LegalTech NY 24/7

It hardly seems possible, but LegalTech New York, at the NY Hilton, is next week!

Gather up your comfy shoes (and those dance slippers for Tuesday night) -- it's time to triage!

• First, do your homework by taking a quick look at LTNY e-newsletters, which will give you a fast lay of the land, so to speak. Here's the latest edition. The third edition included a profile of yours truly. You can check out all five -- just click on the drill down box on the upper right hand corner.

Almost Live from N.Y. - Blogging LegalTech '08

We're excited to announce that Law.com, in cooperation with Law Technology News magazine, will be offering a special platform for those of you who will be blogging from next week's LegalTech New York event.

We'll devote Law.com's Legal Blog Watch Web page and newsletter to LTNY coverage from Tuesday through Thursday, Feb. 5-7, offering a central clearinghouse for LTNY-related blog coverage. By showcasing links to your posts, we hope to generate interest in and traffic to YOUR blog.

Here's the plan. If you're planning to attend LTNY and blog about it, please drop us a line now at legalblogwatch@alm.com with the name of the blog and the bloggers. That way we'll know who to expect to hear from next week, and we'll be able to post a note about our blogger-participants.

After you post on your blog, send us the URL (permalink) with an intro sentence about the post to legalblogwatch@alm.com. Our Legal Blog Watch editor will post them — in a style similar to that of the EDD Update Blog.  Be sure to include your name, the blog name, your phone number and email address in case we need to contact you.

We’ll highlight this LTNY Special Edition of Legal Blog Watch on Law.com, the Law Technology News website, Law.com Legal Technology  and our associated blogs: EDD Update, Sean Doherty's Law.com Legal Technology and Monica Bay's The Common Scold.

Bloggers who are journalists, consultants, or analysts should let us know if they need free press credentials. (Vendor bloggers are welcome to participate, but we can’t offer them press credentials.) Please email requests for credentials to LegalBlogWatch@alm.com by noon on Monday, Feb. 4, and pick up your credentials at LegalTech registration during the show. When you email your request, be sure to include your name, address, blog name, email address and phone number.

All bloggers are welcome to join us Wednesday, from 9-10 a.m., for an informal bloggers gathering at the Pettite Trianon Room, on the 3rd floor of the Hilton. We'll even provide lousy coffee and mediocre Danish.

And bloggers -- in case you are wondering, the Hilton offers free wireless in its lobby.

If you have any questions, please email us at (David) or (Monica).

Cordially,

David Snow
Executive Editor
Law.com

Monica Bay
Editor-in-Chief Law Technology News
The Common Scold
EDDUpdate

Forensics & Compliance Systems White Paper

Forensics and Compliance Systems has released a report entitled "Email and Litigation" that's available online regarding problems facing email compliance at organizations around the globe. The report, authored by eDiscovery expert Stephen Mason, offers real-world examples from court cases of good and bad email archiving and compliance practices.

Peak Off-Site Introduces Peak Performance Metrics

Peak Off-Site has introduced Peak Performance Metrics, a tool for measuring accuracy, productivity and expenses in the document review process. Download the press release.

Lucid8 to Introduce DigiScope 2.0

Lucid8 is introducing DigiScope version 2.0, with enhanced discovery and export capabilities and simplified search results.  To read the press release, click here.

Inference Data Now With Foreign Language, Rapid Review

Inference Data has added rapid review (a way to improve review workflow) and foreign language capabilities to its e-discovery platform.  For more information, go here.

Qualcomm Case Shocks the Nation

The Qualcomm case should send shock waves far beyond California, write Jenner and Block partners Jerold S. Solovy and Robert L. Byman, who note that six attorneys wound up sanctioned and referred to the State Bar for possible ethics violations, all because e-discovery had not been properly conducted. From their biographies, they seem to be fine lawyers at the top of the profession. If this happened to them, write Solovy and Byman, it could happen to us. It could happen to you.

Court declines to order production of metadata, orders evidentiary hearing on spoliation charges

D'Onofrio v. SFX Sports Group, Inc., 2008 WL 189842 (D.D.C. Jan. 23, 2008)

In this contentious employment discrimination case, Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola resolved a number of discovery disputes relating to the production of electronically stored information.

Among other relief, plaintiff sought the production of a certain business plan in its original electronic format, with accompanying metadata.  Plaintiff argued that Fed. R. Civ. P. 34 permits the production of documents outside of their original format only "if necessary," and that in this case, there was no such necessity.  Defendants responded that:  (a) plaintiff did not request that the Business Plan or any other documents be produced in a specific format; (b) production in original electronic format with metadata is not required by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or in the absence of a clear agreement or court order, neither of which were present here; and (c) plaintiff had not demonstrated the relevance of the metadata.

Read entire post here.

EED releases DPX

Electronic Evidence Discovery Inc. has announced Discovery Process eXcellence, a web portal that helps clients access and track their e-discovery projects.

Autonomy Q4 revenue released

Autonomy just announced its fourth quarter revenue figures, claiming its Zantaz acquisition helped boost the numbers. Read more here.

InterLegis Inc. Releases White Paper on Visual Analytics

InterLegis Inc. has released a white paper by President Kevin Carr. "Visual Analytics" discusses a visual search approach as the  next phase of electronic discovery technology. More information is available here.

LitSoft releases LitScope

LitSoft Inc. has released LitScope, a web-based review program that processes a firm’s electronically stored information. Read more here.

DocuLex & CT integrate

DocuLex has updated its Discovery Capture EDD software to include the ability to export material to CT Summation Enterprise case management software. The benefits are described in this press release.

MessageOne adds importing

MessageOne has added import capabilities to its Email Management Services. Customers can import messages stored in Microsoft Exchange and archiving devices. For more information, read the release.

New features to Discovery360

InterLegis Inc., which sells web-based digital document management services, has added new features, “relationship mining” and “visual analytics,” to its Discovery360 software.

Catalyst CR enhanced

Catalyst Repository Systems has updated Catalyst CR, adding enhanced review management features to version 6.5 of its litigation support software. It helps administrators manage review teams, analyze output, and mark documents for production or further analysis. Find out more here.

iConect upgrades

New features added to iConect’s software include e-mail review, reporting, and a case portal. To read more about the new features, available in iConect’s three programs, click here.

RenewData webinar series: ESI Risk Management

RenewData is offering a webinar series on ESI risk management, featuring Jeff Overton and Rick Luttrall, both of the company. Register here.

Huron Consulting Group Launches V3locity

Today, Huron Consulting Group officially launches V3locity, an e-discovery service priced on a per-page basis.  For more information, go here.

Clearwell news

According to its announcement, Clearwell Systems has released version 3.0 of the Clearwell E-Discovery Platform, with new EDD management functions. The company has also signed a reseller agreement with Hewlett-Packard Co. To read more, click here.

Recommind webinar: Revised FRCP 1 Year Later

Recommind and Law.com are offering "The Revised FRCP: 1 Year Later & The Road Ahead," featuring
Laurie Weiss, Partner, Fulbright & Jaworski, Kenneth Leissler, Director, Forensic & Dispute Services, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, and moderator Craig Carpenter, Vice President, eDiscovery Solutions and General Counsel, Recommind.

January "EnCase Legal Journal" Now Available

Guidance Software has released the January edition of The EnCase Legal Journal, which details court rulings and legal developments involving EnCase® software.  To start reading, go here.

DocuMatrix 12.0 released

Epiq Systems Inc. has introduced DocuMatrix 12.0, EDD software with foreign language processing capabilities. The company has also enhanced eDataMatrix, its data processing software. For more details, click here. 

Fios White Paper: Managing EDD Review

The latest edition of Fios' The Electronic Discovery Counselor e-newsletter includes an article by Peter McLaughlin, on "Best Practices for Managing e-Discovery Review," and a discussion of California Rules -- good cause -- accessibility, by Mary Mack.

EDRM XML Schema Luncheon at LegalTech - Feb. 5 & 6

Learn about the EDRM XML Schema at LegalTech

DATE: Tuesday 2/5/2008 or Wednesday 2/6/2008 (select one)
TIME: noon to 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Hilton Hotel, Concourse F
MODERATORS:

• George Socha, Socha Consulting
• David Baskin, Recommind and XML Schema Project Lead

SPEAKERS:  To be announced

MORE: For more information on the EDRM XML Schema Project:
http://www.edrm.net/xml2.php

Space is limited.  Please RSVP today to reserve your spot.

Contact Ashley Peck:
apeck@recommind.com
415-394-7899 x. 245

Hosted By Recommind and Daticon

Attenex & PSS

Attenex & PSS have partnered....to provide services for law depts.

It's not clear if they are offering a new product, or just complementing Atlas. But if you can figure out the name of the product they are offering together, you get a gold star.

BTW: This release is so jargon-filled that it inspired me to bring over from The Common Scold my Solutions Penalty Box. (See right nav bar, under the calendar). That's where I post the most  incomprehensible press releases. It's intended to be a good-spirited ribbing at "offending" vendors to remind them to please, please, use plain English!

New CMO for LexisNexis

LexisNexis Group has signed Joe Eberhardt to the new position of Global Chief Marketing Officer. He joins LexisNexis from DaimlerChrysler and is based in the company’s New York City headquarters reporting directly to Andy Prozes, Chief Executive Officer.

Press release here.

California Judicial Council Proposes New Rules

The Judicial Council of California proposed amendments to the California Code of Civil Procedure and the California Rules of Court governing electronic discovery and solicited comments from the legal community regarding the proposals.  Attached is a copy of the Invitation to Comment containing the draft changes.  Comments are due by 5:00 p.m. today, so it's clearly late in the game to submit them, if you are reading them for the first time.  However, you at least can see what might be coming down the road for practitioners in state court.

I am pleased that the Judicial Council is approaching the statutory and rules changes in a comprehensive manner.  I believe the Council's decision in 2006 to take proposed amendments to CRC 212 off the table in order to look at the issues involving electronic discovery more broadly was the right decision to make at that time.

I know that as electronically stored information took a place at center stage in civil discovery several years ago, some practitioners opined that the existing discovery statutes and rules were sufficient to handle the new age of electronic information.  I believe discovery of electronic information is significantly different from discovery of paper-based information.  We all know that electronic information is easily altered or deleted and constantly changing technology provides new ways to create, store and retrieve information in the business setting.  Providing litigants and their counsel with a framework for conducting discovery that is aimed specifically at electronic information ultimately makes for more efficient litigation.

One specific change I find interesting is the "Safe Harbor" provision being considered for several CCP sections.  Unlike its counterpart in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which provides safe harbor for information lost as a result of the routine, good-faith operation of an electronic information system, California's proposed safe harbor also includes information damaged, altered or overwritten as a result of the routine, good-faith operation of an electronic information system.  While the Committee Note to FRCP 37(f) explains that "routine operation" includes "alteration or overwriting", I believe the Judicial Council's proposed language makes even more clear what results may receive safe harbor treatment.

It will be interesting to see the final "product" as these proposals make their way through the process.

Download invitation_to_comment_on_proposed_ediscovery_rules.pdf

And the beat goes on

The drumbeat over the supposedly catastrophic impact of amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is so loud, you might think Y2K was making a comeback. But e-discovery isn't so different from other forms of discovery, writes Halliburton's Ronald Perkowski.

ABBYY FineReader 9.0

ABBYY has released FineReader 9.0. You can download a trial here.  It is OCR and PDF conversion software.

Discovery in the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act ...

has been upheld by an Eastern District of N.Y. magistrate judge. U.S. Magistrate Judge Joan Azrack in U.S. v. Spivack, 05-CR-98, found the discovery provision in the 2006 law, requiring defense experts in a federal child pornography prosecution to perform computer forensic analyses at a government facility, constitutional. Daniel Wise reported this in the New York Law Journal.

Are the States Adopting E-discovery Procedure & Evidence Rules?

State E-Discovery Rules

At least 10 states have adopted procedural e-discovery rules and many others are considering the adoption of similar rules.  Several of the states have patterned their rules after the amended federal rules.  To check your state go to http://www.arkfeld.com/50states.htm and begin searching.

State Evidentiary Rules

In the evidentiary area we have seen one state adopt rules regarding the inadvertent disclosure and selective waiver of "electronically stored information" (ESI).

Metadata in Photos

A.J. Levy checks in with this post on metadata in digital photos, from his Outoftheboxlawyering site.

(BTW, Levy and Michael Goldblatt have started a Lawyers Computer User Group in New Orleans.)

Attenex White Paper re: Cost Issues

Attenex is offering a whitepaper, "Paradigm Shift: Corporations Battle the E-Discovery Cost Crisis with Per Document Pricing," here.

b-Discovery at LegalTech

That annual juggernaut called LegalTech rolls into New York soon (Feb. 5-7 at the New York Hilton) and despite near-irresistable temptation to hole up in our hotel rooms and pore over cherished vendor promotional literature, many will be drawn to the bright lights and Disneyfied debauchery that is New York--my home town.  One such guilty pleasure will be the b-Discovery gathering Tuesday night, February 5th, at the W-Hotel Times Square, starting at 9pm. 

b-Discovery (and e-discovery) leader, Dan Regard, offers that, "The organization is for anyone interested or involved in electronic discovery. Attendence is open, dues are free and the drinks are cash, as always." 

The United States of E-Discovery

Not everyone litigates in federal court, which means not everyone gets whipped into a frenzy over the e-discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP).

If you thought you were safe from e-discovery demands just because you stayed stateside in your litigious endeavors, you might want to check in with your state's rules committee. There's a good probability that your state is considering adopting rules similar to the amended FRCP, if they haven't already voted them into play.

Lexis Acquires Redwood Analytics

LexisNexis has acquired Redwood Analytics.

Press release: Download redwood_analytics_acquisition_press_release_final.pdf

CIO Conference - Early Bird Discount

Long-time LTN board member Judith Flournoy, CIO of LA's Loeb & Loeb, and David Rigali, CIO of St. Louis' Husch & Eppenberger, are co-chairs of the 2008 Law Firm Chief Information & Technology Officers Forum, which will be held Feb. 6-7, as part of LegalTech New York.

This fourth annual event will include panels on "unified communications," managing e-mail, alternatives to document management systems; data center management; performance management; "matter" oriented computing; and more.

Yours truly will moderate "It's Not Easy Being Green ... Or Is It?" on Feb. 6, at 4 p.m., with Alvidas Jasin, of Thomson Hine; Anthony Hoke of Morrison & Foerster; and Bruce Lymburn of Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean.

All attendees get a free VIP all-access pass to LTNY.

Here's the brochure: Download CIO08_brochure_FINAL1127.pdf

And click here to learn about a limited-time, early bird discount offer.

OrcaTec Information Retrieval 2.0

OrcaTec, a provider of information retrieval software and consulting, has released version 2.0 of the OrcaTec Information Retrieval Toolkit. For more information, click here .

Aptara Sells Lit Support Division to Ivize

Ivize, a legal document services firm, has purchased Aptara Inc.'s litigation support business. To find out more, download the release and read Rob Robinson's commentary here.

EDD Showcase: Discovery Overload

Jason Baron's article, posted below, appeared in the January issue of Law Technology News.

Lawyers of a certain age — especially those of us who recall the joys of IBM selectric typewriters — must confront the fact that litigation today is a different animal, especially when it comes to search and retrieval issues posed by massive document productions.

ED Predictions for 2008

Craig Ball's ED predictions in the latest issue of Law Technology News made me think about the more general trends we might see in 2008. The most significant driver right now is, I think , the trend best exemplified by the recent Qualcomm decision. Sanctions against clients and attorneys (both corporate counsel and outside counsel) for not properly handling e-discovery are increasing in number and size. Based on that observation, here are my 5 predictions for the overall direction of the e-discovery space this year.

 

1. The total amount of spending on e-discovery on large cases will level off or even dip slightly. Why? Several reasons. First the cost of e-discovery is being increasingly commoditized due to increased competition, not all of it realistic as George Rudoy points out in his post of Jan.5^th.  

Microsoft Bids On Fast Search

Microsoft has made an offer of $1.2 billion to acquire Norway-based enterprise search company Fast Search & Transfer, according to Rob Robinson's Information Governance blog.

Vendors Take Note!

Allow me please to comment on an excellent article written by the New York Law Journal's Anthony Lin entitled "Sullivan & Cromwell Suit Against Vendor Highlights Problems With E-Discovery" http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1199441137204

As many of my collegues, I occasionally find myself time quite enraged by the promises of certain EDD vendors that use all possible means known to man to land a project just to come up short in delivery.  It takes a tremendous effort and extensive experience to see through all their shenanigans during the "pitching process" in order to select a vendor that would not only stand by their promises but would work with you as well as your internal and external clients to adapt to the demands of a case and deliver the necessary service.

All of us know a few of those that get most of our business. Unfortunately, they constantly need to compete with the others that let's just say use less than ethical approach to land a project, often knowing in advance that they would not be able to deliver inside the required budget and time frame.

This is not an old-fashioned "vendor bashing" but rather a celebration of our bellowed industry's evolution to a new level where everyone involved in the complex process of EDD will carry responsibility for the quality of the work they submitted and promises they made.

I therefore highly encourage the vendor community to take note!

LTN's January EDD Showcase is here!

LTN's January EDD showcase is now online here.
Cover story is Mike Arkfeld's "e-Speak" addressing EDD semantics issues. We explore  international issues that emerge when not all documents are in English (Ari Senders, George Rudoy, Michelle Mahoney). In "Beyond Privacy," Dan Regard dives into some of the nuances of cross-border EDD, Brett Burney looks state-side; Kenton Hutcherson examines security issues; and Debra Hindin-King demonstrates how paralegals can sometimes bring sanity to the whole process. And Craig Ball offers 17 predictions about EDD's future. Enjoy!

Qualcomm case: Ethics issues

The New York  Law Journal offers this article, "Managing Ethics in E-Discovery," by David Keyko, (right) a litigation partner in the New York office of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, and litigation associate Ryan Kriger, about the Qualcomm v. Broadcom case.

Your Opinion Please

As part of my planning process for LTN and upcoming webinars, I've got a question for you: What EDD topics do you think will be the most critical during 2008?

My list includes, for starters:
• Global cross-border disputes (language/privacy etc)
• Standardization & forms of production" -- e.g., "native" review, .tiff, etc.
• The marketplace (Socha/Gelbmann and other surveys)
• Search tools -- the evolution of tools to actually find information within the volume of data
• Costs -- containing costs; impact on litigants when costs, rather than justice, affect decisionmaking.
• Managing EDD -- who "owns" EDD, role of paralegals/lit support, etc.
• Educating lawyers
• Case law - key verdicts and court trends

What am I missing?

Post a comment and lemme know! Everybody's welcome to dive in.
TIA
Mon

Interlegis publishes white paper

InterLegis Inc., a web-based digital document management services firm, has released its latest white paper, "Using 'Document Personalities' to Speed Electronic Discovery Review," by Kevin Carr, president. Download the article here.