Electronic Discovery Navigator

Guidance Software Unveils Top 10 eDiscovery Best Practices for Handling Metadata

Guidance Software Unveils Top 10 eDiscovery Best Practices for Handling Metadata

"Guidance Software Inc. (NASDAQ:GUID), the World Leader in Digital Investigations™, today announced the Top 10 eDiscovery Best Practices for Handling Metadata to help corporate counsel better understand the importance of metadata, how to preserve and maintain it, and the need to address it early on in litigation.

With the recent decisions such as Aguilar v. Immigration & Customs Enforcement Division of the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security and Bray & Gillespie Management LLC, v. Lexington Insurance Company, the proper handling of metadata is becoming increasingly important. The metadata best practices listed below were compiled from industry experience, recent relevant cases, and a review of suggestions from the Sedona Principles and the Sedona Guidelines."

Compliance: Keeping E-Mail in Check

Compliance: Keeping E-Mail in Check

"According to a survey conducted in 2008 by Emedia Research, 94 percent of C-level executives believed they were powerless to prevent confidential or sensitive information being sent outside of the organization. The same survey also found that 32 percent were unaware if a data leak had taken place.  It is clear that the majority of companies do not have the necessary systems in place to protect data and are at risk of triggering a regulatory violation.

Aside from the sensitive documents that are routinely exchanged, e-mail is increasingly the only form of written communication that exists between a company, its clients and suppliers. Most people prefer e-mail over telephone conversations because it allows for easy and efficient communication with multiple parties, with the added benefit of a paper trail that can be tracked and referenced as needed. This situation can leave organizations in a more precarious situation than initially believed, especially for those in highly regulated industries, including financial services, utilities/energy, healthcare and education."

Voyage of eDiscovery

Voyage of eDiscovery

"I came across an interesting question recently: How does e-discovery in Canada differ from e-discovery in the United States? Given the close cultural and historical bonds between the two countries, I expected litigation and e-discovery to be closer than it really is. Here is our overview of the situation: The Canadian provinces exert tremendous control over e-discovery practices and procedures in common and civil law. There is no corresponding natural statute such as the U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, making e-discovery in Canada difficult to affect on a unified national principle."

Forensic Innovations' Detects TrueCrypt and Other Encrypted Files Intentionally Hidden From Computer Forensics Tools

Forensic Innovations' Detects TrueCrypt and Other Encrypted Files Intentionally Hidden From Computer Forensics Tools

"Raising the bar in the Electronic Discovery industry, Fishers based Forensic Innovations, Inc. is now able to detect TrueCrypt, and other encryption data hiding techniques. The newly released File Investigator version 2.23 continues in their plan of supporting more file types (currently supporting 3,312) than any other product in the industry. Along with the 141 added file types, the accuracy of 78 existing file types was improved. Add to that the ability to identify more encryption file formats (including the elusive TrueCrypt) , and this version is truly a leap forward in advancing the state of the art in the analysis and filtering of Electronically Stored Information (ESI). http://www.forensicinnovations.com.

TrueCrypt has earned a reputation for simplifying the process of encrypting your data, as well as hiding it. On their web site, www.TrueCrypt.org, they claim that "no TrueCrypt volume can be identified (volumes cannot be distinguished from random data)." That was true, until now."

Attorneys seek cost-effective approaches to electronic discovery

Attorneys seek cost-effective approaches to electronic discovery

" With the recession taking its toll on the bottom lines of many businesses, attorneys who engage in electronic discovery are looking to cut costs for clients.

The first place to start, according to several lawyers, is scaling back the amount of information that is searched and reviewed.

Milwaukee attorney William J. Mulligan said when e-discovery started, parties would tend to request anything and everything to analyze for relevant case information in what he calls the “scorched earth era.”

“I think they are becoming more open about what they are looking for, and the economy, together with an awareness of litigation costs, is forcing people to do what is necessary, but not run up excessive costs,” said Mulligan, who is a commercial litigator at Davis & Kuelthau S.C."

Keys to Planning Effective Document Review

Keys to Planning Effective Document Review

"Lawyers planning a document review project may manage it themselves, staffing the project with lawyers from their firm or outside contract attorneys. Another option is to hire an independent document review company. Either way, lawyers need to answer key questions to ensure they get the best value for their clients.

Lawyers often like to manage their own document review and pay reviewers by the hour. This allows them to control the process and keeps reviewers on the firm's premises, where monitoring their work is easy. Also, firms that hire contract attorneys can bill their clients at rates above the contract lawyers' cost, so reviews can make money for the firm."

E-discovery requests have growing impact on data storage

E-discovery requests have growing impact on data storage

"E-discovery's impact on storage is primarily felt in the data backup environment, according to Brian Babineau, a senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group in Milford, Mass. Corporate counsel often issues a blanket order for IT to save everything -- email, files or databases -- for a specific time period, and most companies have traditionally used tape to preserve the data.

The problems begin when organizations save too much data for longer than they need to keep it, and that data is inaccessible or very expensive to find on tape. At that point, moving to disk-based backup is critical, Babineau said.

"Electronic discovery has provided another catalyst to go to disk-based backup," Babineau observed.

E-discovery has also forced storage teams to build systems of record and, more specifically, archived systems. Implementing an archive is important to ensure that important ESI will be accessible online, easier to search and easier to delete."

Cloud Computing Poses E-Discovery, Legal Risks

Cloud Computing Poses E-Discovery, Legal Risks

"Cloud computing was a hot topic at this week's Storage Networking World show, but one attorney sounded a warning note about the rush to the cloud.

In a presentation titled "Computing (strike that — Litigation) in the Cloud," Steven Teppler, senior counsel at KamberEdelson in New York, said cloud computing and services are a corporate counsel's nightmare.

The 2006 e-discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) changed the legal and corporate information landscape, putting custody and control at top of mind.

"Cloud computing means that data may always be in transit," said Teppler, "never anywhere, always somewhere."

And that creates a big challenge for corporate counsel. How can they identify "who, when and where" in the cloud? How can organizations handle document retention? And to add another layer of worry, information targeted for the cloud may also be subject to laws requiring privacy and persistent data integrity, and other requirements that the storage manager may not even be aware of. "

Harness the Power of EDD Planning

Harness the Power of EDD Planning

"Most lawyers have firsthand experience of the technological advances that have resulted in an increase in the volume of electronically stored information. Because digital storage is becoming less expensive each year, traditional limitations of record retention -- such as employee time required to file and archive records and physical limitations on storage space -- simply do not apply. It is easier to save data than to cull it.

For these reasons, as well as the general complexity of ESI, it is crucial that lawyers devote sufficient time and attention to the discovery-planning conference between parties as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f). The discovery-planning conference must be completed prior to the Rule 16(b) scheduling conference with the court, where the judge generally will enter the discovery order."

Hammurabi’s eDiscovery Codes Unearthed by CaseCentral

Hammurabi's Codes of eDiscovery:

   "1. If a lawyer or judge shall evaluate the efficacy of keyword or concept search terms without the aid of expert testimony:
      Punishment:  Accused shall allow 50 unchallenged search terms.

   2.  If a representative of IT or his master should shackle counsel by making eDiscovery dependent upon long term infrastructure upgrades:
      Punishment: An IT representative shall be put to death.

   3. If a lawyer pursues discovery to make the cost for his or her adversary so great that the case settles to avoid the transaction costs
      Punishment: The accused shall pay one gold mina and have his laptop destroyed.

   4. If a technical representative shall fail to adequately implement a document hold policy in the face of pending litigation:
      Punishment: The representative shall be imprisoned in place until the rising of the moon of LegalTech.

   5. If outside counsel shall fail to cull massive ESI volumes prior to expensive review:
      Punishment: He shall pay the client 5 shekels of silver per 1,000 documents not culled."

Happy April 1st!

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(Thanks Terry!)