Exterro has published part 1 of the 2018 Judges Report, which provides an in-depth examination of how the bench views these e-discovery issues: attorney proficiency, judicial competency, how to resolve e-discovery mistakes effectively.

The report, which can be downloaded at no charge, includes:

• 10-page report on how 30 federal judges feel about e-discovery competency in their courtrooms
• Expert insights from judges on how to solve e-discovery mistakes
• Why only 23% of the judges surveyed agreed with the statement, “The typical attorney possesses the legal and technical subject matter knowledge required to effectively counsel clients on e-discovery matters.”

Download the report.

Exterro has published its “Comprehensive E-Discovery Workflow Guide,” which can be downloaded at no charge.

This resource compiles four checklists documenting best practices for each stage of the e-discovery process.

The guide includes:

• 4 e-discovery checklists covering (1) Preservation and Legal Holds through (2) Preparation for Discovery, (3)Search and Collection, and (4) Review and Production
• 32 workflow steps to ensure your e-discovery process is efficient and defensible
• How to communicate across teams inside and out of your organization

Download the guide.

Reed Smith LLP will present a webinar offering a look back on celebrity data discovery law in 2017 and how it affects you and your organization.

The one-hour complimentary event will be Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

Presenters will be U.S. Chief District Judge Joy Flowers Conti (W.D. Pa.), e-discovery authority and Reed Smith partner David Cohen, noted entertainment lawyer Michael Kump of Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert, and join Relativity’s David Horrigan.

Objectives are:

• What you should—and should not—do if you or your client suddenly become a news or social media celebrity
• Understanding your legal obligations to preserve evidence for litigation
• Knowing the potential pitfalls with data sources, including audio files and text messages
• Learning ways to protect and avoid waiving the attorney-client privilege

Register for the webinar.

Zapproved and General Counsel News recently presented a webinar on how to keep your scope, and custodian obligations, in check with FRCP requirements. The replay is available below.

It’s been nearly two years since the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect. While they promised more reasoned scope of discovery by bringing proportionality and cooperation to the forefront, the reality may feel very different.

How are we doing — and how can we be better at negotiating a reasonable scope of discovery? Know your rights and responsibilities for responding to demands for electronic evidence. This session focused on the scope of custodians, keywords and retention policies.

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Zapproved LLC, a developer of cloud-based e-discovery software for corporate legal departments, has released the results of a groundbreaking survey revealing the common attitudes held by e-discovery executives — and how those beliefs are influencing behaviors, processes and priorities.

The Three Archetypes of Corporate E-Discovery report identifies three leadership types — proactive Achievers, reactive Strugglers and disinterested Idlers — and breaks down how each archetype’s attitude impacts success, from confidence in the defensibility of their preservation process to their standing within the organization. As legal professionals face increasing risk management, regulatory and process visibility demands, the ability of in-house leaders to self-identify their tendencies provides an important starting point for organizational evaluation.

“The survey data demonstrates compelling connections between leadership attitude and satisfaction in the business results. Forty-three percent of Achievers conduct regular legal hold compliance audits as opposed to only 5 percent by Strugglers,” said Brad Harris, Vice President of Corporate Strategy for Zapproved. “Achievers are significantly more likely to have implemented e-discovery best practices across their organization to improve compliance and reduce risk.”

While Achievers invest effectively in the legal hold and preservation process, Strugglers are defined by their failure to implement effective solutions. This group understands the benefits of automating these functions in-house, but they grapple with establishing a successful process, typically being reactive in their response. Idlers, on the other hand, tend to be ambivalent to e-discovery needs rather than strategically implementing systems to solve them. While Idlers display confidence in their approach, they face a knowledge gap about the benefits of in-house e-discovery processes and risk losing control of data that is outsourced.

“This survey is the first of its kind for corporate e-discovery professionals. It offers a unique vantage point on how to evaluate existing in-house processes and strategies,” said Harris. “As people identify their own archetype, Strugglers and Idlers may end up using these findings as a means of moving into the Achiever category.”

The report finds that 50 percent of Strugglers identify as using a manual legal hold process, but only 29 percent express confidence in the defensibility of their process. As the volume of data grows exponentially, implementing e-discovery best practices requires a vigilant evaluation of the tools and trends that affect a company’s bottom line.

The survey was conducted by an independent research organization, Audience Audit, in May of 2017. The approach focused on two areas: legal hold and data preservation processes and the attitudes of the surveyed e-discovery professionals. Participants were chosen based on their involvement in the legal hold process with 75 percent working within the legal department at their organizations.

Download the report.

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Exterro has released a new guide titled “Rule 26(f) Meet & Confer Checklist: How to Be Prepared.” The guide can be downloaded from Exterro’s website.

Preparation is key for any meet and confer conference to be successful, the company says on its website. This checklist can help a practitioner ensure you’re adequate preparation to negotiate and identify reasonable e-discovery terms within any meet and confer.

The guide includes:

• 39 Questions you must ask your legal team and your opponent before and during meet & confer
• A list of questions that will help you negotiate e-discovery parameters that are proportionate and reasonable
• Reassurance that all the necessary e-discovery questions are asked every time for every matter

Download the guide.

The 5th Annual Yerra Conference Europe will be in London on Oct. 11, 2017, at Glaziers Hall.

Yerra says it will be an exclusive event for legal, IP, eDiscovery and compliance professionals, with speakers from UBS, Roche, BT, GSK and more.

2017 AGENDA

09:00 – 09:30 | Breakfast and Registration

09:30 – 09:40 | Welcome Message and Yerra Update
Rajitha Boer, Founder & CEO, Yerra Solutions

09:40 – 10:55 | Keynote Address – When Governance Controls Fail
Michael Woodford, Author, Whistle-blower and former President and CEO of Olympus Corp.

10:55 – 11:15 | Morning Break & Book Signing (Michael Woodford)

11:15 – 12:00 | Establishing an End-to-End In-house eDiscovery Service in a Global Financial Services Institution
Siegrun Heberle, Executive Director, UBS
David Kern, Director, Head Data Processing & Hosting, eDiscovery Technology Service, UBS

12:00 – 12:30 | Panel Discussion on Regulatory Trends
Catherine Contiguglia, London-based Finance Reporter, Politico
Aditya Prakash, Chief Innovation Officer & Head of Client Services, Yerra Solutions

12:30 – 13:30 | Networking Lunch – The Story of London Bridge
Vanessa Harding, Professor of London History, University of London

13:30 – 14:30 | Everything You Always Wanted to Know About High Performing Teams (But Were Afraid to Ask)
Max Huebner, Director Corporate Legal and Tax, PGGM N.V.
Chris Fowler, General Counsel, BT

14:30 – 15:15 | Spend Management Simplified
Karin Bruehlmann,Head of Legal Service Controlling, Roche

15:15 – 15:25 | Afternoon Break

15:25 – 16:10 | Managing Third Party Risk in the Supply Chain
Anthony Kenny, Assistant General Counsel, GlaxoSmithKline

16:10 – 17:10 | Afternoon Keynote – Assessing Risk and Making Better Decisions
Caspar Berry, Professional Poker Player & Risk Expert

17:10 – 17:15 | Closing Discussion & Wrap Up
Jerome Raguin, Global COO, Yerra Solutions

17:15 – 19:30 | Networking Reception & Poker Workshop

Register for the event.

Zapproved has published The 3 Archetypes of Corporate E-Discovery to shed light on the widening gap between corporate legal teams that have conquered their e-discovery challenges and those that are still struggling to do so — or simply haven’t prioritized it.

The report summarizes the common attitudes held by e-discovery executives — and how those beliefs are influencing behaviors, processes and priorities.

Amid this environment are the inescapable pressures nearly every legal professional faces:

• Responsibly lower costs while managing risk.
• Provide better visibility and accuracy into litigation timelines and costs.
• Expand portfolio to manage compliance and regulatory response.
• Keep up with the rapidly evolving digital data and ephemeral communications landscape.

By identifying Achievers, Strugglers and Idlers as the three predominant archetypes amongst corporate e-discovery professionals, the report shows how each attitude impacts success. Achievers, which represent 30% of the e-discovery market, believe automation is good for business and report high confidence in defensibility. That leaves 70% of e-discovery professionals struggling or disengaged.

Download the report.

Zapproved has published a white paper discussing methods of keeping social media data ready for e-discovery. The document can be downloaded at no charge from the company’s website.

“If you’re not keeping up with digital trends and best practices, achieving positive litigation outcomes may elude you,” Zapproved says in an announcement.

This strategic insights paper outlines ways to sustainably manage the social media and digital app security challenges of e-discovery. It includes tips on adopting the right policies and procedures to help with compliance with e-discovery rules.

It also covers the emerging technology and FRCP Rules. It gives advice on:

• Creating an effective way to preserve and collect data from new sources, such as social media, mobile and audio devices, cloud services and messaging apps.
• Adopting a ‘bring your own device’ policy that governs the preservation of social and digital device data to minimize legal risks if the employee device becomes discoverable.
• Applying best practices to keep up with emerging data sources, meet e-discovery obligations and avoid hefty sanctions for noncompliance.

Download the white paper.

Zapproved has published an exclusive report that reveals insights about current and year-over-year changes in legal hold and data preservation processes.

The “2017 Legal Hold & Data Peeservation Benchmark Report” discusses automation maturity levels, allowing users to see how their company measures up.

This complimentary report offers in-depth analysis of:

• Legal hold automation trends over time
• Meeting best practices with automation
• Process satisfaction based on process type
• Power Preservers’ secrets to success
• Surprising dip in employee training

Download the guide.

Exterro has published “The Definitive Guide to E-Discovery” and made the 90-page document available for free downloading.

“E-Discovery is a crazy-quilt of Law, Technology, Project Management, and Business. There is a lot to learn from many different angles, and it can be difficult to find a resource that is truly comprehensive,” Exterro says on its website.

About the guide:

• 90 pages of in-depth information, spanning every stage of the e-discovery process
• Each chapter features best practices, technology tips, up to date analysis of case law, and FRCP Rule changes
• Expert commentary from some of the top thought leaders in the industry

Download the guide.

OpenText Discovery (formerly Recommind) has published a report titled “Corporate Legal Ops Service Results 2017,” which is available for complimentary downloading.

Starting in 2015, OpenText Discovery has commissioned Ari Kaplan Advisors to interview premier corporate legal ops professionals to identify new trends and eDiscovery issues. This report details the latest 2017 findings, such as:

• AI and Analytics: Is cost still an issue to adopting discovery analytics?
• ECM & Discovery processes: Are legal ops professionals consolidating their approach?
• Cloud readiness: Has the cloud reached a tipping point?
• InfoSec: Have data security concerns increased?

Download the report.

A federal judge in Manhattan has rejected DTI Global’s arguments that a sales team lured away by a competitor had misappropriated key trade secrets, such as its e-discovery clients’ purchasing needs, and denied its motion for a preliminary injunction, according to a Bloomberg Law report.

The four sales agents had gone to work for LDiscovery.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff wrote in his opinion that he was “unpersuaded that LDiscovery has done anything improper by entering into these agreements with the Individual Defendants, let alone that the Individual Defendants have breached the applicable terms of their agreements with DTI.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

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Zapproved’s  2017 Summer volume offers insights from the latest e-discovery cases — and how courts are applying the FRCP to reach big decisions. The new volume is available for downloading at no charge.

The company says the publication includes summaries detailing e-discovery no-nos — from data compliance missteps to misconduct to total e-discovery breakdown. It also discusses trends in how courts are applying the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) to validate best practices.

The collection covers cases with many high-profile brands, such as Wal-Mart Stores, UPS, Goodyear Tire, Angie’s List and the return of Targate. Other cases put lesser known names in the spotlight, like Fischer v. Forrest, Vir2us, Inc. v. Invincea, Inc. and OOO Brunswick Rail Mgmt. v. Sultanov.

This free volume includes abstracts of e-discovery case law from the last 10 years, plus 11 full summaries of recent 2017 cases. It reveals how the courts are bringing issues of proportionality, cooperation and preservation to the forefront:

– Gordon v. T.G.R. Logistics, Inc.
– United States v. HV1 Cat Canyon, Inc.
– Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Haeger
– Williams v. Angie’s List, Inc.
– Bird v. Wells Fargo Bank
– Fischer v. Forrest
– HCC Ins. Holdings, Inc. v. Flowers
– Vir2us, Inc. v. Invincea, Inc.
– Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Cuker Interactive, LLC
– Solo v. United Parcel Serv. Co.
– OOO Brunswick Rail Mgmt. v. Sultanov

Download the 2017 volume.

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Zapproved has published a guide that discusses five ways to save costs and build efficiencies by bringing e-discovery processing and review in-house. The guide can be downloaded at no charge.

On its website, the company says keeping in-house e-discovery costs in check is a constant balancing act. Complex litigation and regulatory matters — along with pressure to streamline operational spending — create an often expensive e-discovery reality.

According to a study from FTI Consulting, the majority of Fortune 1000 corporations now spend $5-10 million annually on e-discovery with 70% of the costs tied directly to document review.

The guide shows how to take charge of e-discovery by leveraging easy-to-use and secure in-house tools that minimize business risk — and maximize budgets.

• Unlock detailed tips in this guide from Zapproved to get started. It outlines six ways to slash spending and boost efficiencies. Find out how to:
• Use modern, cloud-based e-discovery software tools to bring routine e-discovery processes in-house.
• Modernize legacy systems to limit dependence on IT.
• Empower legal teams to slash expenses, improve data security and speed time to resolution.

The guide also offers step-by-step recommendations and best practices to help:

• Get insights faster by plugging in data processing tools
• Save money by reviewing routine, high-velocity matters in-house
• Improve response to internal investigations and FOIA information requests

Download the guide.

PREX17, the premier conference for in-house e-discovery professionals,  will be in Portland, OR, Sept. 12-14, 2017, according to an announcement from Zapproved. The event will be at the Portland Art Museum.

PREX brings together the legal preservation community to learn, grow and connect to solve e-discovery for the future, Zapproved says on its website.

Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, constitutional lawyer and New York Times best-selling author Glenn Greenwald will headline the event. Known for breaking the Edward Snowden story, Greenwald will reveal insights about the fascinating intersection of privacy, civil rights, technology and the implications for e-discovery. His address is titled “Secrets, Surveillance and Civil Liberties: Navigating the Boundary Layer Between Law and Technology in the Connected Society.”

The conference has received accreditation for CLE credits.

Register or learn more about the program.

Zapproved has published a free guide called “Get In-House Processing and Review Howtos” that can be downloaded from the company’s website.

The guide’s subtitle is “5 Ways to Slash Spending with Cloud E-Discovery,”

“Keeping in-house e-discovery costs in check is a constant balancing act,” the company says on its website. “Complex litigation and regulatory matters — along with pressure to streamline operational spending — create an often expensive e-discovery reality.”

The guide discusses:

• Use modern, cloud-based e-discovery software tools to bring routine e-discovery processes in-house.
• Modernize legacy systems to limit dependence on IT.
• Empower legal teams to slash expenses, improve data security and speed time to resolution.

• Get insights faster by plugging in data processing tools
• Save money by reviewing routine, high-velocity matters in-house
• Improve response to internal investigations and FOIA information requests

Download the guide.

In Liguria Foods, Inc. v. Griffith Laboratories, Inc., Judge Mark Bennett of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa required both plaintiff and defense counsel to show cause why they should not be sanctioned for discovery abuses based on the excessive use of “boilerplate” objections to discovery requests, according to E-Discovery Law Today.

Writing in the Jackson Lewis blog, Joshua Scott and Brett M. Anders explain that the issue arose when the court was reviewing a discovery dispute between the parties and noticed numerous objections that the court deemed to be improper “boilerplate objections.”

“The court subsequently required both parties to submit all of their written discovery responses for the court’s review,” the authors write. “The court also notified counsel of its intention to impose sanctions on every attorney who signed discovery responses it they were found to be improper or abusive. Based on its review of the discovery responses the court determined that numerous discovery responses, from both sides, were improper.”

Read the article.

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Zapproved has published a free whitepaper revealing e-discovery insights on cases involving Volkswagen, Apple, Samsung and Takata. The paper can be downloaded.

• Apple
• Samsung
• Volkswagen AG
• Takata

While these cases paint a portrait of what not to do, they also illustrate why building a culture of compliance is so vital, Zapproved says on its website. The paper reveals three key takeaways:

• First, create and maintain a culture of compliance that champions ethical practices.
• Second, know the rules that apply to cross-border litigation, particularly discovery, and ensure that all participants understand those multinational rules.
• Finally, adopt smart, automated and secure e-discovery processes.

Download the white paper.