prior to litigation related legal discovery).  So, it’s happening, just not as quickly as I expected.

Prediction 2: The proposed amendments will be adopted, but it will be a struggle.

As we know by now, the proposed amendments were adopted, in December 2015.  That may seem like a no brainer now, but it wasn’t back at the beginning of 2014.  There was lots of debate over controversial Rule 37(e), which addresses sanctions for spoliation.  Eventually, Rule 37(e) was amended (not once, but twice) and the Rules amendments proceeded through the adoption process fairly smoothly the rest of the way.  Now, “intent to deprive” is perhaps the key phrase to determine whether sanctions will be assessed (and, if so, how severely).  So, I think I got that one right.  :o)

Prediction 3: The eDiscovery industry will continue to consolidate and many remaining providers will need to continue to reinvent themselves.

Are you kidding me?  This one has clearly come to pass.  According to my calculations (from Rob Robinson’s list of mergers, acquisitions and investments on Complex Discovery), there have been 110 transactions since the start of 2014 (sure, some of them are investments, but there are a lot of acquisitions and mergers as well).  Here are a few names that have been acquired or merged over that time: Applied Discovery, Recommind, Huron Legal, Orange Legal Technologies, Content Analyst, D4, Daegis, Kiersted Systems, Brainspace, Equivio, EQD and Kroll Ontrack.

As for the reinventing themselves, the automation revolution in eDiscovery is clearly forcing some providers to change their focus toward SaaS automation.  OK, maybe it seems like this was an easy one to predict, but in 2014, not everyone was seeing a clear trend toward consolidation in the industry.  I don’t hear anybody debating that point today.

That was so fun that I think I’ll save the last three predictions for tomorrow!  Stay tuned.

So, what do you think?  Has eDiscovery evolved like you thought it would?  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.