Briefing: RenewData

On Wednesday, LTN news editor Dan Howley and I enjoyed a phone briefing with RenewData chief scientist Andy Kraftsow and Joe Garber, assistant vice president of marketing. They discussed the company's inception in 2001 as a tape processing vendor and evolution to a technology services provider once their clients started taking a proactive approach to e-discovery.

RenewData provides services for the discovery, archiving, and governance of electronically stored information, which primarily spans the middle section of the Socha/Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Reference Model including processing, review, analysis, and collection.

An IPad In Court is a Gifted Legal Assistant

I've been in federal court in Mississippi for the last few days and turned to my iPad as a substitute for the paper legal pads that have been my faithful courtroom companions for nearly thirty years. I was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked, even discovering ways that the iPad was far superior to my dear old friend, the yellow legal pad.

Briefing: Planet Data

Last week, LTN editorial assistant Heather Schultz and I held a phone briefing with Planet Data CEO Howard Reissner and president Zoltan Horvath. They co-founded the company in 2001, initially providing printing, consulting, imaging, coding, and repository services.

Horvath explained that the company works primarily in the preservation and collection through production portions of the Socha/Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Reference Model.

Webinar: Iron Mountain & International Litigation Services

On Aug. 4, Iron Mountain and International Litigation Services, in conjunction with Law.com, will host a webinar to examine recent legal decisions that highlight the importance of e-discovery defensibility  and how to manage risk and reduce EDD costs.

Scheduled speakers include ILS' managing director Joe Thorpe, and David Bayer, Iron Mountain's  director of product marketing r.

Release here.

Webinar: Planet Data & Law.com

Planet Data  and Law.com are scheduled to host  "FRCP 26 (F) All Access: A Behind the Scenes View of the Current Requirements" on Sept. 23. Panelists include Planet Data CEO Howard Reissner; U.S. District Court judge Michael Baylson; Ian Hochman, special counsel for e-discovery at Willkie Farr & Gallagher; and James Stricker, partner with Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman.

Register here.

Webinar: FTI Technology on Culling & Document Review

FTI Technology  has scheduled "Intelligent Culling and Document Review Using Ringtail Analytics" for Aug. 11. Panelists include product manager Carol Stennett and senior product marketing manager J.R. Jenkins. 

Release here.

Introducing the EDRM White Paper Series

Today, we introduce the EDRM White Paper Series and the first of the papers in that series, Once is Not Enough: The Case for Using an Iterative Approach to Choosing and Applying Selection Criteria in Discovery by Gene Eames, David J. Kessler and Andrea L. D’Ambra.

With the EDRM White Paper Series, EDRM offers:

• White papers about electronic discovery and information management
• Prepared by leaders in the field
• Evaluated by EDRM participants prior to publication
• Published on the EDRM site on a non-exclusive basis, in keeping with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License

EDRM XML Schema Survey

We have just put up our first EDRM survey.  About the EDRM XML Schema, the survey is at edrm.net/5838 - Please participate!

We are gathering information to improve the EDRM XML schema, to help facilitate a more unified and clear and concise standard.  Your answers and comments to the following questionnaire will provide us with invaluable information and will bring a stronger focus to what you would like to see improved.

The survey is at edrm.net/5838

Gibson Dunn Releases 2010 Mid-Year E-Discovery Update

Our firm, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, has released our 2010 Mid-Year Electronic Discovery and Information Law Update, which surveys 103 cases from the first half of this year and analyzes the emerging e-discovery trends.  Highlights from the report include:

• Like last year, sanctions and cooperation were dominant themes in the first half of 2010. 
• Motions to compel and privilege disputes also continued at a steady pace. 
• We noted fewer decisions regarding preservation, form of production, and accessibility of data.
  
  

Kroll Ontrack Inview 6.2

Last week, LTN's editorial assistant Heather Schultz and I enjoyed a phone interview with Kroll Ontrack's vice president of product strategy, George May, and public relations specialist Andrea Young, to discuss the company's recent release of Ontrack Inview 6.2 web-based document review software. The software creates new workflow options to help provide users with an automated, repeatable and defensible review process. 

Briefing with Fios' Mary Mack & Donna Peterson

This morning, I enjoyed a telephone briefing with Fios' (www.fiosinc.com) Mary Mack, corporate technology counsel, and Donna Peterson, director of marketing communications.

Mack provided an overview of the e-discovery industry, and discussed the evolution of her duties at Fios since 2000 — when, she says, e-discovery emerged as a separate entity from forensics.

I was surprised to learn that despite the shift from paper trails to e-discovery, only 25% (or less) of law firms have adopted e-discovery. Mack writes the Sound Evidence blog, which offers insight on EDD news and trends.

Thomson Reuters Acquires CaseLogistix from Anacomp

Darwin Watch: In what signals a significant move into the e-discovery market, Thomson Reuters has purchased CaseLogistix from San Diego's Anacomp. Terms of deal were not announced. 

CaseLogistix offers document review, data ingestion, and production tools to help litigation teams manage the electronic discovery review process, says TR. "The acquisition is a critical next step in furthering the Thomson Reuters litigation strategy," says Allison Guidette, TR Legal's vice president and general manager of litigation (and formerly an executive with Merrill Corp.) The CaseLogistix team will be under her umbrella.

Tom O'Connor, a long-time member of LTN's Editorial Advisory Board, served as an independent consultant for CaseLogistix from 2006-2009, writing white papers, and conducting webinars and focus groups about e-discovery processes. The acquisition, he says, shows that there's been no slow-down in the efforts of large companies aquiring small EDD firms, in order to create "end-to-end" offerings. "More specifically, this signals to me that TR is serious about that market, and is finally taking steps to counter the immense EDD and litigation support market presence of LexisNexis." 

EMC To Host EDD Webinar

The folks over at EMC (www.emc.com) have announced they will be hosting a webinar on July 14. Topics up for discussion include the risks associated with current e-discovery practices, tools, and processes. Speakers include Randolph Kahn of Kahn Consulting, and EMC's in-house attorney, James Shook. The two will provide insight into how today's trends can dictate how you or your firm will perform e-discovery in 2011.

Release here.

Poetry to Sooth the Savage Soul

It's Tuesday. You owe yourself a break from the savage rat-race. You owe yourself a few minutes of downtime. So why not treat yourself to some poetry? 

But not just any poetry, the latest in post-modern genre: e-discovery poetry. Read what law students are writing and some of your colleagues too. It's all in my blog this week entitled: The Poetry of e-Discovery: People Not Only Make Mistakes, They Lie, Steal, Cheat and Fake. Yes, you can even read my feeble efforts. 

But better yet, read my quotes of Carl Sanburg on lawyers and my retort thereto. (I'm definitely better at retorting than poetry!) Also read Charles Dickens on lying witnesses, and W. H. Auden. Leave us a poem yourself in the Comments at the end of the blog. 

At the same time you will learn about the latest trade secret e-discovery case: Genworth Financial Wealth Management Inc. v. McMullan, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53145, (D. Conn. June 1, 2010). What could be better on a lazy summer day? Ok, I can think of one thing, but aside from that?

PSS Systems: Atlas Compliance Automation Connector

My colleague Heather Schultz and I recently enjoyed a telephone briefing with Rani Hublou, vice president of marketing for PSS Systems (www.pss-systems.com), and Laurie Gibson, a public relations consultant with Kickstart Consulting.

They  discussed with us the recent partnership between IBM (www.ibm.com) and PSS Systems that was created to develop the Atlas Compliance Automation connector for IBM's eDiscovery Manager.

According to Hublou, once an organization's attorneys establish a legal hold, alerts are sent to all relevant parties, including legal, IT, and business users. The alerts are key to making sure employees properly save or destroy documents during the data purging cycle.

The software also provides an automated write-blocker that prevents any data that has been put on hold from being accidentally destroyed.

Release here.

Cirago CDD2000 USB 3 Hard Drive Docking Station

I'd replied, "Thank you for the offer of a review unit.  I would happily accept, except none of my systems have USB 3.0 ports, so I'd be unable to test the product effectively."  Imagine my surprise when the UPS guy delivered a Cirago CDD2000 USB 3.0 Hard Drive Docking Station.

You'd think getting "free" stuff is a perk for a technology writer, and occasionally it is.  The MacBook Pro and iPod program that Ross Kodner arranged for a lucky group of forensic technologists five or six years ago remains unequalled.  Still, most of what people send for review is software, and much of that is--forgive the technical jargon--total crap.  Hardware is a welcome change, but testing hardware demands that I buy cards, cables or media the costs of which can outstrip the value of the product under test.  Then, if the hardware is something of substantial value, I have to return it to avoid the appearance of impropriety.  Vertu, Tesla: don't let that stop you. ;-)

Thus, I made my weekly trek to Fry's to spend $150.00 to test a $49.99 (suggested retail) device.

Product Review: Wiebetech USB WriteBlocker

I've lost count of how often I've brayed, "Lawyers have lost touch with the evidence."  We've lost our ability to dive right into the data when a new client comes in--at least if the client brings a hard drive or thumb drive.  No lawyer with half a brain plugs electronic evidence into his or her own computer and pokes around because, by now, most lawyers know about metadata, and appreciate that they can alter evidence simply by browsing it.  Can you say "spoliation?"  I knew you could.

But the alternative is also pretty ugly, being lawyers treating electronic evidence like it's radioactive.  It's sent out to expensive vendors and experts while lawyers wait days or weeks to see what's there.  Wouldn't it be great if lawyers lacking technical prowess could quickly and safely wade into the client's digital files and see what's what?

EMC Webinar on EDD Trends, Risks and Practices

EMC SourceOne eDiscovery - Kazeon (www.kazeon.com) has scheduled a webinar, "eDiscovery 2011: Trends, Risks and Best Practices" for July 14. Panelists will discuss the current trends in e-discovery, risks associated with current tools, and best practices to consider adopting.

Speakers include Randolph Kahn, founder of Kahn Consulting, and James Shook, e-discovery expert and attorney at EMC.

Release here.

Better than Nothing is None Too Good

It's the duty of every litigator to be adept at drafting and deploying an effective, defensible legal hold notice. We know this because of scathing sanctions opinions calling the failure to implement a proper legal hold "grossly negligent,’ "reckless", "negligent" or simply "cruel to puppies."

Accordingly, the big firm brain trusts have concocted boilerplate legal hold notices, ready for insertion of pithy lines describing the dispute and poised to propel a payload of synonyms at countless souls condemned to wear the scarlet "KC."  Big firms easily identify Key Custodians because big firm research has shown that key custodians have the "@" sign in their e-mail addresses.  It's a dead giveaway.

But, just when Big Law is ready to toast "Mission Accomplished" to its mastery of the legal hold, up floats that turd in the punchbowl called 'reality.' The omnibus legal hold notice is like the yield on Bernie Madoff’s hedge funds: appealing in practice, but foolish in fact.

Exterro Webinar on EDD Pitfalls

Exterro (www.exterro.com) has scheduled a webinar, "Bridging the Gap: Finding and Fixing Three Common
 E-discovery Pitfalls," for Aug. 4. Speakers will discuss ways to assess e-discovery gaps, and address compliance issues. 

Panelists include Peter Caradonna, litigation technologist at Biogen Idec (www.biogenidec.com); Dan Coppola, director at Huron Consulting Group (www.huronconsultinggroup.com); and Bob Rohlf, e-discovery strategist at Exterro.

Release here.

Scarab Consulting Webinar: EDRM Model Code of Conduct

When it comes to acceptable boundaries of ethical business practices within the eDiscovery service industry, are we still in the time of spurs, six guns and saddles? Join us at high noon as industry experts discuss developing Model Code of Conduct guidelines and their relevance to both companies and legal technology providers. Topics addressed will include:

• The current “lawless” state of today’s eDiscovery practice
• How the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) Model Code of Conduct Project is seeking to tame the wild, wild west
• Ideal best practices for the supervision of attorneys, non-attorneys and clients