Notable Articles in E-Discovery March - April 2014

Smaller Law Firms Save Big with Cloud-Based eDiscovery - eDiscovery Trends ( Doug Austin, eDiscovery Daily)

"According to a new article in ABA Journal (Cloud-based e-discovery can mean big savings for smaller firms, written by Joe Dysart), if you are a smaller law firm, it may make more sense to “rent” your eDiscovery applications in the “cloud” rather than bring a full-fledged hardware and software solution in-house.

Dysart’s article quotes a couple of panelists from a panel session at the recent LegalTech (LTNY) conference, including panelist Alan Winchester, a partner at the New York City firm Harris Beach, who stated: 'For firms without robust IT departments, it grants them the experts to manage the technology operations and security.'"

Putting Statistics to Work in eDiscovery: Use Cases for Incorporating Statistical Sampling and Analysis (Maureen O'Neill, Discover Ready)

"By reviewing relatively small but statistically representative samples of documents from the different sources and custodians in a matter, a party can more effectively conduct early case assessment and begin to develop the case strategy. For example, sampling can enable the litigant to efficiently hone in on the sources and custodians of information most likely to be relevant. Sampling can also help a producing party assess the burdens and costs involved in accessing certain information, such as backup tapes or other offline media. An early sampling review also will provide an estimate of the “richness” or “prevalence” of populations – i.e., the percentage of responsive documents in the collection – before undertaking review, which can inform the strategy and workflow for the review."

Technology-Assisted Review and Other Discovery Initiatives at the Antitrust Division (Tracy Greer, Senior Litigation Counsel E-Discovery)

"The Division has moved to implement several discovery initiatives that have a significant impact on lawyers and their clients who are involved in Division investigations.  This paper discusses a number of those initiatives and some best practices for those involved in Division matters.

Massachusetts Court Disallows Admission of Facebook Screenshot as Evidence (John Patzakis, Next Generation eDiscovery Law & Tech)

"In yet another ruling highlighting the reckless practice of relying on mere screenshots to present social media evidence, a Massachusetts Appellate Court ruled a Facebook post submitted by the prosecution in a recent criminal case to be inadmissible as evidence. InCommonwealth v. Banas, 2014 WL 1096140 (March 21, 2014), the State introduced the Facebook post in the form of a printout of a screenshot without any additional circumstantial evidence to establish authenticity. The court explained that further information beyond the screenshot itself was required to establish a proper foundation for the Facebook post."

Using ESI Sampling to Reduce eDiscovery Costs (Phil Favro, The Core Perspective)

"The great debate in eDiscovery is generally focused on finding a way to decrease the costs and burdens associated with the discovery process. While lawyers want to find the most criticalinformation that will ideally enable their clients to prevail in litigation, they are also fixated for obvious reasons on cost reduction. Perhaps one of the best methods for identifying relevant information in a cost-effective manner is sampling. As U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal and I recently observed in anarticle published by The Recorder, the intelligent sampling of ESI under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 may be the most strategic, economical discovery device for obtaining relevant materials."

Preserving Electronically Stored Information When Employees Depart (Mayer Brown)

"Courts and regulators require that companies make good faith, reasonable efforts to preserve ESI of departing employees that is subject to a legal hold.  Therefore, it is important for a company to implement procedures aimed at preserving and collecting, if necessary, ESI associated with its departing and transitioning employees."

An International Standard On E-Discovery Is Becoming A Reality (Kelly Friedman, Davis LLP)

"Early in 2013, the international community voted to begin a new project – the development of an international standard for electronic discovery. The proposal for the international standard, referred to as “ISO/IEC 27050 - Information technology – Security techniques – Electronic discovery” (“ISO/IEC 27050”), was put forward by an American delegation to an international subcommittee of information technology and standards experts in Annapolis, France. Six months later, I participated on behalf of Canada in a boardroom in Incheon, South Korea as ISO/IEC 27050 was discussed by members of the international standards community. We decided to create a four-part 27050 standard:

1 - Overview and Concepts;

2 - Guidance for governance and management of electronic discovery;

3 - Code of Practice for electronic discovery; and

4 - ICT readiness for electronic discovery."