Discovery Resources

Steamy messages from the South Carolina governor to his lover in Argentina didn’t stay private. Take a lesson, experts say: Employers often monitor e-mail, and text messages can be trouble too. Continue

by Nancy Patton, J.D.; Consultant; Fios, Inc.

Recent economic circumstances have forced many companies to make difficult decisions about personnel levels – reductions in force are part of almost every organization’s reality these days.  In law firms alone, it is estimated there have been upwards of 10,000 lay-offs nationwide this year.  It’s neither feasible nor practical to preserve the data of every departing employee in the event it might be needed for litigation or regulatory purposes.  However, if your IT department is not clued into what to do about departing employees and their data, then nothing will be preserved … an even less desirable outcome.  If you haven’t already, you may continue…

Today we are looking at an estimated 210 billion messages sent every day worldwide. Yet experts say most companies fail to deal with the mounting amount of electronic data.  This article in the most recent issue of Workforce Management discusses the role of the HR department in managing this mess.

Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. ____ (2009) was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that top government officials were not liable for the actions of their subordinates absent evidence that they ordered the allegedly discriminatory activity. The Supreme Court held that conclusionary facts, without more evidence, were insufficient to defend against a motion to dismiss. Iqbal sought to sue government officials for purposeful and unlawful discrimination. Then Attorney General John Ashcroft and other government officials, while responding to 9/11, had put forth programs to investigate and detain persons of Arab descent.

The Court made very clear that the holding of Twombly, once thought to be narrowly applied in continue…

Abbott’s motion states:

“DOJ kept the lawsuit under seal for more than eleven years, conducting one-sided discovery against Abbott, but did nothing to preserve evidence in its own possession or control. “ Continue reading….

Kim Newman is a partner in O’Melveny’s Washington, DC office and a member of the Business Trial and Litigation and Electronic Discovery and Document Retention Practices recently wrote about sanctions that were imposed on outside counsel for Plaintiff Bray & Gillespie Management LLC for a “pattern of withholding and concealing information concerning discoverable material” from both the Court and opposing counsel.

The problems began with a failure to Object to the Request for ESI in Native Format and then failure to produce it. Continue reading….

A recent article in the Worcester Business Journal quotes Steven J. O’Neill, partner at the Worcester law firm of Bowditch & Dewey and founder of the firm’s eDiscovery and Document Retention Policy practice: “The rub is that few lawyers seem to know how to ask for it and how to go after it,”  Find out why you really should care.

The stewards of many of the leading law firms’ litigation support practices converged on Washington, D.C. for two days of no-holds-barred conversations, conviviality and convocation at the International Litigation Support Leaders Conference.

George Socha, e-discovery pioneer and initiator of analysis and standards, received a resounding standing ovation from the leaders gathered at the 2^nd Annual Betsy Ann Reynolds Awards for Excellence in Litigation Support. In his acceptance of the “Industry wide” award for helping the litigation support community explain to attorneys just how e-discovery works, George gave a moving speech about his purpose and intent in the work he does. A former lead paint litigator, George views his mission as reducing costs continue…

RAND Europe led an international research team to review of the strengths and weaknesses of the European Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and proposed avenues for improvement.

The Directive can be regarded as a unique legal instrument in how it supports the exercise of a right to privacy and rules for personal data protection. It is regarded in many quarters as a reference model for personal data protection in Europe and beyond. Although the flexibility of the Directive helps it to remain current, its effectiveness is undermined by the complexity of the cultural and national differences across which it must operate.

“The goal of Directive is to remain valid in the face of new continue…

This article from the Richmond Journal of Law & Technology examines linguistics, statistics and technology issues and how they relate to keyword search technologies.

Gregory L. Fordham, Using Keyword Search Terms in EDiscovery and How They Relate to Issues of Responsiveness, Privilege, Evidence Standards, and Rube Goldberg, 15 RICH. J.L. & TECH. 8