Electronic Records Management and Digital Discovery Practical Considerations for Legal, Technical, and Operational Success
Scope and Purpose
This annual course of study, comprising more than 16 hours of instruction, offers a comprehensive examination of what has been called "electronic evidence," the billions of communications that were once confined to paper, but now exist as e-mails and other records kept in electronic form. This development has fast become one of the most challenging in the practice of law and can put you and your clients at potential risk if not properly addressed. This is a reality now!
The course starts, not with the new discovery provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, but several steps earlier, with Electronic Records Management: how organizations keep and manage information in electronic form. To do their jobs well, litigators have to understand how data is created and stored; concepts such as metadata; and corporate procedures for records management, maintenance, and destruction. It is also essential for lawyers to have a basic understanding of computer forensics and the recovery of "lost" information. Professionals who practice records management or deal with document retention within their corporations or organizations will find that this course offers enormous relevance to their strategic and tactical decisions. In the brave new world of electronic discovery, forewarned is forearmed!
Having provided the foundation knowledge of the technological issues, the course moves on to consider the related and important legal questions:
Interaction of records managers and corporate executives with in-house and outside counsel in the development of records management policies and procedures
Records management policies and procedures as they pertain to strategies for document retention and elimination: how to get information from the files of your own clients with confidence that you haven’t missed anything, a possible source of both embarrassment and sanctions
How to deal with discovery of information in electronic form
Spoliation issues, including civil and criminal liability under Sarbanes-Oxley
* How to turn electronic "information" into "evidence"
How to deal with e-discovery under the soon-to-be-adopted amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Using experts, and issues of admissibility
Trial preparation and trial (participate in an electronic trial with a clear explanation of how you can prepare for this approach)
Ethics and professional responsibility issues (1.25 hours)
The third day of the course deals with the latest approaches to preparing and presenting evidence and demonstrative exhibits at a jury or bench trial. This panel is followed by an examination of an expert witness, incorporating these skills into a practical demonstration.
A faculty of federal judges, practitioners, and experts presents and analyzes these issues and questions using a combination of lectures, panel discussions, technological demonstrations, and litigation demonstrations. Time is reserved to respond to registrants’ questions.
Planning Chairs
Ronald J. Hedges, U.S. Magistrate Judge, Newark, New Jersey
Samuel H. Solomon, Founder and CEO, DOAR Litigation Consulting, Lynbrook, New York
Faculty
Woods K. Abbott, Senior Manager of Legal Operations, Raytheon Company, Waltham, Massachusetts
Thomas Y. Allman, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP, Chicago
James A. Batson, Liddle & Robinson, L.L.P., New York
Stephen D. Brody, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Washington, D.C.
Robert B. Collings, U.S. Magistrate Judge, Boston
M. James Daley, Redgrave Daley Ragan & Wagner LLP, Kansas City, Missouri
Andrew D. Goldsmith, Assistant Chief, Environmental Crimes Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
Anne Kershaw, A. Kershaw P.C., Tarrytown, New York
George Marinos, Vice President, Discovery Consulting Practice Group, DOAR Litigation Consulting, Lynbrook, New York
James L. Michalowicz, Altman Weil, Inc., Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
Thomas C. Moore, Proskauer Rose LLP, New York
Deidre Paknad, President and CEO, PSS Systems, Inc., Mountain View, California
Paul M. Robertson, Redgrave Daley Ragan & Wagner LLP, Boston
Eric J. Schwarz, National Leader, Legal Technology Services, Fraud Investigation and Dispute Services, Ernst & Young LLP, Dallas
Ariana J. Tadler, Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP, New York
Deborah Tatar, IT Director, Altria Corporate Services, Inc., New York
Judy L. VanDusen, President, VanKorn Group, Ltd., Beverly Hills, Michigan
Elizabeth C. Wiggins, Senior Research Associate, Federal Judicial Center, Washington, D.C.
William G. Young, U.S. District Judge, Boston
Program Schedule
Thursday, October 26, 2006
- 7:30 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast
- 8:30 a.m. Introductory Remarks and Course Overview
- Technological and Operational Issues
- 8:45 a.m. Introduction to Terminology, Data, and Information Structures – Messrs. Marinos and Solomon
- * Data Identification: How They Are Created, Stored, and Managed
- * Metadata: What It Is and Why It’s Important
- * Where To Look for Electronic Documents: Back-up Tapes, PDAs, Servers, Laptops, etc.
- * Estimating the Amount of Information that Can Be Yielded from a Given Set of Data
- * Demonstration: "Files, FAT, and Folders": Is the Evidence Gone?
- 10:10 a.m. Best Practices in Information Acquisition and Preservation – Ms. Paknad and Messrs. Abbott and Schwarz
- * What To Do; What To Avoid
- * Defining a Response Plan
- * The Process of Managing Data
- * Deduplication
- 10:45 a.m. Networking Break
- 11:00 a.m. Speaking the Same Language: I.T., Records Management, and Legal Work Together on Process and Procedure – Ms. Kershaw, Moderator; Mr. Michalowicz, and Mss. Tatar and VanDusen
- * Why Keep Data?
- * What Data To Keep
- * Format?
- * Preservation and Collection Protocols
- * E-mail Archiving
- * E-mail Management
- * Pricing Pitfalls
- 12:00 noon Lunch Break
- 1:15 p.m. Records Management – Mr. Michalowicz, Moderator; Mss. Kershaw, Tatar, and VanDusen
- 3:15 p.m. Networking Break
- 3:30 p.m. Educating Employees on the Importance of Information Records Management and Preservation: Screening and Discussion of the New Information Management Compliance Training Video, "Keeping Good Company" – Judge Hedges and Messrs. Abbott, Robertson, and Schwarz
- 4:00 p.m. Data Mining – Messrs. Moore and Solomon
- 5:30 p.m. Adjournment for the Day; Networking Reception for Registrants and Faculty
Friday, October 27, 2006
- 8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
- Legal Issues
- 8:30 a.m. Criminalization of Spoliation – Judges Collings and Hedges and Mr. Goldsmith
- 9:30 a.m. Discovery and Judicial Decisions – Judge Hedges and Messrs. Brody and Daley
- * Framing Discovery Requests
- * Addressing Discovery Disputes
- * Depositions To Uncover Electronic Evidence
- * Cost Shifting and Burdens
- * Data Sampling, Developing Search Protocols
- * Producing to the Other Side
- * Spoliation
- * Criminal vs. Civil Litigation: Differences in Electronic Discovery
- * Sampling
- * Developing Search Terms
- 11:00 a.m. Networking Break
- 11:15 a.m. Demonstration: Spoliation Hearing and Motion for Sanctions – Judge Collings, Messrs. Batson, Brody, and Daley, and Ms. Tadler
- 12:15 p.m. Lunch Break
- 1:30 p.m. Rule Amendments – Judge Hedges, Moderator; Messrs. Allman, Batson, and Brody, and Ms. Tadler
- * E-Discovery Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (effective 12/1/06) and their impact on similar amendments at the state level
- * Accessibility
- * Safe Harbor
- * Form of Production
- 2:45 p.m. Networking Break
- 3:00 p.m. Ethical Considerations in Electronic Discovery – Mr. Daley, Moderator; Judges Collings and Young and Mr. Solomon <
- * Waiver
- * Inadvertent Production
- * Encryption
- 4:15 p.m. Adjournment for the Day
Saturday, October 28, 2006
- 8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
- 8:30 a.m. Preparing for Trial: Creating Electronic Exhibits and Graphics – Mr. Solomon, Moderator; Judge Young, Mr. Moore, and Mss. Tadler and Wiggins
- 9:45 a.m. Networking Break
- 10:00 a.m. Mock Trial: Homestead Properties. Inc. v. Manhattan Fire and Casualty Co. – Judge Young, Messrs. Moore and Solomon, and Mss. Tadler and Wiggins
- 11:00 a.m. Panel Discussion – Mr. Solomon, Moderator; Judge Young, Mr. Moore, and Mss. Tadler and Wiggins
- 12:00 noon Adjournment
Total 60-minute hours of instruction: 16.5, including 1.25 hours of ethics and professional responsibility
Here's what registrants have said about this course:
I thought the presentations and content were excellent. I was happy that real-life instructors and judges’ expectations were discussed and batted around. I leave your seminar well-armed with technical plans and the knowledge to effectively assist my attorneys and our clients.
There are absolute ‘superstars’ on these panels! Well done! I learned a great deal from this event.
Excellent course – very thoughtful and thorough collection of highly qualified professionals as presenters – great illustration and perspective – did not ‘watch my watch’ – very enjoyable. One of the best, if not the best, conferences I have attended.
This was my first ALI-ABA course and I found it informative, captivating, and thoroughly on point. A panel consisting of practitioners and judges really gave the seminar an interesting twist.
I thought that this was an excellent course with a lot of very useful information. Many of the speakers were very knowledgeable and alerted the audience to the important changes in the Federal Rules.
This is the first seminar in 15 years where I took pains not to miss any part of the presentation. The presenters were excellent, there was very little wasted time, the presentations were consistently interesting and informative.
