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Carmel Valley eDiscovery Retreat (CVEDR) Announces Craig Ball as a 2012 Keynote Speaker

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Mr. Ball, an Austin, Texas-based trial law technologist and computer forensics expert, is a world-renowned thought leader in eDiscovery. He will address one of the most critical issues facing today’s legal profession: Persuading attorneys to learn information technology skills to uphold standards of advocacy and better serve their clients.

“Effective, affordable eDiscovery is no harder than learning to try a lawsuit … and no easier,” said Mr. Ball. Attorneys know it takes years of effort to learn courtroom skills, yet many expect to master eDiscovery in a few hours. Mr. Ball hopes to encourage them to “get their hands dirty with data,” noting that events like the Carmel Valley eDiscovery Retreat (CVEDR) are needed to allow the exchange of ideas amongst eDiscovery professionals. He adds, “I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones in a setting that is one of America’s loveliest places.”

Mr. Ball is one of the most sought-after presenters in the eDiscovery industry. He is a prolific writer and the recipient of numerous awards. Mr. Ball’s work has been featured in national media outlets such as The New York Times. His passion is educating legal professionals about the powerful tools they can use to offer cost-effective discovery solutions for their clients.

via Carmel Valley eDiscovery Retreat (CVEDR) Announces Craig Ball as a 2012 Keynote Speaker.

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The Case for In-House eDiscovery | Heathcare Info Security (Upasana Gupta)

December 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In mid-2011, Canada’s Scotia Bank set up an internal eDiscovery team of three full-time professionals to tackle litigation issues for the institution in 50 countries.

The goal: to preserve, collect, review, manage and produce any electronic evidence relevant to a court case. For Greg Thompson, vice president of enterprise security services at Scotia Bank, Canada’s third-largest institution, eDiscovery has become a top concern because of the rising litigation caseload. Failure to comply with an eDiscovery request could result in fines or other penalties.

 

The main reasons for establishing an internal eDiscovery team, versus outsourcing it: huge cost savings, increased control of data and a better understanding of the litigation process.

“Satisfying a court order is heavy lifting,” Thompson says. “The cost and risks of outsourcing this service with regards to the number of litigations we are dealing with has skyrocketed. If you send your data to an external party for investigations, you can expect to pay somewhere around $2,000 per day compared to internal expertise, where we spend around $800 per day.”

Scotia Bank’s choice is increasingly common among private and public sector organizations worldwide. The expansion of litigations, electronically stored information and the risk of sending data to third parties are pushing these organizations to develop their own eDiscovery capabilities.

“eDiscovery is becoming a big deal,” says David Matthews, deputy chief information security officer for the City of Seattle in the U.S., and author of a forthcoming book called “Electronically Stored Information: The Complete Guide to Management, Understanding, Acquisition, Storage, Search, and Retrieval.” “Every bit of infrastructure and activity generates electronic data, so organizations and individuals are expected to understand by law where their electronic evidence is and how it’s accessed and produced in court.”

via The Case for In-House eDiscovery.

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e-Discovery in The Cloud Not As Simple As You Think – Forbes

November 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

While organizations are utilizing cloud-based solutions more and more, eDiscovery from those solutions often remains an afterthought. In many cases, there is little consideration of how information in the cloud will be placed on legal hold, or how it will be accessed, reviewed and produced in response to litigation or regulatory requests. While there seems to be a widespread assumption that information in the cloud is at an organization’s fingertips at all times with the touch of a search button, that is not necessarily the case.

A large majority of respondents to our “The Cloud and eDiscovery” survey are using cloud-based solutions, ranging from hosted email archiving to popular applications like Salesforce.com and QuickBooks. Companies are knowingly or unknowingly storing discoverable information assets in the cloud. But the real question they should be asking is, “Do we have a plan in place for eDiscovery should the need arise?”

eDiscovery Plan

Overwhelmingly, the answer is no. Only 16% of respondents indicate that an eDiscovery plan is in place for cloud-based information management solutions. Granted, only 26% actually responded that they do not have an eDiscovery plan in place, but what is truly scary is the 58% who don’t even know if a plan exists. This means that many organizations, when they face an investigation or litigation, will be left scrambling in a reactive firefight to collect information from the cloud. That will inevitably lead to higher costs and more difficulty making informed legal decisions quickly.

Any organization utilizing cloud-based solutions to store information needs to have eDiscovery plans for each one of those solutions. Such plans need to define access protocols, service-level agreements for how quickly information can be produced, documentation for chain of custody and any kind of advanced functionality (e.g., content analytics for Early Case Assessment) that will be included.

via e-Discovery in The Cloud Not As Simple As You Think – Forbes.

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Defending the Use of E-Discovery Software | Law.com

November 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There are several good strategies for defending the use of e-discovery software, panelists said last week at the Georgetown Law Center Advanced eDiscovery Institute.

Judges, opposing counsel, and juries may sometimes ask lawyers about the limitations of concept and keyword searching, the extent to which quality control was performed, and the reasons why results aren’t perfect, noted moderator Conor Crowley, of Crowley Law Office in McLean, Va.

Important cases in which software use was defended include Victor Stanley v. Creative Pipe, Disability Rights Council of Greater Washington v. Wash Metropolitan Transit Authority, Gross Construction Association v. American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance, and Datel Holdings v. Microsoft, Crowley said.

One of the best responses is for attorneys to understand and articulate how such technologies work at the process level, the panelists agreed.

That understanding need not extend to technical levels — “I haven’t a clue how the plane works. What I care about is it gets me safely to my destination. Let’s not get so obsessed with how the algorithms work,” attorney Maura Grossman said, of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, in New York. “Frankly, most of us could not understand the answer,” added District Court Judge Elizabeth Laporte, of San Francisco.

via Defending the Use of E-Discovery Software.

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Will New Electronic Discovery Rules Save Organizations Millions or Deny Justice? – Forbes

November 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Special Post by Matthew Nelson, Esq.

Lawyers and federal judges are currently discussing a formal proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Rules”) that could save some organizations millions of dollars.  The Rules are significant because they dictate the procedures every party in federal civil court must follow when negotiating the exchange, or discovery, of documents and other information as part of a lawsuit.  Sometimes Rule changes simply include minor modifications to add clarity.  Other times, Rule changes like those being considered at this week’s Federal Rules Advisory Committee (“Advisory Committee”) meeting on November 7 and 8 in Washington, D.C., are potentially game changing.

A recent jury verdict for almost $1 billion following a court-ordered eDiscovery sanction, combined with a steady overall increase in eDiscovery related sanctions since last year, have helped fuel enterprise concerns about the cost of data preservation. See E.I. Dupont De Nemours and Company v. Kolon Industries, Inc., (E.D. Va. Jul. 21, 2011); and Gibson Dunn, “2011 Mid Year E-Discovery Update” (July 2011) (eDiscovery related sanctions nearly doubled between July 2010 and 2011).  As a result of these concerns, many large organizations with massive amounts of electronically stored information (“ESI”), are calling for Rule changes.  They are looking to curb the cost of identifying and preserving potentially relevant ESI that could help them avoid paying attorneys millions of dollars to sift through mounds of emails and other electronic files to find the right documents for each new case. These large enterprise litigants claim the lack of clarity in the current Rules unfairly requires organizations to err on the side of preserving evidence early and broadly or face the risk of stiff court sanctions if information that may have been relevant to a case is lost or deleted.  They see the problem as a double-edged sword because in many cases, the more ESI preserved, the higher the costs of eDiscovery.  On the other hand, failure to preserve enough ESI increases their risk of sanctions.

continued @  Will New Electronic Discovery Rules Save Organizations Millions or Deny Justice? – Forbes.

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Sasha Hefler, Legal Industry Thought Leader, has been appointed to the 2012 Advisory Committee for the Carmel Valley eDiscovery Retreat

November 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sasha Hefler, Founder of the legal public relations firmStrategic Brands on Fire and the former President of the Masters Conference, was appointed today as an advisory committee member of the Carmel Valley eDiscovery Retreat being held July 22 – 24, 2012 at Carmel Valley Ranch in Carmel, California.

“Sasha Hefler is a proven asset to CVEDR. Her participation was very instrumental to the success of the first inaugural eDiscovery retreat that took place a few months back in July. Sasha has a vast number of relationships in the eDiscovery industry and an overall tenure in successful brand marketing of educational forums and start-up corporations in the eDiscovery space.” said Chris La Cour Founder & Executive Director of CVEDR.

The advisory committee consists of a number of eDiscovery professionals who are committed to the ongoing development of CVEDR. Their abilities, experience, and knowledge were selected for how they compliment the pivotal direction of the eDiscovery industry. The advisory committee was structured much in part to develop recommendations in a focused, group structure on the speaker and educational direction of CVEDR.

“The 2011 Carmel Valley eDiscovery Retreat brought back some real memories for me personally and it is exciting to see the passion Chris La Cour has for the eDiscovery community. CVEDR will continue to build on its foundation in hopes of becoming a top tier west coast educational legal forum,“ said Sasha Hefler, Founder & President of Strategic Brands on Fire.

About Carmel Valley eDiscovery Retreat
The Carmel Valley eDiscovery Retreat(CVEDR) is a premier resource for legal industry professionals wishing to focus on the complexities and practicalities of eDiscovery. Whether you’re new to eDiscovery, or want to increase your existing expertise, the CVEDR allows an attendee to explore critical topics with established industry leaders and peers – all in one of the most stunningly beautiful areas of the United States, Carmel, California. The retreat offers face-to-face interaction with eDiscovery experts in a collegial atmosphere. Specifically, this eDiscovery educational forum’s agenda has been organized around interactive panel sessions. Attendees can participate in any of the valuable interactive sessions on the most pivotal litigation issues affecting the industry, and develop strategic direction. Explore the 2012 CVEDR website and contact us with questions to get involved today.

To learn more, please visit http://www.cvedr.com.

Strategic Brands on Fire
Strategic Brands on Fire specializes in identity and public relations campaigns for start-ups and companies that need re-branding and positioning in the legal vertical. Beyond the scope of marketing the firm offers sales management, corporate channel partner management and lead generation programs. The company develops effective strategic planning based on unique insight into marketing opportunities based on client needs by delivering increased revenues, a rise in market share and brand awareness. The Strategic Brands on Fire team has established a solid reputation for integrity and trust among their clients and partners.

For more information visit: http://www.strategicbrandsonfire.com.

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eDiscoveryJournal Founders Officially Launch New Market Research Firm — eDJ Group, Inc. – MarketWatch

October 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The founders of eDiscoveryJournal (eDJ), a leading source of independent and unbiased perspectives on eDiscovery news, trends and best practices, today announced the launch of eDJ Group, Inc. The official formation of the legal industry’s newest market research and consulting firm integrates and showcases the demand for the services eDJ has been providing to its legal, IT and service provider clients since opening in 2009.

“eDJ Group’s ability to cover competitive market dynamics, best practices and trends — not only at the strategic level, but also at a very granular level — sets us apart from other firms,” said Barry Murphy, principal analyst and co-founder of the eDJ Group. “Our unique combination of market research, hands-on eDiscovery experience and IT acumen has established us as the market research leaders covering information governance and eDiscovery requirements.”

eDJ was co-founded in 2009 by Barry Murphy — who, while at Forrester Research, was one of the first analysts in the industry to cover the eDiscovery market — and Greg Buckles, one of the industry’s leading eDiscovery experts with more than 20 years’ experience working in consulting and leadership roles for legal service providers, corporate legal departments, law firms and IT/software development. Last May, eDJ added Jason Velasco as CEO to drive the rapid expansion of the firm’s research products, content and services.

“The expansion and growth of eDJ Group’s consulting and analyst services are being driven by the strong demand we’re seeing in the market today,” said Buckles. “Organizations — from the smallest law firm to the corporate clients — are coming to us for guidance and support because of our unique expertise.”

via eDiscoveryJournal Founders Officially Launch New Market Research Firm — eDJ Group, Inc. – MarketWatch.

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eDiscovery Disasters: What Every CIO Needs to Know – IT Management

October 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

With the rising tide of regulation and litigation, it can be a challenge for CIOs to know what data the company needs to retain — and for how long — in order to protect and defend itself in the event of a legal or regulatory incident. According Symantec’s 2011 Information Retention and eDiscovery Survey, conducted by Applied Research, it’s no longer just a question of archiving your email. During the eDiscovery process, attorneys more commonly seek structured and unstructured information than they do email, the survey found. Social media and text messages also made the list of commonly requested digital records. Annie Goranson, discovery attorney at Symantec, says that knowing what to keep is critical for CIOs. “There are a lot of risks associated with keeping that data around past its useful life. It really becomes a drain on the business and on the technology that the business is using. The ability and the focus to develop a deletion policy [and] a retention policy puts the entire organization in a much better position with respect to risk. From the CIO’s perspective, that’s probably the biggest gain.” Applied Research surveyed 2,000 global enterprises with at least 1,000 employees on behalf of Symantec in June and July 2011. Respondents came from both IT management and legal departments. In addition to highlighting survey findings, we provide six steps to help you keep your organization prepared for an information request.

slideshow @  eDiscovery Disasters: What Every CIO Needs to Know – IT Management.

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X1 Discovery Unveils Industry’s First Investigative Solution to Collect Social Media Content from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – MarketWatch

October 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

X1 Discovery, Inc., today announced the availability of X1 Social Discovery(TM), the first investigative solution specifically designed to address social media content from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. X1 Social Discovery delivers a fast and powerful platform to collect, authenticate, search, review and produce electronically stored information (ESI) from the most popular social networks. Until now, eDiscovery and investigative professionals have been struggling with the challenges of social media evidence. X1 Social Discovery builds upon the industry leading and patented X1 search technology and was designed by experienced eDiscovery practitioners to deliver instantaneous and comprehensive searching capabilities, finally giving investigators an effective way to access this critical body of evidence.

X1 Social Discovery is tailored for eDiscovery and computer investigation professionals and their specific case-centric workflow from collection, search and production, while capturing and preserving key metadata and maintaining a consistent chain of custody throughout the process. It’s is a very fast, comprehensive, yet intuitive, platform specifically designed for search and preservation in support of eDiscovery and other digital investigations.

4 Key Benefits of X1 Social Discovery:

– Very fast and comprehensive search and analysis of social media

– Collect tens of thousands of social media items per hour

– Best practices for social media preservation and authentication

– Provides a case-centric workflow from collection through production

via X1 Discovery Unveils Industry’s First Investigative Solution to Collect Social Media Content from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – MarketWatch.

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Mobile eDiscovery Content Review with eZoom Data Rooms

October 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

eZoom Data Room Services from Global EDD Group enable mobile content review via your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch device and include such features as:

  • Secure role-based access based on your eZoom user account,
  • Full-text searching,
  • Commenting and tagging of  discovery files,
  • Direct uploading of document and photos.
eZoom™ Data Rooms are a service from Global EDD Group that provide a basic, flexible platform for a quick, focused, content-driven analysis of discovery documents such as e-mails, documents, spreadsheets, presentations and scanned images.  Further information about eZoom is available by clicking here.
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