The ESI Report

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Although the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr certainly didn’t have legal technologies in mind when he wrote this famous epigram, his sentiments ring true to the current state of e-discovery. While 2012 was the battle ground in which the “disruptive” technology-assisted review and its early adopters emerged victorious, 2013 provided something of a “back to basics” approach as courts applied the fundamental tenets of e-discovery to the newer, more efficient technologies and methodologies that are revolutionizing e-discovery. In this edition of ESI Report, host and Director of Thought Leadership for Kroll Ontrack Michele Lange invites e-discovery expert Phil Favro to highlight this year’s key e-discovery cases, analyze key trends, and explore the predictions for the e-discovery realm of 2014.

Currently providing independent litigation counsel, Favro is a recognized expert in e-discovery, information governance, and data protection. He has advised technology companies and other enterprises regarding complex business disputes, and he has written over 50 byline articles and several law review pieces that have appeared in reputable publications such as the ACC Docket, Law Technology News, and the Michigan State Law Review.

Most e-discovery specialists understand Early Data Assessment (EDA) and Predictive Coding as independent tools, both used to reduce data during e-discovery production. Kroll Ontrack’s experts are exploring the potential benefits of combining the efforts of EDA and Predictive Coding for a more efficient e-discovery production process. In this edition of The ESI Report, Michele Lange, Kroll Ontrack’s director of thought leadership, chats with Jonathan Sachs and Anthony Diana about syncing EDA and Predictive Coding processes.

Jonathan Sachs is a Senior Account Executive for Kroll Ontrack, where he leverages 16 years of experience consulting in the intersection of law and technology to help clients foster efficiency within their e-discovery portfolios.

Anthony Diana is a partner at Mayer Brown, where he co-leads their E-Discovery and Records Management Group. He has counseled on all aspects of the discovery and management of electronic information including collection, review, and production.

As big data keeps getting bigger, and discovery costs keep getting higher, it’s important for the litigation team to keep the big picture in sight. With complicated cases, multi-matter management can hone efforts and avoid duplicate tasks and interviews. In this edition of The ESI Report Kroll Ontrack’s Director of Thought Leadership Michele Lange discusses effective project management of e-discovery cases with John Addington.

Senior E-Discovery Analyst of Dell, John Addington focuses on multi-matter management in all phases of large, complex e-discovery projects from collection through production. He is a certified e-discovery specialist and frequently lectures nationwide. His goal is to refine companies’ e-discovery processes to streamline for both efficiency and cost reduction.

Judge Shira Scheindlin, an influential voice in e-discovery, recently decided Sekisui Am. Corp. v. Hart which could serve as a new standard when it comes to e-discovery preservation requirements. Overturning Magistrate Judge Frank Maas, Scheindlin leveraged this spoliation case to address potential amendments to The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure regarding preservation, specifically Rule 37(e). On this edition of The ESI Report, Kroll Ontrack’s Director of Thought Leadership Michele Lange invites e-discovery experts Adam and Catherine Losey to analyze the case ruling and its possible outcomes for the e-discovery field.

• Adam Losey is the president and editor-in-chief of IT-Lex, a non-profit organization dedicated to educational, literary, and scientific advancement in the field of technology law. He has taught e-discovery as part of Columbia's Information and Digital Resource Management Master's Program. Losey is a member of the New York, Florida, and District of Columbia bars.

• Catherine Losey is currently a litigation attorney for Akerman law firm. She has a diverse practice in state and federal court that includes litigating commercial disputes, labor and employment matters, family and probate matters, and ERISA cases. In October she will join Littler Mendelson’s e-discovery practice group.

The left side of the E-Discovery Reference Model is often overshadowed by the right side, Technology Assisted Review. However, even the best TAR protocol will falter if the left side of the EDRM is ignored. From information management to preservation and collection, the early stages of the EDRM are the easiest places for mistakes to spawn in an investigation, regulatory request, or litigation. On this episode of The ESI Report, Michele Lange, Kroll Ontrack’s director of thought leadership, is joined by Kroll Ontrack Solutions Architect Troy Ronning to discuss the left side of the EDRM and why it matters.

Troy Ronning has been working in information management software for more than ten years. Now, he works closely with the Ontrack® PowerControls™ software program. He provides technical support to external software partners and resellers. He also conducts product demonstrations, installations, and training. Ronning is also fluent in Microsoft® Exchange and SharePoint® management.

Tune in to hear the details, challenges, and developments of the left side of the EDRM and why these stages are crucial to your success in e-discovery.

Bring your own device (BYOD) and bring your own cloud (BYOC) policies have become increasingly prevalent in the corporate world. Analyst firm Gartner predicts that by 2017, half of all employers will require employees to provide their own technology devices for work. How these changes will impact employers and the discoverability of data on employee’s personal devices are topics that will likely predominate discussions of ediscovery in the future. Join Michele Lange, Kroll Ontrack’s Director of Thought Leadership, along with colleagues Alan Brill and Chris Wall for this edition of The ESI Report as they discuss the recent Honeybaked Ham case and the effect it has on these timely ediscovery issues.

• Alan Brill, Senior Managing Director of Kroll Advisory Solutions, is founder of Kroll’s high-tech investigation practice and a consultant for law firms and corporations concerning computers and digital technology. He has appeared on 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and many other programs and publications.

• Chris Wall, Senior Account Executive for Kroll Ontrack, counsels legal professionals on ways to locate, filter, and produce electronic documents, as well as how to safeguard the integrity of electronic data when litigation is imminent.

On this edition of The ESI Report, Kroll Ontrack’s Attorney and Director of Thought Leadership Michele Lange discusses the proposed amendments of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) and what effects they will have on e-discovery with Thomas Allman.

Allman works as an attorney and a consultant, as well as an adjunct professor for the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He writes and speaks frequently on the interrelationship of corporate compliance policy and the effective management of electronically stored information. He has been involved in the FRCP Amendments since the last round of changes in 2006.

Lange and Allman will cover the basic rule changes, when they will be brought to public forum for comment, and how you can get involved. You can access an explanation of the amendments on Kroll Ontrack’s The E-Discovery Blog.

The ESI Report’s Michele Lange, Attorney and Director of Thought Leadership at Kroll Ontrack, chats with Eric Robinson, Solution Architect at Kroll Ontrack, about the key metrics lawyers need to understand when using predictive coding or Technology Assisted Review (TAR) and how these metrics make e-discovery more economical and efficient.

Eric Robinson has more than 20 years of accumulated legal, e-Discovery and project management experience. As a Solution Architect at Kroll Ontrack, Eric works collaboratively and consultatively with clients to develop and implement strategic cost-effective, efficient and defensible discovery strategies. Leveraging his knowledge of current legal trends, regulatory matters, and information management technologies for litigation, Eric recommends defensible processes, procedures and technology solutions to optimize client efficiencies and develop best practices.

The first step to implementing predictive coding into your e-discovery review process is understanding key terms like Confidence Level, Precision, Recall, and Accuracy. And don’t worry, the intent with predictive coding is to have the mathematical values automatically computed by the document review software, no calculator required!

The ESI Report’s Michele Lange, Attorney and Director of Thought Leadership at Kroll Ontrack invited George Socha and Tom Palladino to discuss The Computer Assisted Review Reference Model (CARRM). This is EDRM’s newest venture which is being designed to make computer assisted review easy to understand.

• George Socha is the president and founder of Socha Consulting LLC, an electronic discovery consulting firm. In 2003 he and Tom Gelbmann launched the Socha-Gelbman Electronic Discovery Survey, now Apersee. and in 2005 they started EDRM. George is an advisor and expert witness who focuses on the full range of eDiscovery activities. His clients include corporations, governmental agencies, legal vertical market software and services providers, investment firms and law firms. Before launching his consulting firm, George spent 16 years as a litigation attorney in private practice.

• Tom Palladino is the President of NightOwl Discovery, a leading national provider of technology-driven corporate discovery management and litigation readiness consulting services. Tom is a certified eDiscovery specialist (CEDS) and has extensive experience in large-scale discovery management, software development and corporate managed services. Tom is active in working groups for EDRM, serves as a guest instructor at the University of Minnesota Law School, teaches frequent CLE courses and has participated in the Sedona Conference. Before joining NightOwl, Tom co-founded Hire Quality, Inc., where he designed and deployed major service programs for Fortune 100 companies including UPS, Bell Atlantic, Southwestern Bell, IKON Office Solutions and MBNA Bank.

Socha and Palladino are some of the contributors of the CARRM. This episode will focus on the development of this new computer assisted review model within the ediscovery industry.

The ESI Report’s Michele Lange, Attorney and Director of Thought Leadership at Kroll Ontrack joins Ralph Losey, Partner at Jackson Lewis, as they take an in-depth look at how lawyers and experts are leveraging information science in arguments regarding the effectiveness of Technology Assisted Review, keyword search and everything in-between. In addition, on the Bits & Bytes Legal Analysis segment, Kroll Ontrack Legal Correspondent, Elliot Westman revisits Kleen Products v. Packaging Corp. of America.