Lawdable

Discovery Symposium 5.0

Chad Schmidt — Tue, 14 May 2013 07:30:43 -0500

It’s Discovery Symposium week here at Counsel On Call, which is one of our favorite times of the year. We invite many of our clients and e-discovery managers to Nashville for 24 hours of high-level programming, with plenty of fun mixed in. It’s hard to believe this is our fifth year hosting the event. The symposium has grown from a dedicated group of 40 clients in 2009, who wanted to speak candidly about discovery issues to a larger event capped at 75 people this year. The goal has always been to foster open dialogue about practical issues and to identify best practices. We’ve found throughout the years that to accomplish this we couldn’t allow the group to get too large.You’d be hard-pressed to top our lineup of panelists this year. It includes general counsel, heads of litigation and e-discovery managers (attorneys, paralegals and IT) from the following corporations: Fidelity Investments Procter & Gamble Walmart Cox Communications...

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Lessons Learned at the University of Florida Law/EDRM Conference

Lawdable — Thu, 02 May 2013 07:30:50 -0500

Post by guest blogger Tiffany Fox I had the opportunity to attend the inaugural E-Discovery for the Small and Medium Case conference at the Levin College of Law at the University of Florida (UF) in the beginning of April. This was an effort by UF to educate attorneys who may not have had exposure to the world of ESI, typically because their cases don’t involve the large corporations who have been doing e-discovery for years. The purpose of the conference was to identify and explain best techniques in approaching e-discovery in smaller cases (for example, divorce or employment matters), but the net effect was a solid overview of the world of e-discovery. The in-person moderators for each panel, who also co-chaired the conference, were William Hamilton and George Socha. Hamilton is the director of UF’s e-discovery project, which educates attorneys (through classes at the law school and this conference) and engages in research and development of e-discovery software....

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Understanding Legal Technology Terms and Pricing

Barry Willms — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 07:30:08 -0500

I am not an information technology vendor nor do I play one on TV. However, I do interface with many technology vendors and get asked by clients to interpret technology terms and pricing structures all the time. Here are some tidbits to chew on that may help you at least understand the issues and decision points that will need to be made (so you’re not making them in a vacuum devoid of pertinent information). Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in...

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The Illusion of Balance

Jay Brenner — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 07:30:06 -0500

“Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.” - George Santayana Counsel On Call has built its reputation partly on the notion of providing a different measure of work-life balance into the lives of experienced attorneys. It’s still an important part of what we offer in certain practice areas, and we have conversations every day with attorneys who are looking for a new way to practice law. If attorneys working in big firms are sitting down speaking with us about our model, they have honestly given a lot of thought to how their professional and personal lives are going, and that’s an important step. This has given us a lot of perspective and experience to draw from as we educate attorneys on what to expect working in the modern legal model. But rather than thinking of work-life balance as a goal to be achieved, I prefer to see it as a resulting condition that emerges when an individual accepts his or her own history,...

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My, What a Difference a Year Makes

Sandy Brown — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 07:30:17 -0500

Disclaimer (A bit tongue and cheek, but I do think this is necessary as there are some critiques below): The views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to Counsel On Call, Inc., or any of its officers, attorneys or employees. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in...

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Video Interview: Discussing the role of social media in litigation with LXBN TV

Barry Willms — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:56:06 -0500

Follow Barry on Twitter (@barrywillms) Following up on the post I wrote about social media in 21st century litigation, I had the opportunity to speak with Colin O'Keefe of LXBN on the matter. In the interview I discussed how social media evidence is becoming more prevalent in corporate litigation and offered my thoughts on how companies can prepare for it.

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An Aerial View of the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists

Barry Willms — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 07:30:48 -0500

Follow Barry on Twitter (@barrywillms) The third annual Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS) Conference was held again this year at the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Fla. We had great lodgings for sure, but they did not order the warm weather in so-called sunny Florida. Next year’s conference will be moved to May in order to compensate for this unruly weather. I guess I can’t complain too much; there are colder places in February/March, especially this year. The gathering seemed to be a bit smaller than last year, but it was a really good group of professionals. There were several good sessions in addition to lots of opportunities to mingle and meet everyone. The information presented focused on a number of areas but a lot of them could be labeled within technology assisted review (TAR), social media and various ‘best practices’ within the industry. It seems everyone is starting to dabble in TAR by various names (computer-assisted,...

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The Use of Social Media in 21st-Century Litigation

Barry Willms — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 07:30:31 -0500

Recently I traveled to Birmingham, Ala., to attend a Symposium titled "The Use of Social Media in 21st-Century Litigation," hosted by the American Journal of Trial Advocacy. It was held in the moot courtroom of the school of law, and was well attended: probably more than 200 attorneys and law students in all. The Symposium was a precursor to an article that will be published this spring on social media issues in the American Journal of Trial Advocacy. It consisted of two panels and one keynote speaker. The presenters were very knowledgeable and the moderators kept the discussion relevant and at a good pace. Panel One, “Pretrial and Discovery,” was very practical in its application and instruction. Each speaker was given 10 minutes to present, which was followed by a panel discussion with some Q&A. The panelists included: Judge John L. Carroll, dean and Ethel P. Malugen Professor of Law at Cumberland School of Law Steven C. Bennett, partner at...

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What We Learned: Legal Tech NY 2013

Richard Stout — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 10:03:59 -0500

Last week, I made my annual pilgrimage to the Big Apple to wade among thousands of legal industry professionals, the majority of whom are involved in some phase of the discovery process. And as is normally the case, the three-day event became a blur. There are just too many people to see, too many technology platforms to demo, too many sessions to attend. However, Legal Tech does provide that one time of year to focus on the wide array of technology and ancillary service offerings that are integral to our profession. Moreover, it provides a great opportunity to keep abreast of national and global trends in technology and its application to the legal practice. This year was particularly fruitful, so I’ve come back with 10 observations that are related to the issue du jour: Technology-Assisted Review (TAR). I will delve into more detail in multiple blog posts over the next few weeks, but for now, here are my thoughts and summary on a panel that took on some of the bigger...

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ACEDS Returns With A Splash

Barry Willms — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:58:48 -0500

Follow @BarryWillms on Twitter Well, the ACEDS 2012 (Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists®) conference is over: another practical e-discovery conference at a great location (the Westin in Hollywood, Fla.) is in the books. It seemed to be much larger than its inaugural year and a good mixture of lawyers and other e-discovery practitioners. It was especially good to return this year having passed the CEDS examination last fall, which tested many areas of the e-discovery process, from technology to project management to budgeting, etc. Topics at this year’s conference included dealing with social media, best practices in project management, succeeding in catastrophic cases, e-discovery malpractice, and numerous others. The format was again fairly tightly controlled, with each speaker giving eight to nine minutes on a topic followed by questions and answers, with the moderators trying to keep everyone on task. The speakers were knowledgeable and usually...

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A Proactive eDiscovery Approach Would Make Hannibal Smith Proud

Barry Willms — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:39:21 -0500

Who doesn’t love an A-Team reference? Let’s get to the backstory. … On September 26, Ken Koch (Managing Director, KPMG, LLP) and I had the privilege to speak to a roomful of healthcare and compliance lawyers on the subject “eDiscovery: A Tactical Approach to Managing Risk and Reducing Cost” as part of the Fraud and Compliance Forum, co-sponsored by the American Health Lawyers Association and the Health Care Compliance Association. The subject matter was straightforward: why is planning for e-discovery so important? We started with examples of how e-discovery costs are directly impacted by handling it well, doing it just okay or doing it poorly. The cost can be many multiples more if handled poorly versus handling it with planning and forethought. Volume and types of data are huge drivers in the overall discussion of costs for e-discovery; other factors include record retention plans, discovery workflows, record collection initiatives (whether overly...

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In-House Departments Won't 'Double Dip'

Dennis McKinnie — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:24:19 -0500

While the credit and debt crises and the political bickering in Washington have sent markets onto yet another roller coaster ride (and disgusted most of us) -- and on the heels of an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal on in-house hiring practices -- it’s worth revisiting the impact the last recession had on the legal marketplace – all of three years ago. At that time (2008), law firms were just truly beginning to feel the burn of hiring masses of high-paid associates – the going rate in large markets was $160,000 for a first-year, but much of the work first-years were expected to handle (see: e-discovery) was already going away. When the economy’s bubble burst, the effect was quick and uncompromising: corporations instituted immediate hiring freezes, put off litigation and other large and expensive projects as long as possible, and there were dramatic reductions in legal spend. That was the whammy that sent giant and mid-size firms alike into a...

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Social Media Panel: Early Involvement, Where We're Going, What to Do

Barry Willms — Thu, 26 May 2011 09:46:14 -0500

Social media is here. You know it from your personal life. You know its usage from political uprisings, natural disasters, other world events and the constant call to “weigh in” from news outlets or broadcast programs. And everyone wants to be your “Friend.” It’s certainly growing in the legal community, too. In 2008, the ABA conducted a study that found that only 15% of lawyers used social media. That number went up to 56% in 2010 and no doubt continues to increase. If you ever want to see an in-house attorney’s face lose its color, just bring up the subject of a company’s employees having free reign on open social networks anytime, anywhere. But that’s where we are, so now it’s time to discuss its impact in the business and litigation environments to see how corporations need to prepare for its proper usage in the ordinary course of business and prepare to deal with it in the inevitable litigation that will involve...

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"Bad E-Discovery Costs $60 Million Per Year."

Lawdable — Wed, 25 May 2011 09:36:48 -0500

That was the comment that got the most gasps from attendees of Discovery Symposium 3.0, our annual event for general counsels, directors of litigation and e-discovery managers. The select group of attendees – approximately 50 senior attorneys from 40 corporate legal departments – come together to discuss the challenges they’re facing involving e-discovery, solutions we’ve collaboratively executed, and share stories about technology tools in the marketplace and different approaches with outside counsel, among other topics. The full agenda can be seen here. It’s a highly engaged and interactive group that has proven to consistently identify numerous best practices in the discovery realm and truly cares about seeing one another succeed. Now, back to the byline… one of our attendees, from a Fortune 100 company with an extremely knowledgeable legal department that has taken the majority of its e-discovery work and processes in-house, shared with the...

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Who Are the E-Discovery Attorneys?

LexBlog — Mon, 09 May 2011 10:52:27 -0500

In previous entries, I wrote about enjoying the discovery work that I do. Recently I have given more thought to the question of why it is that I enjoy it; after all, so many attorneys view the work as transitional or laborious. For me, the autonomy is great. The subject matter changes from project to project. I have opportunities to meet and work with different attorneys, clients, litigation support staff, and vendors, all of which I consider an added bonus. These things would also be true if I were practicing in a more “traditional” manner as well, however. So my assessment is that it must be something deeper that compels me to choose this career path over any other. It was only recently that, when introduced by Andy Branham of the Memphis office as somewhat of a “computer nerd who happens to be an attorney,” that I had an epiphany. He was right. There is a subset within the legal profession comprised of attorneys who consider themselves specialist...

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Discovery Symposium 3.0 Program Announced

Lawdable — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:55:24 -0500

Our annual Discovery Symposium (now in its third year) for corporate legal departments is a real labor of love for several of us here at Counsel On Call. A lot of time and consideration -- much of it with our in-house clients -- goes into the creation of the sessions, identifying the proper experts to speak and attorneys who will get the most out of the program, as well as creating an environment in which in-house attorneys are comfortable sharing their stories of trial, success and failure. We're very excited about this year's program and our group of attendees. Some of the highlights: Leading off with a panel on the challenges presented by Social Media today and tomorrow. Our knowledgeable friends from FedEx and International Paper, along with Barry Willms, will lead the discussion. Search Validation, Intelligent Coding and Smartly Reducing Data Sets, a panel that has been in development for some time and a topic we've addressed in previous events....

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PAR Conference Demonstrates Progress

Jane Allen — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:56:16 -0500

Last week, I had the privilege of attending and speaking at The Project for Attorney Retention’s (PAR) annual conference in Washington, D.C. There were attorneys from various practice areas from across the country in attendance and the event was a great success. As I listened to managing partners and general counsel discuss the importance of having attorneys working on a flexible basis, including reduced hours, I had to take a moment to reflect over the last 11 years (April marks Counsel On Call’s 11-year anniversary). In our formative years during hundreds, if not thousands, of conversations, the questions I would invariably get, with all sincerity, were "Who would do this? Who does not want to be a partner?" I will always remember receiving one e-mail stating that I was ”crazy” and that I would fail as there is “only one way to practice law.” I also remember meeting amazing attorneys who were made to feel they had no value because they...

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No Better Place Than Florida For A Little E-Discovery

Barry Willms — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:13:26 -0500

Well, the ACEDS 2011 (Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists®) inaugural annual conference is over. Beyond our own Discovery Symposium (I’m admittedly biased), for my money it was one of the best, most practical e-discovery conferences I have ever attended. And the venue: wow! Hollywood, Fl., in March sure beats New York or Washington in winter (no offense. I’m just saying….) The schedule included a wide range of topics: social media and cloud computing, the inner workings of how a computer saves information, data mapping, and ethical considerations in e-discovery. Unlike other conferences I’ve attended, this one kept me awake for the most part with a fast-paced program and diverse speaker list. Sessions were tightly controlled and methodical. The panels were three or four individuals with slightly different topics or emphases and each speaker was given eight or nine minutes to talk. This was followed by both orchestrated (pre-planned)...

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E-Discovery Review Platforms: Choices Abound

Barry Willms — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:36:38 -0500

Choosing a technology vendor is a critical piece in making a review project successful. There are literally hundreds to choose from as was recently seen again at Legal Tech 2011. Even with lots of consolidation in the industry there are still many national and regional players to consider. While there are many factors that go into choosing a review platform, do not forget the impact of having the basics covered. Every review software platform should be able to do the following: Host in a stable environment that doesn’t go down very often Ease of ‘look and feel’ to allow for quick coding Organized folder structure Searchability among folders, documents and attachments Reporting on progress by reviewer, custodian, overall and every relevant field of coded information Handling of the volume of reviewers logged on Having sufficient server capacity to process the data at the pace needed Also don’t overlook the basic package that is...

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Efficiency v. Effectiveness v. Innovation: Why Draw Lines?

Dennis McKinnie — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:09:49 -0500

There’s a quiet debate among legal pundits that’s often played out on social media sites such as Twitter, one that probably not too many people pay attention to. It’s almost an ancillary argument to the “traditional” way of billing for legal services, but it a debate that I believe cuts to the heart of value and innovation in our profession. On the one side is the “effectiveness” argument, and one of the most outspoken voices on the topic is Ron Baker of California-based VeraSage Institute. Mr. Baker is a proponent of the death of the billable hour, and frames many of his opinions regarding legal value with the “effectiveness trumps efficiency” argument. If you’re on Twitter, I would encourage you to follow Mr. Baker. Another proponent of the demise of the billable hour is Pat Lamb of Chicago-based Valorem Law Group – you might recognize Pat from recent 'New Normal' posts on the subject on the ABA...

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