Discovery Resources

The InfoSecCompliance blog tackles the thorny issues which may arise when cloud computing meets e-discovery…. “Utilizing the cloud can be problematic in the litigation context.  First off, when litigation ensues and a litigation hold is initiated, the organization will have to deal with a third party cloud provider in order to get at the information relevant to the litigation”  Continue reading….

This post, from the Federal Evidence Overview blog, discusses an insurance dispute in which computer-generated summaries reflecting insurance company’s indemnity payments and loss adjustment expense payments for the insurance claims were admissible as a business record. Is the information on the computer-generated records admissible in court over a hearsay objection? A recent insurance case considered this issue. Continue reading….

While dodging bullets on settlement negotiations, privileged information on potential recoveries and nondisclosed insurance coverages, the Corporate Bar will be dealing with disclosures on timing of legal recoveries, possibly including “nonprivileged quantitative information” about a potential loss.

The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) prioritized working with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to avoid disclosing settlement and litigation budgets as part of protecting work product and legal strategy.  The concern was that disclosure would include litigation budgets, including the total potential cost of ediscovery and trial costs, and potential settlement amounts and likelihood of settlement.

While the outcome is not as draconian as it could have been, there are significantcontinue…

In today’s ABA Journal we find the following troubling developments:

“The former managing counsel for Toyota Motor Sales USA has filed a lawsuit against his former employer alleging the automaker destroyed evidence in hundreds of rollover suits, leading to his mental breakdown and firing.

The story says Biller’s suit has “electrified the plaintiffs bar, where some lawyers involved in vehicle cases have long voiced suspicions about foreign automakers withholding evidence.”  Continue reading….

THREAT LEVEL, WIRED Magazine’s Privacy, Crime and Security Online column highlights the case of a Ukrainian wholesaler of stolen identity data, “Gonzalez’s attorney is fighting to keep the data, and similar information seized from a server in Latvia, far away from the New York court room where Gonzalez is scheduled to stand trial next month on the first of three federal indictments. The argument unfolding over the disks illustrates the challenges and controversies of using electronic evidence gathered in foreign jurisdictions, and sheds more light on the unusual methods used to investigate what authorities have called the largest identity theft case in U.S. history.”  Continue reading….

According to Muhammad Saleem’s new blog,titled simply “Computers” comes this interesting detail: “It has been seen that using previous technique law firms review rates were 40 to 70 documents per hour. But now using new and advanced techniques law firms have achieved a major breakthrough in productivity. Their average review rates of 300 to 500 documents per hour and as high as 15,000 documents per day per reviewer.” Continue reading….

In its sixth annual study of outbound email and data loss prevention issues, Proofpoint, Inc. found that US companies are increasingly concerned about a growing number of data leaks caused by employee misuse of email, blogs, social networks, multimedia channels and even text messages. The report, based on a June 2009 study of 220 email decision makers at US enterprises with more than 1000 employees answers questions including Who’s Reading Your Corporate Email? How Common are Data Leaks in General? Via Email? Via Lost or Stolen Devices? How Often are Employees Fired for Email Misuse?  The full report is available here.

An article in ScienceDaily begins “Computers have made it virtually impossible to leave the past behind. College Facebook posts or pictures can resurface during a job interview. … A legal investigation can subpoena the entire contents of a home or work computer, uncovering incriminating, inconvenient or just embarrassing details from the past. The University of Washington has developed a way to make such information expire. After a set time period, an e-mail, Facebook posts and chat messages would automatically self-destruct, becoming irretrievable from all Web sites, inboxes, outboxes, backup sites and home computers. Not even the sender could retrieve them.” Continue reading….

Since more than 95 percent of all information is electronic and it’s estimated that upwards of 97 billion emails are sent each day, it is no wonder that every lawsuit has electronic evidence. All IT shops protect themselves from disaster with the knowledge that every computer will fail, but computer systems are not designed to provide easy access for lawyers and judges. Continue reading….

by Trevor Clark, PMP; Sr. Project Manager; Fios, Inc.

The practice of sampling data sets as part of an early evidence analysis and assessment activity has grown in popularity in recent times.   It has shown to have great value for testing search terms, identifying data quantities and types, and has been an excellent tool for providing case teams with vital information for the development of culling strategies and for planning review.  This data sampling practice is also a fantastic opportunity for e-discovery project managers to focus specifically on risk management activities that will likely affect all phases of the project.

As we know, risk management involves the identification and analysiscontinue…