EDD Update

Guidance EnCase Portable Honored

Dale Legaspi checks in to advice us that Guidance Software’s EnCase Portable has been named the winner of the forensics category of the Cygnus Law Enforcement Group’s 2009 Innovation Awards.

Press release here

2009 LTN Awards: Craig Ball Named Consultant of the Year

Envelope Please: I am delighted to announce the recipients of the juried 2009 LTN Awards (The vendor award winners will be announced separately in the near future).

Before we open the envelope, a round of applause please for our jury: Andrew Adkins III (Levin College of Law, University of Florida), Fredric Lederer (William and Mary Law School), and David Whelan (Law Society of Upper Canada).

The winners are:

• IT Director of the Year: Steve Fletcher (Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein).

• Champion of Technology: Tom Baldwin (Reed Smith).

• Most Innovative Use of Technology by a Law Firm: Tom Baldwin (Reed Smith) (First time we've ever had one firm/individual win in two categories -- the judges were impressed!).

• Most Innovative Use of Technology by an In-House Legal Department: Chad Anson (Dell).

• Most Innovative Use of Technology During a Trial: Khmer Rouge Trial Team (Cambodia Tribunal);

• Most Innovative Use of Technology For a Pro Bono Project: Lynn Burns (Pro Bono Law Ontario).

• Consultant of the Year: Craig Ball.

And I have selected the inaugural winners of the LTN Lifetime Achievement Award: John Alber (Bryan Cave), Thomas Burke (World Software), and M. Thomas Collins (formerly of Juris).

Congratulations to the winners! Watch for more coverage in the February and March editions of Law Technology News, and on our newly upgraded website.

ABA Learning E-Lesson in E-Discovery

The ABA announced their top 100 "Blawgs"in the December issue of the ABA Journal.  I was really pleased to see one of my favorite e-discovery blogs make the list.

E-Lessons Learned was founded by Seton Hall e-Discovery Law Professor  Fernando M. Pinguelo,  The blog is written and run by his law students.  Each post covers one case on e-discovery and the ( you guessed it ) "e-lesson learned," from it.  The most recent "e-lessons learned" have included the following:

e-Lesson Learned: Wikipedia entries cannot be used to prove important facts are true.

AND

e-Lesson Learned: The best evidence rule isn’t just for journals, photographs and computers anymore … that’s right, GPS units are now among the electronic devices required to be physically present or have original documentation to support the information taken from the device to be used in testimony.

Like The University of Florida with Ralph Losey, or New York Law School with Michael Dalewitz,it is refreshing to see future lawyers getting acclimated at the student level of this ever growing industry.

LTN Awards: Deadline Extended, Fee Waived

The economy has hit hard on law firm budgets, and especially on discretionary spending for support professionals — sooooo, we have decided to WAIVE the entry fee (and extend the nominating deadline) for our 2009 LTN Law Firm/Law Department Awards. The new deadline is Friday, December 4.

This also makes it easier for those of you who want to nominate colleagues who might work for other organizations! And in these turbulent times, it's especially important that we recognize the innovations, hard work, and talent of legal technology leaders and visionaries!

Categories include:

• IT Director of the Year,

LTN Awards: Last Chance

The clock's a' tickin' -- Don't lose your voice!

Monday (11/16) is the deadline to vote for your favorite vendors who are in the running to receive our 2009 LTN Vendor Awards! The online ballot is survey style, and will take just a few minutes to complete! (You will need your account number, from your mailing label — e-mail Kerry Kyle -- info@lawtechnews.com or call 800 888 8300 x9428 if you can’t find it.)

Click here to vote

And that's not all: TODAY (11/13) is the (postmark) deadline for nominations for our juried LTN Awards, which honor law firms, law departments, and consultants. Categories include: IT Director of the Year, IT Champion of the Year, Consultant of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Most Innovative Use of Technology in a Law Firm, a Law Department, a Trial, and Pro Bono Project.

LTN Awards: Voting Open!

Vote! Yes, it’s that time again — for you to tell us which vendors should receive our 2009 LTN Vendor Awards! The online ballot is survey style, and will take just a few minutes to complete! Deadline: November 15. (You will need your account number, from your mailing label — e-mail Kerry Kyle kkyle@alm.com if you can’t find it.) Click here to vote.

We are also accepting nominations for our juried LTN Awards, which honor law firms, law departments, and consultants. Categories include: IT Director of the Year, IT Champion of the Year, Consultant of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Most Innovative Use of Technology in a Law Firm, a Law Department, a Trial, and Pro Bono Project.

This year, for the first time, we will be present the LTN Lifetime Achievement Award — I will be making the selection of that individual. Candidates must be 55+, and I welcome nominees. There are no restrictions: it can be a lawyer, a paralegal, a vendor, a CIO — anyone in our wonderful legal technology community is eligible.

As is our tradition, the remainder of the juried awards will be selected by three distinguished members of our LTN Editorial Advisory Board: Andrew Adkins III, of the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law; Fredric Lederer, of the William & Mary School of Law; and David Whelan, of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Deadline: November 13. Click here for nomination forms. 

EDD Update to experience "Where Angels Fear to Tread..."

With names like Craig Ball, Ralph Losey, Browning Marean, Dan Regard, and Shawnna Childress, it’s abundantly clear why EDD Update was in dire need of e-discovery talent for their blog. 

Seriously, what an honor it is to be named as a blog author for EDD Update.  The people who write for this blog provide such a great insight into e-discovery, social media, and other related matters.  I hope to post once or twice a week on things that I find unique to the industry.  Since becoming licensed in 2003, e-discovery has pretty much been my bread and butter via document reviews, project management, and consulting. 

Shocking as it may be though, I did not rise to prominence by becoming the “world’s greatest document reviewer.”  Most people know me from a blog I started a little over a year ago called Gabe’s Guide to the e-Discovery Universe.  Gabe’s Guide is exactly that-a guide.  I liken it to sort of an “uber news feed” of things people should be paying attention to in e-discovery, such as massive litigation matters, mergers and second requests, new technology and review software, and people in the industry.  In fact, I am certain I have cited to all of those people in the first sentence multiple times on my blog.  As well, like in this post, I will interject sarcastic commentary or write a pithy headline.

ASBPE Gold x2 for EDD coverage!

Craig Ball is a magician -- he can turn the dryest, most esoteric nuance of e-discovery into a compelling story that rivals the latest Grisham offering. His vocabulary is unmatched; he always finds the perfect word to illuminate the most dense concept, yet never succumbs to jargon. Like other exquisite storytellers, he uses everyday analogies -- comparing EDD processes to television shows (CSI),  murder scenes with blood hounds, or World War II challenges faced by his father.

And he is an editor's dream: his copy comes in crisp and on time, and he always monitors the published version for mistakes (which speeds online corrections). Not only does Ball write for Law Technology News, he also is a steady, pithy contributor to EDD Update www.eddupdate.com. So it's no surprise that Ball has collected a basket full of awards for his fine work. Last night, he won another gold, for "best contributed column" in the Northeast regional competition of the American Society of Business Publications. Check out "SNAFU" and "Brain Drain."

We were also were thilled to learn that my article, "Can You Adapt?"  which analyzed the changing roles of EDD attorneys, paralegals, and litigation support staff, also won gold, in the "best technical article" category. Of course, our  amazing art director Shane DeLeers shares the glory in both wins -- he always finds the perfect illustration that makes our words sizzle!

That brings us to five awards for our work in 2008 -- the most we've ever won in a single awards season: A design award from GD USA; two ASBPE gold, and two honorable mentions from the Tabbies!  Thanks to our entire team!

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.

& The Winners Are:

I am thrilled to announce the winners of the Law Firm/Law Dept. 2008 LTN Awards, which will be presented on Monday, Feb. 2 at our LTN Awards dinner:

The judges were Andrew Adkins III, of the University of Florida Law School; Fredric Lederer, of the College of William & Mary School of Law; and David Whelan, of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

The winners are:

IT Director of the Year:  Constance Hoffman, Bryan Cave

Champion of IT:  Joy Heath Rush, Sidley Austin

The Most Innovative of Technology:
— in a Law Firm:  Outlaw, Fish & Richardson
— In-House:  Vulcan Legal Exchange, Vulcan
— In a Trial:  Hynix Trial, Bartko Zankel
— in a Pro Bono Project:   Weil Gotshal

And the judges created a new category, which will continue forward:

Consultant of the Year:  Donna Payne

And I am also thrilled to announce that we will launch a new category, Lifetime Achievement Award, to honor a legal technology leader (55+) who has contributed mightily to our community. I will judge this category — so start thinking of nominations for next year!

#2009 EDD Predictions

From Dan Regard:

As we wrap up 2008 and move into 2009 we will see a number of new challenges and changes: Penetration into more cases, more do-it-yourself tools, new frontiers into database applications, and new focus on e-discovery management.

First, as litigants become more aware of e-discovery rules and relevance, and as the use of digital information continues to grow in both raw volume and total percentage of the information in an organization, we will see a spread of e-discovery issues to mid-sized and small cases, not just in the large cases. This will increase the pressure for improved ways to relieve the volumes, the costs and the burdens on the court docket system.

Second, law firms and corporations will continue to seek the optimal balance between handling issues in-house and outsourcing to specialty shops. This will be influenced by an increase in the availability (and reliability) of off-the-shelf solutions for processing and profiling standard ESI, balanced with the increased risk of not having a true center of excellence and the dangers related to doing it yourself but getting it wrong.

Third, e-discovery will become more mature and parties will focus on issues beyond e-mail. This means, primarily, enterprise applications. This is especially true as companies continue to integrate systems to improve business efficiencies. The storage of information in non-email and non-document systems will increase the need to get information out of those systems.

Finally, all parties who participate in e-discovery will increase their focus on project management, which has been more responsible for e-discovery disasters to date than any technology gaps or failures. This will be much more than just preservation or the work performed at a single vendor. This will be the work flow management of the entire project.

LTN Awards - Entry Deadline Extended

By popular demand, we have extended the deadline to enter nominations for our 2008 LTN Awards -- to Wednesday, DECEMBER 3.

PLUS - at the excellent suggestion of Craig Ball, we have eliminated the fee to enter nominations in the Pro Bono category -- to encourage nominations of projects that are helping others!

Especially in tough economic times, here's an opportunity to showcase your organization's technology stars -- and projects. Today, as Doug Caddell (a former winner of IT Director of the Year) says, you can't just sell your legal skills -- who also have to "sell" your technology. What better way to demonstrate your success than winning one of beautiful lucite stars signifying that your organization is the best of 2008?

The process is simple and painless... Just download the application right here .

Categories include:
• IT Director of the Year  (your IT director or a IT key staff member)
• IT Champion of the Year (a non-IT person at your organization who has helped advance  technology adoptation)

Friday's the Deadline for LTN Awards Nominations

It's not too late to nominate your firm or law department for the 2008 LTN Awards. The process is simple and painless... Just download the application right here .

Categories include:
• IT Director of the Year
• IT Champion of the Year
• Most innovative use of technology in:
-- A trial
-- A law firm
-- A law dept.
-- A pro bono project

As Nike sez, "Just Do IT!"  and as the NY Lottery sez, "You can't win if you don't enter!"

Questions? Contact Kevin Iredell.

Nominate your company for 2009 LTN Awards

The July 31 deadline approaches to nominate your company for the 2009 LTN Vendor Awards. If you don't nominate your company, it can't win, so take a moment and do it, today! (Read in voice that sounds like that swarmy GEICO or New York Lottery announcers).

Get the 411 here.

Gold & Bronze x2

We are thrilled to announce that Craig Ball et moi have won another set of Gold (Craig) and Bronze (moi), last night at the Northeast Regional awards ceremonies for the American Society of Business Publications Editors.

Craig's "Ball in Your Court" June 07 column, "Do It Yourself Forensics," took the gold for Best How-To article.

We are also proud that our October EDD Showcase, anchored by my "An Undercurrent of Fear," article, with photos by our photo editor Russ Curtis, won bronze in the Best Special Section category.

Kudos to the entire LTN team!

Back to Back Gold -- & a Bronze!

We've just received word that Craig Ball's Ball in Your Court column in Law Technology News  has won Gold in the 2008 TABBIES awards, presented by the Trade Association Business Publications International. More than 700 publications competed in this international competition, and it's the second year in a row that Ball snared the top prize for best regular column. Congrats, Craig! Here's his most recent column.

Our EDD Showcase (October, with the anchor reported article, "An Undercurrent of Fear" ) took Bronze in the  "Special Section" category.

Re: Ball in Your Court, the judges said:  "Excellent layout. The writing is a departure from unnecessary legalese, with a nice explanation to the myth of evidence (page equivalency)."

Re: EDD Showcase: "Well balanced editorial, appropriate and applicable for the market it serves; articles well researched to give different opinions. Layout draws reader into topics, lives up to initial promise of magazine."

Here's the 411: http://www.tabpi.org/2008/2008e.htm

Congrats to our LTN team!