Anyone who has been involved in moderately complex patent litigation is aware of the immense time and expense devoted to electronic discovery (“e-discovery”). The laborious process of negotiating with adversaries over search terms, custodians and metadata and then culling, producing and reviewing the many gigabytes of electronic data, particularly electronic communications, often yield little probative information. To reduce and streamline e-discovery costs, Chief Judge Randall R. Rader of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) introduced the Model Order on E-Discovery in Patent cases (“Model Order”) on September 27, 2011. This article describes the impetus for the Model Order, its key aspects and its implementation by district courts. It further discusses whether and how litigants and potential litigants should modify their strategy in complying with ediscovery including collecting, reviewing and producing documents for litigation, preparing discovery requests, negotiating with opposing counsel, drafting litigation holds and preserving electronically stored information (“ESI”). Finally, this article addresses whether the approach taken under the Model Order is conducive to non-patent complex civil litigations.
Should the Federal Circuit’s Model E-Discovery Order Change the Way You Conduct E-Discovery for Patent Litigation?, Contributed by Sapna Walter Palla, Kaye Scholer LLP « Bloomberg Law (Sapna Walter Palla)
The Sedona Conference® Issues “International Principles on Discovery, Disclosure & Data Protection” : Electronic Discovery Law
In December, the Sedona Conference® made available its latest publication, International Principles on Discovery, Disclosure & Data Protection: Best Practices, Recommendations & Principles for Addressing the Preservation & Discovery of Protected Data in U.S. Litigation (Public Comment Version). Among the information included are six Principles and attendant commentary as well as a model protective order and a “model data process and transfer protocol for use by parties and courts to better protect litigation-related data subject to data protection laws within the ambit of traditional U.S. litigation and court discovery practices.”
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime: The Rolls-Royce of Android tablets – Computerworld
The Transformer Prime manages to pull off the rare feat of combining power and style: It’s sleek and sexy, yet also jam-packed with robust functionality. And it’s armed with a secret weapon: Asus’ optional keyboard dock, a slim attachment that instantly turns the tablet into a full-fledged laptop computer. The tablet itself costs $499 for a 32GB model and $599 for a 64GB model; the dock is sold separately for $149.
On paper, this thing has it all. So how does it perform in the real world? I spent several days putting it to the test to find out.
Body and display
First, the surface-level stuff: As I mentioned, Asus’s new tablet is no slouch in the looks department. The Transformer Prime features a 10.1-in. display guarded by a gorgeous metallic-spun back, available in “Amethyst Gray” or “Champagne Gold” color schemes. Both designs look classy and — yes — expensive.
The tablet is thinner than any other on the market today, with a depth of just 8.3mm. It’s light, too, weighing in at a waif-like 1.29 lb. In the big picture, of course, we’re talking fingernail-sized differences from one tablet to another — the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is 8.6mm thick and 1.25 lb., while the iPad 2 is 8.8mm thick and 1.33 lb. — but all comparisons aside, the Prime looks fantastic and feels great to hold.
Despite its slight frame, the Transformer Prime doesn’t seem the least bit delicate; on the contrary, it has a solid and sturdy feel. The screen uses Corning Gorilla Glass, which protects it from nicks and scratches. Coupled with the tough outer casing, the Prime is a lightweight tablet with heavyweight-quality materials.
Speaking of the screen, the Transformer Prime features a 1280 x 800 Super IPS+ display that rivals any other tablet display I’ve seen. Images are crisp and clear; colors are rich and brilliant. The screen includes an outdoor viewing mode that, according to Asus, boosts brightness up to a level 1.5 times higher than any competing tablet; with this mode activated, I found the Prime perfectly easy to view even in bright sunlight.
The Asus Transformer Prime has a microSD slot, a micro-HDMI port and a volume rocker along its left side; a power button on the far left of its top edge; and a 3.5mm headphone jack along its right side. The bottom of the tablet holds a 40-pin connector port for charging along with two connectors for attaching the tablet to Asus’s keyboard dock.
There is one speaker on the back of the unit along the rig
via Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime: The Rolls-Royce of Android tablets – Computerworld.
Efficient E-Discovery: How Will Model Order Impact Eastern District Practice? | Texas Lawyer
In September, the Advisory Council for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a model order that limits electronic discovery in patent litigation. The Eastern District of Texas judges plan to meet in February to discuss the model order, but lawyers already have followed its guidance in several cases pending in the patent-heavy district.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John Love of Tyler has granted an order limiting e-discovery in at least one case pending in his court based on the model order.
In general, the model order limits parties requesting electronic discovery to a total of five search terms per custodian party. The parties jointly may agree to modify this limit without the court’s leave.
But if a party serves production requests with search terms beyond the limits agreed to by the parties or granted by the court, the requesting party must “bear all reasonable costs caused by such additional discovery.”
“Our objective was to bring efficiency and reasonableness to the expensive discovery process,” say Randall Rader, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. And he’s pleased that some lawyers in the Eastern District are using the model order as a template for handling discovery in patent cases.
U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis of Tyler, who will become the chief judge of the Eastern District next year, says the judges in the district will discuss a committee report on the model order at their February meeting.
Davis says, “I think [Judge Rader has] raised a very legitimate concern, primarily around the cost of email production. The question is: What is the best way to reduce that but at the same time give people the discovery that they need?”
via Texas Lawyer – Efficient E-Discovery: How Will Model Order Impact Eastern District Practice?.
TAMING THE E-DISCOVERY BEAST : IP Legal Watch
The Federal Circuit’s proposed Model Order on E-Discovery offers a number of good suggestions that should help reduce the burden of electronic discovery in patent cases, and some that merit further consideration and debate. Among the best ideas are the following three:
1. Requiring separate requests for email, rather than permitting email to be included in requests such as “all documents and electronic information” (¶6). This will sharpen the focus on just what types of email communications are relevant. We should consider whether all types of electronic information should be requested separately, and indeed whether to require that specific types of “documents” (correspondence, memoranda, drawings, etc.) should be specifically requested rather than encompassed with omnibus terms.
2. Limiting the metadata parties are required to produce to that revealing times of sending and receipt and the distribution list (¶5). There are times when creation and edit dates are important, so perhaps that also should be included. Most other metadata is typically irrelevant.
3. Presumptive limits of 5 custodians and 5 search terms (¶¶ 10-11). Those limits obviously will not be suitable in all cases, but at least we have a low-number starting point. The suggestions about how to treat conjunctive and disjunctive combinations of terms, and encouragement of the use of narrowing search criteria, are excellent.
$325 Flat Rate E-Discovery Pricing from Global EDD Group
Global EDD Group offers a simplified “Collect2Review” pricing model that bundles typical e-discovery services under one flat rate. Collect2Review™ not only provides competitive pricing compared to average industry rates, but also enables predictive budgeting early in the development of a case.
The $325 Collect2Review Rate includes:
Collection
- Hard Drive Imaging
- Network File Share Extraction
Processing
- DeDuplication, DeNISTing and Standard Reporting
- PST File Extraction
- Standard E-Discovery Processing (non-expedited)
Review & Hosting
- 12 Months of GlobalEReview Collaboration & Review Hosting, including:
- International Unicode Character Support
- Universal Image Viewer
- Advanced Searching
- Complex Tagging
- Linear Review with Workflow
- Custom Coding Forms
- Secure SSL Encrypted Worldwide Connectivty
- SAS 70 Type II Certfied Data Center (US)
Project Management
- Unlimited User Accounts (without additional fee)
- Standard User Training Session via Web Conference
- Statement of Work, Project Specification & Chain of Custody Documentation
- Flat Rate Fee Determined Per Expanded Gigabyte
How can we do it? We have developed an efficient model that leverages automated technology, diverse resources and low operating expenses to provide high quality services at extremely competitive price points. Feel free to contact us to initiate services or to obtain additional specifics on our Collect2Review program.
Asus’ new Android Transformer tablet going quad-core | Deep Tech – CNET News
Asus Chairman Jonney Shih unveiled his company’s next-generation Android tablet today, a 10-inch model in the Transformer family that will come with Nvidia’s quad-core Kal-El processor.
Shih, speaking at All Things Digital AsiaD conference in Hong Kong, said the model will be 8.3 millimeters thick and features USB and mini HDMI ports, but reserved further details for a formal launch on November 9, according to All Things Digital’s report. The tablet is called the Transformer Prime, according to Endgadget.
Asus already has a similar product on the market, the EeePad Transformer, with a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, and signature feature, a detachable keyboard that can make the tablet look more like a laptop. It’s not clear if the keyboard module for the EeePad Transformer will work with the new model.
It seems likely the new Transformer will come with Ice Cream Sandwich, version 4.0 of Google’s Android operating system for mobile devices. Android 3.x, aka Honeycomb, was a stopgap measure intended to help Android tablets reach the market as soon as possible, but Ice Cream Sandwich is a more finished product and won’t be out of sync with the OS version running on Android phones. Shih said Ice Cream Sandwich could arrive on tablets “maybe earlier” than the end of the year.
via Asus’ new Android Transformer tablet going quad-core | Deep Tech – CNET News.
Collect2Review™ Flat Rate Pricing from Global EDD Group
Global EDD Group offers a simplified “Collect2Review” pricing model that bundles typical e-discovery services under one flat rate. Collect2Review™ not only provides competitive pricing compared to average industry rates, but also enables predictive budgeting early in the development of a case.
The $325 Collect2Review Rate includes:
Project Management
How can we do it? We have developed an efficient model that leverages automated technology, diverse resources and low operating expenses to provide high quality services at extremely competitive price points. Feel free to contact us to initiate services or to obtain additional specifics on our Collect2Review program.
The Not So Fine Print
◊ Approved expenses, such as travel and collection media, are billed at cost.
◊ Document Productions, Expedited Processing, Detailed Support Services incur additional fees.
◊ All pricing and services to be outlined and approved in writing prior to the commencement of services.
Everyone’s Writing The Obituary For “Per Gig” E-Discovery Pricing, But Has Anyone Derived A Fair Solution? #ediscovery
There has been much discussion within the electronic discovery industry regarding the demise of the “per gigabyte” pricing model, and understandably so given the multi-million dollar price tags associated with large e-discovery projects. Despite the commoditization and downward pricing pressure facing all vendors, average price points simply have not scaled to meet the demands associated with the explosive growth in discovery data volumes. Not only has this created intense sticker shock for law firms and their clients, but it also creating a significant challenge to vendors as they balance competitive pricing with overall value provided to the client and the need to make enough profit to sustain the business.
So my question to the industry and our clients – what’s next? We have grown from charging “per page” in the early days of e-discovery to “per gigabyte” pricing today. Are firms and corporations willing to work with vendors in the early stage of a matter to develop a value-based flat rate? Are software developers willing to move from unit-based pricing to a profit-sharing or subscription model?
I will continue to follow the discussion and welcome comments regarding the same.
Brad Mixner, Founder & President, Global EDD Group | brad.mixner@globaledd.com
