News and Analysis

Judge punishes data storage giant for data storage e-discovery failures

Friday, September 3, 2010
In a federal case against SanDisk by two ex-employees, federal judge William H. Pauley leveled a $150,000 sanction, warning the company he will draw an "adverse inference" in the non-jury trial for its evidence spoliation and other transgressions. The data storage giant is suffering the ironic fate about which it warns its e-discovery customers. read more

Courts Disagree on Grounds for Imposing 'Adverse Inference' Sanction for E-Discovery Failings

Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The 2010 mid-year survey by the law firm Gibson Dunn finds a steady flow of federal cases where sanctions were imposed on clients and lawyers for e-discovery lapses, and broad disagreement among circuits on when the "adverse inference" jury instruction should be leveled for e-discovery infractions. read more

WikiLeaks Case Likely to Set Precedents on Data Leaks and Information Security

Thursday, August 15, 2010
Last month the website WikiLeaks.org posted more than 90,000 classified US documents relating to the war in Afghanistan. Comprising everything from intelligence assessments to after-action reports, the information opened a window on previously unseen elements of the war, and exposed decision-making behind incidents that resulted in the deaths of both combatants and civilians. read more

Adam Sand's Seven Ways to Use Your IT Systems to Cut E-Discovery Costs

Thursday, August 12, 2010
Modern businesses rely on information technology to deal with a variety of challenges ranging from records management to regulatory compliance. As litigation requirements matured, these organizations deployed a variety of e-discovery applications. Here, Adam Sand, General Counsel of ZL Technologies, Inc., details the seven ways companies can use their IT systems to cut costs. read more

Gibson Dunn's Mid-Year Survey Shows Growing Impact of Social Networking Evidence

Thursday, August 12, 2010
Gibson Dunn's 2010 mid-year e-discovery report reveals a broad incursion of evidence from social networking sites in civil cases throughout the US. Criminal cases are not far behind. ACEDS analyzes the social networking portion of the firm's update in this report, followed by dissection of other parts of the broad report in coming days. read more

ACEDS certification exam set for Nov. 1; 28 experts, 431 survey respondents and psychometricians pitch in

Thursday, August 5, 2010
The lengthy, arduous process of creating a legally defensible and psychometrically proven certification exam for e-discovery professionals is only days away from completion. Has a new e-discovery evaluation paradigm emerged? read more

ESI Volume and the Shift to Proportionality: Control Your Case and Your Cost

Thursday, August 5, 2010
A recent ACEDS Web seminar detailed the threat of e-discovery costs, how to maintain a reasonable e-discovery workflow and best practices for communicating challenges to the bench. read more

E-Discovery Fallout From Dell's Faulty Computers May Reverberate in Many Courtrooms

Wednesday, July 21, 2010
An obscure federal case has now taken a significant turn by the court-ordered disclosure by Dell Computer of internal documents showing longtime knowledge of serious problems with millions of computers it sold. E-discovery reverberations will be felt in courtrooms throughout the land. read more

Survey of E-Discovery Specialists Reveals Much Unfamiliarity with Major Initiatives

Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tom O'Connor, Director of the Legal Electronic Documents Institute, recently surveyed 185 Illinois lawyers, litigation support personnel, and IT staff members on their e-discovery practices and knowledge. read more

Tony Reid's Proactive Early Case Assessment Strategies

Friday, July 16, 2010
Tony Reid, a Deloitte partner in Washington, DC and Florida and ACEDS Advisory Board member, teaches e-discovery legal, IT, compliance and risk professionals how they can exploit early case assessment tools to save time, contain costs and reduce risk. read more

Tax Court Issues E-Discovery Amendments; IRS Chief Counsel Offers Direction for Tax Attorneys

Wednesday, July 14, 2010
More than three years after the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended to include e-discovery, the Tax Court followed suit. read more

Lack of ESI Rules and Uniformity Put Congressional Investigations, Oversight at Risk

Friday, July 9, 2010
The US Congress faces huge amounts of ESI in everything it does -- legislation, investigations, appropriations, confirmations and more. Surprisingly, Congress is exposed to manipulation and spoliation of the records its committees receive by a virtual lack of uniform rules or standards applicable to persons and organizations that furnish the data. read more

ACEDS Board Member Breaks Down NY State Court Recommendations on E-Discovery

Friday, July 1, 2010
John Barkett, ACEDS Advisory Board member and Chairman of the American Bar Association's National Institute on E-Discovery, has analyzed the key recommendations regarding e-discovery given to the New York State Courts. read more

As the Nation's Records Keeper, the National Archives Can Teach Many E-Discovery Lessons

By Rob Garver | Friday, June 25, 2010
The litigation director of the National Archives and Records Administration gives his tips on how government agencies can improve their electronic discovery readiness. read more

Government Agencies Positioning Their Teams and Procedures to Handle New E-Discovery Demands

By Rob Garver | Monday, June 21, 2010
With judges insisting that federal agencies meet their e-discovery obligations and no longer cutting them slack, federal legal counsel and IT offices are hurriedly implementing procedures and aligning their teams to ensure compliance. read more

US Agencies Struggle to Reconcile E-discovery Duties and 'Information Assets Management'

By Rob Garver | Thursday, June 17, 2010
Government lawyers, IT experts and support staff are striving to improve their e-discovery capabilities while reconciling the distinct needs and access rights of internal and external sources who seek their electronically stored information. An Air Force official says enterprise-wide "information assets management" is the best approach. read more

At Federal Level, Trigger on Duty to Preserve Evidence is Set by 13 Circuit Courts

Wednesday, June 16, 2010
A party's duty to preserve evidence, including electronically stored information (ESI) is triggered when a lawsuit is filed or can be reasonably anticipated. When that occurs and when a party or lawyer can reasonably anticipate a lawsuit or investigation is one of the vexing questions in e-discovery. read more

Cross-Border Electronic Discovery Raises Compliance, Privacy Dilemmas — and Much Risk

By Rob Garver | Monday, June 07, 2010
E-discovery issues can be plenty tough within a single national jurisdiction, but it's when courts in countries with vastly different privacy laws negotiate the exchange of information that things get really difficult. Damned if you do and damned if you don't is often the option facing multinational parties and litigators. read more

Bill Hamilton's 7 Deadly Sins of the Rule 26(f) 'Meet-and-Confer' Conference

By Bill Hamilton | Monday, June 07, 2010
The "meet-and-confer" conference of opposing counsel to work out e-discovery and other issues is required by federal rules. It is a crucial event in crafting a winning litigation strategy. Serious consequences follow if a litigator doesn't take certain steps and achieve certain goals. ACEDS Chairman Bill Hamilton tells you how to avoid the '7 Deadly Sins of Meet-and-Confer' conferences. read more

Hiring Good E-Discovery Help Without Standards No Easy Call; RFPs Emerging

By Rob Garver | Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Without recognized accreditation for e-discovery service providers, deciding which vendor to hire is tricky. Some law firms offer clients a pre-screened set of preferred vendors, while companies that opt to search for partners themselves face challenges in selecting. read more

Business Insurers Factoring E-Discovery Preparedness in Client Risk Underwriting

By Rob Garver | Friday, May 28, 2010
As electronic discovery costs rise, insurance companies that offer liability policies to businesses — policies that typically cover litigation costs — are working to be certain their clients have strong e-discovery policies in place before lawsuits are filed and competent support if they are sued. read more

'Proportionality' and the Big Cost of E-discovery -- How Much Justice Can You Afford?

By Rob Garver | May 19, 2010
Judges, attorneys and litigants are increasingly concerned that skyrocketing e-discovery costs are pricing plaintiffs with meritorious claims out of court and defendants with worthy defenses into forced settlements based on cost and not on merits. Is a change in court rules of procedure the only answer?read more

Government Agencies Increasingly Suffering Same Sanctions as Private Litigants for E-Discovery Transgressions

By Rob Garver | May 12, 2010
With increasing frequency, government agencies across the board are feeling the wrath of federal judges for e-discovery violations, and the resulting costs..read more

Flood of Lawsuits and Mounds of E-Discovery Run Apace With Advance of BP Oil Spill

By Rob Garver | May 11, 2010
The catastrophic BP oil spill affects industries, businesses and individuals whose fate in court on claims they are filing across the southern tier of the US hinge, largely, on how they and their attorneys manage, interpret and present the mounds of e-discovery that is requested and produced. read more

Multi-Language Cases Pose a Multitude of Problems to Civil Litigants

By David Quinones | May 5, 2010
Computers, attorneys, specialized software and old-fashioned human eyeballs all play huge roles in bridging language gaps in legal actions that involve multiple languages, such as the hundreds of lawsuits, including class actions, against Toyota read more

Cloud Computing Creates Challenging New Problems in E-Discovery

By Rob Garver | May 4, 2010
Managing electronic discovery can generate plenty of headaches and costs even when your company controls its own data. But as discoverable evidence moves to the "cloud," anticipated litigation and e-discovery requirements should be written into contracts with data storage vendors. read more

Pilot Project of the Seventh Federal Circuit Reports on E-Discovery Experiment

By Rob Garver | May 3, 2010
A report on the seminal pilot project testing novel approaches to electronic discovery with the aim of making it more efficient and less expensive. read more

Lawyers' Careers in Shambles After Qualcomm E-Discovery Fiasco Despite Lifting of Sanctions

By Rob Garver | April 27, 2010
Think the threat of attorney sanctions in e-discovery disputes is no big deal? Tell that to the "Qualcomm Six"--a group of attorneys accused of misconduct in an e-discovery matter who found themselves jobless and unemployable during the two years it took to prove their innocence. read more

Despite High Stakes, Criminal Procedures, Cases Lag Far Behind in E-Discovery Measures

By Rob Garver | April 27, 2010
While electronic discovery issues reach into the work of virtually every legal professional involved in litigation, no single entity in the United States is more entangled in emerging questions about e-discovery than the federal government. read more

'Pilot Program' of Chicago US Court Portends Broad Streamlining of E-Discovery Practices

By Rob Garver | April 26, 2010
A quiet, profound study of e-discovery policies and practices, led by two Chicago federal judges, which includes application of novel "principles" in 93 test cases, could alter the course of e-discovery procedures and rules nationwide. read more

Federal Agencies Begin to Grapple with E-Discovery Amid Confusion and Rising Costs

By Rob Garver | April 26, 2010
The challenges faced by private litigants are multiplied a thousand times by those facing federal agencies, their lawyers and IT professionals who confront thousands of lawsuits and prosecutions and are just now beginning to feel the heat of e-discovery saddled with disparate systems and uneven preparedness. read more

Lawyer "Competence" is the Quiet, Unspoken Menace in E-Discovery Matters

By Rob Garver | April 26, 2010
Every state bar code of professional responsibility poses risks on attorneys who accept client matters which they are not competent to handle. Despite this great risk, lawyers lag behind in closing the "competence gap" in their e-discovery preparedness. The continuing growth of e-discovery will heighten the risk.read more