EDD Update

IE Discovery Buys Majority Interest in eDirect Impact

IE Discovery reports that it has purchased a majority interest in eDirect Impact, the creator of eManage EDD workflow management software.

The investment will provide eDirect Impact with additional funding for development of that software, and gives IE Discovery an exclusive license to offer eManage to corporate and government markets, the companies explain.

Based on Microsoft's SharePoint software, eManage helps organizations connect and integrate disparate EDD products and review tools, including IE Discovery's discovery software, InfoDox.

Release here.

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." 

Unify & Daegis Merging

Unify, a data management and migration software vendor, and Daegis  an e-discovery and litigation support consultancy, are in the process of merging. The new entity, yet to be named, will focus on data archiving, information governance, and EDD, they say.

Under the accord, Unify will pay $38 million in a combination of cash, seller financing, and stock. So far, Unify has paid $24 million in cash, delivered $6.2 million in convertible promissory notes, and issued approximately 2.1 million shares of its common stock to Daegis shareholders.

CT Summation & AccessData Morph into AccessData Group

Darwin Watch: Wolters Kluwer's CT Summation and AccessData have just announced that they have signed the paperwork to merge into a single company: AccessData Group.
   The new company will offer a cradle-to-grave electronic data discovery offering, they report. Currently, AccessData's namesake e-discovery software helps users address litigation holds, automated collection, processing, and analysis prior to attorney review. CT Summation's roster includes litigation workflow and e-discovery products: iBlaze, CaseVault, and Discovery Cracker.
   AccessData CEO Tim Leehealey told Law Technology News that he will remain on as CEO, with his current management team, which includes Brian Karney (COO) and Erick Thompson (founder/CTO), among others. Whether CT Summation leaders will participate on the management team is unsettled at this time, he said. 

Darwin Watch: AccessData, CT Summation

Wolters Kluwer's CT Summation and AccessData have just announced that they have signed the paperwork to merge into a single company: AccessData Group.

The new company will offer a cradle-to-grave electronic data discovery offering, they report. Currently, AccessData's namesake e-discovery software helps users address litigation holds, automated collection, processing, and analysis prior to attorney review. CT Summation's roster includes litigation workflow and e-discovery products: iBlaze, CaseVault, and Discovery Cracker.

AccessData CEO Tim Leehealey told Law Technology News that he will remain on as CEO, with his current management team, which includes Brian Karney (COO) and Erick Thompson (founder/CTO), among others. Whether CT Summation leaders will participate on the management team is "unsettled" at this time, he said.

More on Kroll Acquisition

From yesterday's Law Technology News website:

By Monica Bay

Altegrity today announced plans to acquire Kroll from Marsh & McLennan Companies, in an all-cash transaction valued at $1.13 billion the companies announced. Kroll offers a range of security and technology services, including investigations, financial advice and intelligence, and more.

Altegrity is owned by Providence Equity Partners, a global private equity firm. The transaction is expected to close by September, assuming the usual approvals. Altegrity's CEO Mike Cherkasky served as president/CEO of Kroll from 2001-2004. MMC turned to Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz for legal counsel; Debevoise & Plimpton aided Altegrity and Providence.

Among Kroll's entities is Kroll Ontrack, which offers a range of services, software, and consulting to help legal, corporate, and governmental entities (and consumers) deal with data, including data recovery services. Kroll Ontrack has a high profile in the e-discovery community; it ranked as a top 5 overall services provider in the final Socha/Gelbmann e-discovery survey in 2008. In the same survey, it ranked in the 11-15 category for its software.

Iron Mountain Acquires Mimosa

From the press release:

Iron Mountain, an information management services company, has acquired Calif.-based Mimosa Systems, [which offers] content archiving [systems], for approximately $112 million in cash, subject to closing adjustments. The deal provides Iron Mountain with an integrated archive for e-mail, SharePoint data and files, and gives the company an on-premises archiving option to complement its existing cloud-based archives.

What do you call someone who gets the lowest passing grade on the Bar exam?

Guest lecturing at an e-discovery class at UT Law School today left me feeling a tad discouraged.  I'd covered the fundamentals of data storage, the broad components of an enterprise IT environment, Unicode and a bit about keyword search.  In 50 minutes, there's only so much I can do, and with little depth or nuance.  Afterward, a third-year student in the class confided that he'd thought I'd gone pretty far "into the weeds" and wondered if he would really need to know this stuff.  He asked why he couldn't just hire someone to handle the e-discovery issues in his cases.

Anacomp Executive Purge?

We are tracking down strong rumors that there has been a major purge of executives at Anacomp by its board of directors. Once we get confirmations and details we'll post more 411.

411: We tracked the rumor down. In fact, Howard Dratler, Anacomp CEO, got right back to us to set the record straight. There were never any plans to unseat him as CEO. But Dratler did hire Scott Winkler to be the general manager of Anacomp's CLX business. According to Dratler, "Winkler's initial focus will be on better alignment of our Development, Product Management and Marketing organizations with the goal  of building on/accelerating the strong progress we have made over the past several years and taking our eDiscovery and Litigation Support business to the next level."

Cloud BURST!

There's been a lot of chatter about cloud computing, and I've certainly touched on the risks.  Now, we have a concrete example of what can go horribly wrong.  T-Mobile users of the Sidekick smartphone may have lost all of their personal data when master copies were affected by a server outage.

Microsoft, you got some explaining to do!

EMC To Acquire Kazeon

EMC Corp. has announced that it will acquire e-discovery provider Kazeon Systems. Kazeon will become a part of EMC's content management and archiving division upon completion of the acquisition. Full release here.

Deacon & Reichenbach Land New Gigs

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

The End of Lawyers?

Keep your seatbelt fastened!  Richard Susskind's latest book, "The End of Lawyers?", is a must read.  While its scope is much broader than issues surrounding electronic discovery, it discusses the profound impacts that technology is having in the practice of law.  Rapid and disruptive change is underway; how will we adapt?

#LTNY: Darwin Watch: The Day After Christmas

I am out of the office today, so didn't see this until now when Craig Ball, LTN's trusty EDD columnist, brought it to my attention: Onsite3 has filed for Chapter 11 and plans to be absorbed by Integreon.

"You know how ailing retailers hang on until Christmas before deciding to throw in the towel?  Well, for the thinning ranks of e-discovery vendors, LegalTech New York is Christmas, and you can bet that anyone hitting the skids who didn't manage to save face through a fire sale acquisition negotiated in the halls of the Hilton is running out of options." 

 

"In 2009, some will be able to buy their EDD service provider for what they paid for services in 2008, and those who thought me a Cassandra in the February LTN column "What Lies Beneath" will soon wonder why I didn't ring the bell louder."

As for Onsite3's woes, the press release is available here.

Cliff's Notes version:

"Onsite3... today announced that it has filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 ... and that it plans to be acquired by Integreon (www.integreon.com).... The Company also announced today that Integreon has completed the acquisition of Onsite3's outstanding pre-bankruptcy secured debt and has agreed to provide debtor-in-possession financing to assure Onsite3's continued operation throughout the reorganization process."

What Lies Beneath?

With he news of layoffs at two EDD providers (i365/Metalincs and SPi), I thought you might want a sneak preview of Craig Ball's column "What Lies Beneath."

Ball warns us to be sure we have considered how to protect our firms and clients should a vendor evaporate.

View it here or download it here: Download Ball_In_Your_Court

Layoffs at SPi

The grapevine is humming about layoffs at SPi -- and possible reorganization (jettisoning EDD work) -- but no official statements yet. Will keep you posted as we hear more.

Autonomy to Acquire Interwoven

Breaking news: http://www.autonomy.com/content/News/Releases/2009/0122.en.html

1/26 Update: According to the company:

• Interwoven stockholders will receive $16.20 in cash for each outstanding Interwoven share, representing a premium of 36.8% to the closing share price of $11.84 on January 21, 2009, and a premium of 36.2% to the average closing share price over the 30 days through January 21, 2009.

Interwoven Buys Discovery Mining

One SF Bay Area company has gobbled up another: Peninsula-based Interwoven Inc. has announced that it will acquire Presidio (SF)-based Discovery Mining:

EED Buys Daticon

Electronic Evidence Discovery Inc. has announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to purchase Daticon, LLC. (Daticon was earlier purchased by Minnesota's Xiotech.) Press release 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.

Seagate acquires MetaLincs

Today, Seagate Services, which provides backup, recovery, and e-discovery, has signed an agreement to purchase MetaLincs, an EDD company. Find out more about the acquisition here.

Iron Mountain acquires Stratify

Iron Mountain Inc. has paid approximately $158 million to acquire Stratify Inc. To read more, visit the press release.