Will Wiping Warrant a Whipping?

Suppose a company sues a former high level employee claiming the employee absconded with proprietary company data in order to use the data in a competitive venture.  If the former employee installs a file wiping program called SureDelete on her laptop and wipes files, has the defendant committed spoliation?  Should sanctions necessarily follow?

What if the defendant only deleted highly sensitive personal data, e.g., personal income tax data and pornographic material, but swears not to have deleted any information relevant to the issues in suit?  Even with a litigation hold in place, can't a litigant continue to delete irrelevant and non-discoverable ESI?  I'm not asking if it's a good idea.  It's risky as hell.  I'm only asking if it's per se sanctionable?

Now let's add a wrinkle:

Nothing Grows Forever

The Am Law 100 Report is now online.

Says The American Lawyer's editor-in-chief Aric Press and Am Law Data Analyst John O'Connor:

For the first time since 1991, both average profits per partner and revenue per lawyer dipped last year among the Am Law 100 firms, the top-grossing firms in the nation. And, given the weakness in the market thus far in 2009, another decline seems likely this year.

Continues Law.com's Legal Blog Watch writer Carolyn Elefant: The news for 2008 wasn't entirely bleak, with overall gross revenue growing by 4.1 percent, to $67 billion, a new record. But because of growth in head count and a drop in demand, particularly in the corporate and finance sectors, profits per partner (PPP) fell by 4.3 percent, to an average of $1.26 million, and revenue per lawyer (RPL) dropped 1.2 percent, to $818,000.

Teris Offers iConect Software

iConect Development announces that litigation support/EDD provider Teris will offer iConectNxt litigation support software as part of its services. Full release here.

AlphaLit Releases PrivLog Builder

AlphaLit, a division of Alpha Systems, has released PrivLog Builder. The new tool for building privilege logs integrates with AlphaLit's E-Direct, their online review system. With the system, users can create custom review forms and report templates. Full release here.

Lit Support Layoff Figures?

We've had a query that I'd like to pose to all of you: Is anyone tracking litigation support layoffs at Am Law 200 firms? If yes, please let me know and I'll let all of you know. We do know that David Cowen has issued some reports that we cited earlier.

Law.com's John Bringardner says the TechCrunch Layoff Tracker isn't showing any litigation support companies. The Law Shucks list includes support staff at law firms, but doesn't cover lit support companies, he notes.

And here's The Shark with info for law students re: postponements, etc., and The American Lawyer's Layoff List  of lawyers.

TIA

Mon

Do You Work For This Guy?

One of my core messages in e-discovery is that its success depends on an interdisciplinary team, which is why I call my blog "e-Discovery Team." The leaders of most e-discovery teams are usually lawyers. Some are quite knowledgeable and effective. Sometimes though they are not leaders at all, they are not even team players. Sometimes they barely even know the game that the team plays. They just know a few buzz words and postures like Inspector Clouseau doing martial arts. They depend on the techs, paralegals, and others to do the real work.

This kind of delusion-based e-discovery team can still sometimes succeed, despite all odds, much like Inspector Clouseau himself always wins in the end. But if so, the team wins because of the trusty assistants, the techs, paralegals and associates who do the real work. This is all delightfully shown in this "team work" video clip from the Pink Panther movie. Check out this You Tube video and tell me if this looks familiar. I laugh every time I watch it.

For further development of this Inspector Clouseau theme, see my latest blog: Inspector Clouseau and the Insights of Judge Facciola and Malcolm Gladwell Suggest a Bright Future for e-Discovery Lawyers.

Electronic Discovery Reference Model Meetings in St. Paul

The Electronic Discovery Reference Model group, which was created to develop and establish practical guidelines and standards for electronic discovery, will hold its 5th EDRM Kick-off Meeting in St. Paul, Minn. on May 13 and 14. George Socha and Tom Gelbmann will lead the meeting, where two new projects - EDRM Jobs and the Information Management Reference Model - will be launched. Full release here.

Rational Retention and Alfresco Software Form Alliance

Alfresco Software Inc. has announced a partnership with Rational Retention, a document lifecycle management and EDD company. The partnership adds Alfresco's open-source content management system to Rational Retention's EDD software so that customers can control documents from creation through litigation. Full release here.

Will FRCP Be Completely Revamped?

Check out this analysis by Fios Inc.'s Mary Mack. Here's the beginning:

The American College of Trial Lawyers Task Force on Discovery and The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System released a report in March calling for radical change in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) that may, according to the ACTL website, “one day underpin the transformation of civil procedure in federal and state systems throughout the United States.”

Why You Can't Handle the Truth!

When people start talking about e-discovery production burdens I always think of the famous line of Jack Nicholson in the movie A Few Good Men, where he said, “You can’t handle the truth.” In e-discovery today in my opinion the line goes, “You can’t afford the truth,” at least not the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It costs too much. So you’ve got to figure out how much of the truth can you afford to get. We have got to educate the courts and ourselves and opposing counsel that it is impossible in today’s world to get all relevant e-mails on any issue. You’re only going to get a certain amount of them that is acceptable to proceed forward, one of the prime criteria of which is what does it cost. 

For more on this and related topics, see the transcript of my interview by Mary Mack, complete with some of the secret thoughts that occurred to me during the live audio interview. 

Twitter - My New Addiction

I have spent the past week becoming increasingly addicted to Twitter (Username ShawnnaC).  I have found it fun updating my profile and sharing my busy life and up to the minute thoughts with my friends and family.  Did you know that an individual has nearly 30,000 (yes thirty thousand) thoughts a day according to Dr. Leaf who wrote the best seller "Who Switched Off My Brain".  At no time in human history have we had the chance to look into people's lives more than today.  For cases, we are able to see plaintiff's and defendant's up to the minute thoughts and sometimes feelings on particular subjects through Twitter, Linked In, Facebook, MySpace and all other types of live feeds.  It is amazing to think where eDiscovery is going to move in the next decade.  Just food for thought....

PSS Debuts Atlas Discovery Cost Forecast

PSS Systems has debuted its Atlas Discovery Cost Forecasting module, which complements the Atlas LCC legal holds and collections systems. 

It helps Global 1,000 companies continuously forecast and control EDD costs, says the California company. A matter cost calculator helps users determine actual and typical costs. Push button reports help users negotiate reduced production scope. Dashboards help users monitor EDD costs by fiscal period and key cost indicators. Full release here.

DTI and kCura Form Partnership

Georgia’s Document Technologies Inc. has joined forces  with Illinois’ kCura to add kCura’s Relativity web-based document review and management systems to its e-discovery services.

Relativity allows clients native file review, embedded imaging and production tools. DTI offers forensic data acquisition, advanced file processing and data conversion services, the companies note. Full release here.

CLE in E-Discovery

I do most of my continuing education outside of formal Continuing Legal Education programs, because I know the importance of keeping up with changes in the law and I know the value of most CLE. That said, one of the difficult things about an e-discovery practice is that you need to keep up with the law and technology to best serve your clients.

If you are like me, I try to keep up with the e-discovery vendors whenever I can. They can give you valuable technology tips and some real-world examples of how their products work in the marketplace.

An upcoming webinar sponsored by Kazeon, on how to save money and ensure defensible E-discovery, features George Socha and Tom Gelbmann. They will discuss their "essentials" of e-discovery and key considerations to keep in mind while implementing an e-discovery process.

This is a freebie, so check it out. You may want to consider my ten-minute rule. If you learn one new thing in the first ten minutes of a program, tune it in. You will more than likely get other valuable information from the event.

Date: Thursday, 04/23/2009

Time: 10:00 AM Pacific

Panelists: George Socha and Tom Gelbmann

Registration

Xerox Litigation Dashboard

New York’s Xerox Corp.’s litigation services team has introduced a processing and review Dashboard, designed to provide litigators with status updates to help them manage court-mandated deadlines and monitor EDD costs. The Dashboard shows how much data has been processed by Xerox, what portion is ready for review, and what has already been reviewed. Full release here.

Deacon & Reichenbach Land New Gigs

Babs Deacon has joined Integreon, Mark Reichenbach's aboard Capital Legal Solutions. 411 here

Introducing the Wonder Blunder Award

Almost 35 years ago, the late Senator William Proxmire introduced his infamous Golden Fleece awards recognizing instances of wasteful government spending.  Though a few Golden Fleece honorees may have been undeserving, most were absurd misuses of taxpayer dollars and warranted the public opprobrium the award bestowed.  Reading a recent opinion from a federal court in Florida, I decided that the electronic discovery industry needed its own Golden Fleece, something to highlight boneheaded moves, obstructive behavior and so forth.  My goal will be to sift a snippet of sense from the ashes of error, to seek some good for all in the flubs of a few.  So, I now announce the Wonder Blunder Award.

Catalyst Repository Systems Partners with Z-Axis

Catalyst Repository Systems reports that it has created an new alliance with trial presentation software provider 
Z-Axis. 

Z-Axis’s software helps users with multimedia, scientific forensics work, and on-site trial support. 

The partnership provides users with complete litigation support, including processing, culling, review, analysis, and production and contract review teams if necessary.

Why E-Mail Container Files are Like the Starship Enterprise

Two of the meager benefits of needing little sleep is that you get to write more blog posts and watch more late night movies. 

This morning, I caught the last half of Star Trek: Generations (1994), a cheesy romp that managed to get Captain James T. Kirk, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and "A Clockwork Orange" star, Malcolm McDowell, chewing the same scenery.  To spy on the Enterprise, McDowell "bugs" blind Geordi LaForge's trademark VISOR ( Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement), and a couple of Klingon biker chicks use the bug to ascertain the operational frequency of the Enterprise's shields.  Apparently, when you know the precise modulation frequency of the shields, you can program your photon torpedoes and disruptor beams to penetrate the shields and blow the crap out of the ship.  A useful bit of trivia next time it comes up at meet-and-confer.

Yes, Virginia, there is an e-discovery point to all this.

Kroll Ontrack Opens San Francisco Office

Legal and trial technology company Kroll Ontrack Inc. has announced the opening of its newest trial services office in San Francisco. Kroll provides trial graphics, courtroom presentation services, and jury consulting. Full release here.

Why is this Man Smiling?

As if we weren't bombarded with reminders of the rampant, craven corruption at the pinnacle of once-respected corporations, the dispute between Motorola and its former Chief Financial Officer is at least more instructive to readers of this blog by virtue of the role played by file wiping and computer forensics. 

Motorola, which lost $3.6 billion in the last three months of 2008 and forecasts deeper losses this year, announced some 7,000 job cuts in the last two quarters and suspended its dividend to shareholders.  So while Rome burned and the staff and shareholders were pillaged, Motorola alleges its former CFO, Paul Liska (pictured) fiddled with evidence, running a disk wiping program on his company laptop and destroying all user created data on it.  Seeking spoliation sanctions, Motorola claims in a 4/15 court filing in Chicago that Liska left the laptop "virtually devoid of any usable data related to the case."

Xerox Dashboard gives access to e-discovery costs.

Xerox Litigation Services Processing and Review Dashboard provides litigators with real-time access to the status of their e-discovery review process. Free for current Xerox Litigation Services’ customers, the Dashboard provides answers to questions key to the e-discovery process giving litigators with the ability to monitor the associated costs. Full release here.

DiscoverReady Launches Ringtail Practice Group

DiscoverReady has announced that FTI Consulting Inc.  offers both Attenex Patterns and Ringtail Legal eDiscovery Software. DiscoverReady also announces that it has launched a Ringtail practice group. As a Ringtail partner, DiscoverReady can now offer data processing and hosting services and provide technical assistance to Ringtail clients. Full release here.

Kiersted/Systems Forms Alliance with Equivio

EDD/legal technology consultancy Kiersted/Systems is using Equivio’s software to help its users manage near-
duplicate documents and e-mail threads during reviews, and identify differences between documents. 
Kiersted/Systems’ KEPS online review system helps legal teams review and categorize native files. Kiersted also provides forensic data collection and corporate legal department consulting on legal holds and discovery management

Full release here.

Judge Grimm Speaking Today at WiE Baltimore Chapter

Judge Grimm is speaking today at noon at the Women in eDiscovery Baltimore Chapter.  Please email me at shawnna@womeninediscovery.com if you would like directions to the meeting.

Former Judge Hedges Speaking Tomorrow at WiE

I wanted to share with you that former Judge Ron Hedges will be speaking tomorrow at the Women in eDiscovery ("WiE") meeting in NYC.  At the meeting he will be sharing with the members his insight into Cloud Computing and how it effects eDiscovery now and in the future.  The meeting is being hosted by Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP.  Please email newyorkcity@womeninediscovery.com for more details.

The Stars are Big and Bright...

...Deep in the Heart of Texas.  
Forgive this provincial call to all Texans interested in e-discovery, but there's an event in Houston on April 15th that I'd hate for anyone to overlook. 

The annual State Bar of Texas Electronic Discovery and Digital Evidence Institute convenes at the Westin Oaks Hotel this Wednesday.  I've been privileged to plan and chair at least five of these one-day gems, and each year I'm thrilled at the stirring talent on the faculty.  We've consistently presented the biggest names in e-discovery on the latest hot topics.  This year is no exception.  Check out our deep bench of 2009 superstars:

Hon. David Waxse, USDC, Kansas
Jason R. Baron, Nat'l Archives & Records Admin, Wash., D.C.
David Chaumette, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Houston
Sheryl A. Falk, Howrey, Houston
Brandon Leatha, EED, Inc., Kirkland, WA
Ralph Losey, Akerman Senterfitt, Orlando, FL
Browning Marean, DLA Piper US, San Diego
Sharon D. Nelson, Sensei Enterprises, Inc., Fairfax, VA 
John W. Simek,  Sensei Enterprises, Inc., Fairfax, VA
Laurie Weiss, Fulbright & Jaworski, San Antonio 

and your's truly, Craig Ball, serving as master of ceremonies, unmasking the secrets of e-mail and presenting an all-new E-Discovery Jeopardy 2009!  Come catch the latest cases, rules, tips, tactics and technology.  Get ahead of e-discovery before it gets ahead of you.  C'mon y'all, there's still time to register at the door.  Click here for details.

Sharing Secret Thoughts During My Interview by Mary Mack of FIOS

I got a little crazy yesterday and decided to spice up the transcript of my interview by Mary Mack of FIOS by sharing my secret thoughts during the interview. It is some of what I was thinking (the almost decent parts) while listening to the questions and observing with interest the words coming out of my mouth as answers. Nothing like live broadcasting. Place foot in mouth. Guess I wont be invited back any time soon. Who knew they were so attached to Bates stamping?

Anyway, the transcript was a tad boring without these secret thoughts, at least for me, as I've heard me before. Also added hyperlinks and photos, including a recent photo of Mary Mack that she was kind of enough to share, hash browns peppered with MD5, an old antique Bates stamp like Browning keeps on his desk, and a really cool Eye of Sauron, and that's just in Part One. Oh yeah, this week's 4,500 worder is called: Mary Mack Grills Me on Hash, Nervous Bates Stampers, Trial Lawyers, Angry Ostriches, Tolkien, Judge Scheindlin, Malcolm Gladwell, Jack Nicholson, Pretend Lawyers, Volunteers for America, and Much More!

Kennedy-Mighell Report Now on Legal Talk Network

The Kennedy-Mighell Report is the newest show on the Legal Talk Network. Hosted by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell, the legal podcast focuses on legal technology. Dennis Kennedy is an in-house counsel at MasterCard  Inc.that focuses on information technology matters; Tom Mighell is a senior manager at Fios Inc. 

The biweekly podcasts cover  subjects like major legal tech trends, Facebook for lawyers, and Web 2.0 for lawyers and are available on iTunes. The podcast’s website includes links to all resources mentioned in the podcast. 

“Computer gobblydegook is not confusing or prejudicial.”

That’s a quote from U.S. Magistrate Judge David Nuffer’s 3/30/09 decision and order in Phillip M. Adams & Associates, L.L.C. v. Dell, Inc., et al., 2009 WL 910801 (D.Utah).  It’s a decision nigh overflowing with quotable quips, and one sure to elicit a few groans from companies too-wedded to custodial preservation as the primary method of legal hold.  Plus, the Court’s articulation of a need for “accountability to third parties in the design of information management practices” will raise some eyebrows  high enough to qualify them as a comb over.

"We're Both Part of the Same Hypocrisy, Senator"

Every film fan knows the scene in The Godfather where three sons, brash heir-apparent Sonny,  law-abiding war hero Michael and level-headed lawyer Tom Hagen, plot to avenge an attempt on their father’s life.  As Sonny and Tom quarrel, Michael realizes that only he can get close enough to eliminate those responsible.

Sonny chides Michael: “What do you think this is like the Army where you can shoot 'em from a mile away?  No you gotta get up like this and, badda-bing, you blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit.  You're taking this very personal.”

Michael placidly counters, “It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.” 

 

It’s the turning point for Michael Corleone—a point of no return, really—and a classic quote defining the line between conscientious commerce and vindictiveness.

 

Guidance Software, inc. and AccessData Corp. have been arch competitors for years, but lately their rivalry has taken a particularly ugly turn-- one that doesn’t seem strictly business.  They’ve gone to the mattresses, and it feels very personal.

Keys to Planning Effective Document Review

Lawyers planning a document review project can either manage it themselves, staffing it with lawyers from inside or outside of the firm, or hire an independent document review company. Either way, lawyers need to answer key questions to ensure they get the best value for their clients.

The Message Lawyers and Clients Don't Want to Hear

 

The recent decision in Bray & Gillespie Mgmt. LLC v. Lexington Ins. Co., 2009 WL 546429 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 4, 2009) sends an unpopular message. The federal judiciary is fed up with e-discovery blunders and gamesmanship. There is little sympathy for anything less than full competence, diligence, and professionalism in the area of e-discovery. 

In Bray & Gillespie the court not only sanctioned the plaintiff for the errors, but also personally sanctioned the attorneys and their law firm, one of the largest firms in the world. Their primary sin here, the stripping of metadata from production of email and electronic documents. This resulted in the production of 200,000 Tiff files that were unsearchable. The 51 page opinion by Magistrate Judge Karla Spaulding in Orlando, Florida, sets out the miscommunications and sharp-conduct in detail, explaining how this practice was a violation of the "reasonably usable" requirements of new Rule 34(b)(2)(E). For more information on this case and the competency issues that underlie it, see the recent joint interview with Judge Shira Scheindlin and me.

EDD Players: "Are they serious or just playing?"

As I watched my daughter's baseball game last night, I was thinking about how much kids baseball is like the eDiscovery industry.

Free Preview Chapter From EDD Book

OnSite Sourcing Inc. has offered a free preview chapter from E-Discovery: Creating and Managing an Enterprisewide Program - A Technical Guide to Digital Investigation and Litigation Support. The preview chapter, which is on document review, looks at costs, how to create a document review workflow, early case assessment. strategies, and advancments in the review process. 

Karen Schuler, a former vice president at OnSite, and Eric Feistel, communications director, are both contributors to the book. Full release here.

Wave Software Launches Redesigned Website

Wave Software has announced the launch of its redesigned website, built on a Stable SQL platform. The site has an interactive knowledgebase with articles on more than 50 topics. Users can post a question to be answered by a Wave Software client support team member. An interactive user manual has also been posted on the site. Full release here.

KPMG File Preservation Program

KPMG has launched a client version of its File Preservation Program for its e-discovery clients, allowing them to bring part of the process in-house. The software helps users perform targeted collections, collect ESI from multiple sources in one session, and collect files online. Its ability to perform targeted collections in lieu of full forensic images reduces the amount of redundant data collected and placed under hold.

The software maintains file metadata and tracking logs that can be uploaded into an evidence tracking database, identifying messages that are encrypted and collecting them using decryption keys. During packaging, the files are re-encrypted to maintain security. Full release here.

Peak Discovery Launches Contract Attorney Division

Document review and discovery services firm Peak Discovery Inc. announced the launch of their new contract attorney division. Given the current marketplace and the legal industry’s cost-cutting measures, law firms have been looking more to contract attorneys, especially for document review, says the company. Full release here.

Epiq Systems Expands EDD Services

Epiq Systems Inc. has expanded its e-discovery services to include data collection, forensics, and document review. The new services will be delivered through Epiq’s DocuMatrix review software; the new Forensics Acquisition Services Team handles the data preservation and collection services with emphasis on requirements of foreign jurisdictions and providing early data assessment, data reduction, and sampling strategies to minimize redundant data. Full release here.

Discovery WorkFlow Automates ESI Processing

Technology Concepts & Design Inc. released Discovery WorkFlow, which the company says will help automate some of the steps involved in processing electronically stored information and paper discovery. It works with other e-discovery processing software and allows users to select the appropriate processes for the project. Among other processes, the system can automate intake and inventory of ESI, metadata extraction, file de-duplication, and record filtering. Full release here.

Terror Bites

I knew this day would come, and I wasn't looking forward to it.  I encountered my first 1 terabyte drive "in the wild" this week, and the time it takes to image its contents is something of a game changer for computer forensics. 

Ordinarily, it requires a scant few hours of (mostly) machine time to create a compressed forensic image of the 80GB to 250GB drives routinely seen in desktops and laptops.   You inspect, photograph, dig out the drive, photograph some more, write protect it, do the paperwork and kick off the imaging process.  Then, it's Miller time (or, more likely, time to process the next machine). 

Before the advent of the 1TB drive, I could turn around a machine in the same day working onsite or via overnight courier.  It was ample time for a bulletproof chain-of-custody.  Sufficient time to bring a balky drive to heel or re-image to resolve some flaky sectors.  Time even for making two self-authenticating, compressed segmented image sets housed on separate physical drives.

But the drive before me--a 1TB Western Digital SATA gingerly extracted from the elegant guts of an Apple Time Capsule wireless NAS--has been imaging for more than 15 hours, and that image must yet undergo hash authentication. 

A trillion Apple bytes to reap,
But I have promises to keep,
And hours to go before I sleep,
And hours to go before I sleep.

Mixing International Arbitration With U.S. Discovery

Attorney Michael G. Biggers examines a federal district court decision that highlights the opportunities and pitfalls associated with the potential use of U.S.-style discovery to obtain materials for use in international arbitrations. The case of In re Babcock Borsig AG, he says, represents an additional subject to be considered both in advising foreign clients as to drafting clauses agreeing to international arbitration and in conducting such arbitrations.

How far is too far in state e-discovery?

In oral arguments last week, the Texas Supreme Court wrestled with how far state courts should go in allowing electronic discovery. In re: Weekley Homes LP asks whether a court can order a party to provide access to its computer hard drives for mirror imaging and searching.

JASON BARON: The King of Search

One of the feature articles in this month's ABA Journal concerns e-discovery search and the work of Jason R. Baron with TREC Legal Track. The article by Jason Krause is now online and is entitled In Search of the Perfect Search: A project closes in on a protocol to improve e-discovery results. It contains a good explanation of the scientific research program into electronic search in the litigation context known as TREC Legal Track. Jason Baron started this annual research project in 2006 with information scientist Doug Oard, a giant in his field. Jason and Doug are shown in the ABA picture above taken by Ron Aira. This Journal article is well written and makes a good supplement to my more lengthy blog on the subject, Jason Baron on Search - How Do You Find Anything When You Have a Billion Emails?

Jason has been diligently leading and promoting Legal Track while at the same time serving as Director of Litigation at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. If that were not enough, Jason also regularly travels the country teaching at CLEs and Conferences, such as the ABA Techshow last week. He also serves as the Editor in Chief of what I consider to be two of the Sedona Conference's most important works: the Best Practices Commentary on the Use of Search and Information Retrieval Practices in E-Discovery, and the soon-to-be-released, Commentary on Achieving Quality in the E-Discovery Process. Jason is actively recruiting lawyers and law students now to serve as reviewers for the 2009 experiment. This is further described in my mentioned full blog on Jason Baron on Search.  I suggest you email Jason today at jason.baron@nara.gov to volunteer for this interesting assignment.

Please read on for my favorite quotes from the ABA Journal article that provide some good insights into the Legal Track research program. 

TechShow 2009, True-to-Form, if a Tad Tired

I write from the ABA's TechShow in Chicago.  I'm pretty sure this is my tenth consecutive TechShow, so I've had the chance to see the event grow and ebb.  For me, TechShow is always a gratifying chance to be with cherished friends and respected colleagues in a setting where we can be our legal geekiest without fear of getting a wedgie.  (Wedgies remain the secret shame of LegalTech New York).

The peripatetic and avuncular Browning Marean did a splendid job crafting a world-class e-discovery track, enlisting the aid of several several state and Federal judges, along with luminaries George Socha, Ralph Losey, Patrick Oot, Ron Hedges, Jason Baron, Sharon Nelson, John Simek, Dan Nelson, David Ries, Mary Pat Poteet, Peg Duncan, Brett Burney and Dominic Jaar. I presented three times on Thursday.

Um, er, Happy April Fools Day

Kurt Leafstrand and his colleagues at Clearwell had JUST a little bit too much time on their hands yesterday: check out this "launch."   I see Mr. Ball also caught this (below).

Ditto for Google, with "CADIE." Hat tip to Sally Gonzalez.

And Klingon & Porcine Latin review capabilities  have been added to Orange Legal Technologies' portfolio.

And we hear that a BigLaw firm just got Kindle 2s for everybody.

The Secrets Out!

The new age movie The Secret has been a blockbuster, teaching the masses ancient secrets about the awesome Law of Attraction, a law enforced in a jurisdiction beyond our kin. Now the dirty little secrets of The Secret are out in a new e-discovery opinion about what else, waiver of attorney-client secrets. I have not had this much fun writing a blog in a long time. Kept me up late, so I hope you like it. An Open Door Gives Away The Secret, But Rule 502 Attracts It Back!

Mmmmm. Government-run EDD: Easy and So Cheesy!

Who says you can't laugh in the face of adversity?  Kurt Leafstrand (Software Evangelist for ClearGuideAutoKrolLexFTios) crafted this tongue-in-cheek poke at the costly mess the industry has made of e-discovery.  Be sure to watch his video, too.  

Bravo, Kurt!