Recently, Digital Reef hosted a webinar on the intersection of case law, data privacy, and discovery in the context of social media.  The webinar covers three major topics related to social media:

I had the pleasure of attending the “Money Never Sleeps and Neither Does Social Media: FINRA’s View is the Future for All” workshop at LegalTechNew York last week.  The panelists were Debbi Corej (VP of Compliance at Prudential), Melanie Kalemba (VP Business Development of Socialware), Lisa Sotto, Esq. (Partner and Head of the Global Privacy and Data Security at Hunton & Williams LLP), and Allison Jane Walton, Esq. (eDiscovery Counsel, Symantec).  One neat component of this workshop was that they handed out remote polling devices so that the audience could interact by answering questions anonymously and analyze the results in real-time. 

(Part 3 of 3) Tip #10: Appoint an E-Discovery Liaison: Each party to a case is required to designate an e-discovery liaison through which all e-discovery requests are to be made. The individual can be a third-party consultant, an employee of the part, or counsel.

(Part 2 of 3)Tip #5: Document Inaccessible and Not Relevant Systems  The Default Standard (as introduced in Part 1) provides guidance around the timing of e-discovery. Specifically, it states that, upon receipt of a request for production under Fed. R. Civ. P. 34, the parties shall search systems that are reasonably accessible and produce such information in accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b).  This means where counsel fails to identify systems that are inaccessible and/or not relevant, counsel should be prepared to search and produce from such systems.

(Part 1 of 3) On December 8, 2011, the Delaware federal courts adopted a "Default Standard for Discovery, Including Discovery of Electronically Stored Information ('ESI')” – commonly referred to as the “Default Standard”.[1]  

If you thought descending on New York was going to be a vacation, you are probably feeling otherwise by now.  I am confident that the recuperation process has begun after another successful LegalTech Show.  If you have ever been before, this year’s show had the typical “glitz and glamour” as past shows.  Last year, the talk of the town was Early Case Assessment (“ECA”) and nearly every workshop or presentation incorporated the topic in some shape or form.  In contrast, this year’s show nearly made no mention of ECA.  Instead, the unofficial theme of the Show was “Assisted Technology Review,” otherwise known as Predictive Coding, or more recently referred to as Predictive Priority ^TM.

LegalTechNew York, by far, is the most highly anticipated legal technology conference in the world.  Although the industry is broad and it makes a valiant attempt to cover various practice areas, it is predominately driven by eDiscovery solutions providers.  For example, when you look at the marquee sponsors or the workshop presenters, you will notice that the majority of them have eDiscovery products or services.  If you work in a law firm or are a corporate law department and already utilize these services, then LegalTech will provide you numerous additional opportunities to learn more about your practice’s needs.  For those of you whose eDiscovery knowledge is limited, LegalTech is the perfect place to expand your knowledge of the industry.  Here are some tips of how to get the most of the vendor booths in the Exhibitor Hall and the workshops in order to take full advantage of this unique opportunity:

For those of you who have never been to LegalTech New York (LTNY), it is regarded as “the most important” legal technology conference in the world.  Thousands of attendees converge from various continents to the New York Hilton in Mid-Town Manhattan from January 30 through February 1, 2012, to hear panelists and speakers disseminate the latest and most relevant content pertaining to the profession.  The bulk of LTNY consists of education, where there are various “tracks” such as Information Management, Technology in Practice, and Corporate Law Departments designed to provide tips and best practices for lawyers, law firms, and corporate legal departments.  Moreover, there are keynote speakers during morning and lunchtime sessions on various cutting edge topics by high ranking members in the industry.  Last, but not least, the Exhibitor Hall showcases literally hundreds of vendors with booths conducting live demonstrations, handing out marketing materials, and engaging their customer base in person. 

The full cost impact of an e-discovery request for an organization is hard to estimate because of the underlying, multi-faceted cost points.

Litigators have an interest in making sure that, despite all the obstacles presented by the American system of justice, the value provided their clients by litigating a dispute exceeds the costs. However, in regards to e-discovery, federal and state codes now require the preservation and production of electronic data in all its various forms, with immense costs.