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Note: The following is a guest post from Daryn Teague, who provides support to the litigation software product line within the LexisNexis software division.
During the summer months, even the most dedicated legal professionals can be forgiven for taking a break from their daily reading of industry blogs and news sites in order to catch up on this year’s bestseller novels or other fun reading options.
If you’re a member of the eDiscovery industry and are wondering what you might have missed over the last couple months, we’ve got you covered. Here are 20 informative, intriguing and illuminating articles from the world of eDiscovery that we tracked this summer:
1. Post-Grant Proceedings: Top Seven Things You Should Know About the Proposed Rule Changes
This summer the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published its proposed rules that would amend the consolidated set of rules currently governing various USPTO reviews and proceedings. The author provides a rundown of the top seven things patent practitioners and their clients should know about these proposed rules. (National Law Review)
2 Teaming Up With eDiscovery Co-Counsel
In case you missed it, a recent formal opinion by The State Bar of California advises that an attorney’s ethical duties extend to possessing a basic understanding of eDiscovery and electronically stored information. As the author explains, this means that litigation teams may need to work with co-counsel that specializes in the area of eDiscovery. (McManis Faulkner)
3. E-Discovery: The Devil Is in the Data
Attorneys must develop a basic understanding of emerging technologies and how they function, and sufficient practical experience to recognize how eDiscovery can be helpful within the context of their respective practice areas. The authors explain why, like it or not, eDiscovery skills are now essential to the success of both law students and practitioners. (Daily Business Review)
4. Necessary Ingredients for Sound Legal Holds
The best protection against the threat of eDiscovery sanctions is to institute a legal hold. The author shares insights for how to take prompt, affirmative and reasonable steps to ensure that an organization is properly preserving potentially relevant information. (Arnall Golden Gregory LLP)
5. Laying the Foundation for Effective Enterprise E-Discovery
The author argues that eDiscovery can succeed without lawyers becoming business people or technologists and without business people and technologists becoming lawyers, but that it’s prone to fail when each do not grasp a few fundamentals of what the other does. (Craig Ball)
6. Information Governance Is Evolving in the IoT Era
The rapid expansion of business files and data from the Internet of things (IoT), combined with new and amended data privacy and compliance regulations, makes Information Governance non-negotiable in any organization’s business strategy. This slide show from eWeek explores what we can expect to see in the coming decade. (eWeek)
7. Court Drops eDiscovery Sanctions Hammer
In an August ruling, an airline was ordered to pay more than $2.7 million in sanctions for failing to turn over electronic data, in addition to more than $4.7 million in sanctions for earlier discovery violations. The author explains the importance of this order and how it came about in the case. (ACEDS)
8. The Intersection of Data Privacy and eDiscovery
The author identifies categories of information that are generally recognized as sensitive and should be safeguarded from unnecessary dissemination in the discovery process, then presents some strategies that can help minimize the potential for producing arguably protected data in discovery. (Robinson + Cole Data Privacy Insider)
9. Ostriches Beware: E-Discovery Ethics In Social Media
This June was a month of blockbuster opinions and guidelines from the state bar groups in three populous and commercially significant states — California, Florida and New York — all tying the ethical duty of competence to the need for attorneys to understand modern technologies. The authors explain that the ethical duty of competence requires an attorney to assess at the outset of each case what electronic discovery issues might arise during the litigation, including the likelihood that e-discovery will or should be sought by the other side. (Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP)
10. International Information Governance Maturity Model
It hasn’t always been easy to describe what “good information governance” looks like, but this question gains in importance as regulators, shareholders, and customers are increasingly concerned about the business practices of organizations. ARMA International has created a clear statement of “Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles®” that identify the critical hallmarks of information governance. (ARMA)
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11. Fed CIOs Confront Rising eDiscovery Demand
When it comes to defending electronic records before opposing lawyers or Congress, three out of four federal CIOs say they lack confidence in the quality of their eDiscovery programs. These are among the findings of Deloitte’s “Ninth Annual Benchmarking Study of Electronic Discovery Practices for Government Agencies,” as reported in the WSJ’s CIO Journal. (Sponsored content: WSJ CIO Journal)
12. 4 Steps for Deciding to Bring eDiscovery In-House or Outsource It
Many corporate legal departments and government agencies are trying to determine whether to bring everyday eDiscovery in-house, outsource it to a qualified service provider or just leave our workflow the way it is. The author moderated an EDRM webinar on this topic and summarized the suggestions from the panelists. (George Socha)
13. If I Sue My Employer Can They Access My Private Social Media Account?
Can an employer pilfer your social media to discredit your discrimination claim against the company? The author analyzes a recent court decision and finds that, specifically in an employment lawsuit, social media content relating to a party’s workplace conduct and state of mind at the time of the alleged events is discoverable information. (ELL Blog)
14. Law Firms Form Their Own Threat Intel-Sharing Group
The new Legal Services Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (LS-ISAO) Services debuted in August. The writer points out that law firms are a juicy target for cyberattacks — given the amount of confidential corporate information they handle — so it was no surprise the legal sector was prime for an information sharing organization. (InformationWeek / Dark Reading)
The Office of Management and Budget and the Treasury Department have taken important steps toward implementing requirements of the Digital Accountability and Transparency (DATA) Act of 2014, but the writer of this update story informs that they have much more left to do. (FierceGovernmentIT)
16. To Save Money Later, Take Steps Now to Prepare for E-Discovery
The author explains that once a preservation obligation exists, counsel will need to act quickly to implement a sound legal hold — and anything that exists when that preservation obligation attaches will need to be preserved. So it just makes sense to take preparatory steps now that will only save money down the road. (Daily Report)
17. HIPAA Enforcement on the Rise
The author reports that the number of claims filed under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have skyrocketed in recent years, with the latest figures from the Department of Health and Human Services highlighting a dramatically increased enforcement effort by the government in administering the federal privacy law. (Fisher & Phillips LLP)
The authors recap a recent case in which the District Court addressed the plaintiff’s designation of 95% of its forensically produced documents as “highly confidential” and the defendant’s motion to compel to re-review and re-designate those documents. The court also considered a motion for the plaintiff’s counsel to pay $25,000 in attorney’s fees. (K&L Gates)
19. Germany Issues New Restrictions for Cloud Service Providers
Last month the German Federal Government IT Advisory Committee issued new cloud computing service criteria for all prospective vendors to German federal agencies. The authors explain why cloud services providers who offer, or are considering offering, cloud computing services in the EU should plan proactively for these restrictive requirements and think of strategies to address them. (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP)
20. Big Data, Small Data and Fast Data
The term ‘Big Data’ is typically used to describe the collection, storage, processing and retrieval of data that arise out of various means of production. In this case study, the author explains that with a well-organized data strategy, organizations can begin to leverage data as an asset that provides value to business stakeholders. (bobs guide)
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What eDiscovery articles would you add?
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:
“eDiscovery is for Everybody” and 5 Tips for Small Law
Photo credit: Flickr, Cory M. Grenier, Data Center (CC BY-SA 2.0)