Rosie's Ramblings

By Sandra Rosenzweig
     
      E-discovery is already important enough to have way too many rules and codes and laws and scandals. In the Dark Ages, lawyers demanded all relevant documents, photographs, and lunch invitations from each other. This process was extremely time-consuming and expensive, and it required the purchase of yet another filing cabinet or a gross of bankers' boxes.
      Now that we live during the New Enlightenment, lawyers demand all relevant documents, photographs, memos, receipts, and backup disks?whether paper or electronic. The problem is that we're so blabby on email, so inclusive (many people still use Reply to All), so polite (am I the only curmudgeon who hates messages that say, "Thanks, have a good weekend"?) ... anyway, we're so everything that paper for printouts of all the possibly relevant hits would level half the forests in southern Canada.
      Fortunately, we don't print them all out. We sort through them online. Which means we have to read them all. And you know what that means?paying 10,000 hired monkeys to read through each message and code it for relevance.
      At the very least, you can winnow down the candidates for scrutiny, so you ask the Search function in Microsoft Outlook to find all the instances of your carefully considered keywords. Outlook 2007 has a pretty powerful search function that makes it simple and efficient to use as a desktop search applet. I'd swear the new Outlook search mechanism is based on Lookout's old Outlook desktop search and Outlook plugin. (Microsoft bought the company a few years ago. If you were to Google lookout software, you'd be taken to Microsoft's Desktop Search website.)
      This type of search may work on hundreds of email messages, but not on tens of thousands. And besides, it's not suitable for producing usable data during the conference and court phases of a case. That's why Mother Nature invented electronic discovery, also known as e-discovery. Most e-discovery services and programs are extremely powerful products with powerful search engines, powerful custom search terms, powerful automated analysis and categorization, and powerful functions to handle the whole discovery process from start to finish.
      Most comprehensive e-discovery setups must be customized for each case, and this is usually a job for the e-discovery installers or third-party consultants. Most of these e-discovery programs have informative websites?many of them updated frequently?that will help you understand the technologies, the rules and how to comply, and the best practices for applying all this to your data. Complicated? Yes. Confusing? Much of the time.
      When I need a brushup on e-discovery news, the first place I go is the website of super digital-discovery guru and consultant George Socha (www.sochaconsulting.com). He has gathered together a host of helpful links, including these worth noting (several were originally posted at www.kenwithers.com):
      ·ARMA International, an association of information- management professionals. A solid starting point for anyone interested in records-management issues. www.arma.org
      ·Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Professor Charles Nesson and his colleagues at Harvard Law School have developed several educational programs on electronic discovery. At this website you can consult their tremendous collection of free resources. cyber.law.harvard.edu/digitaldiscovery
      ·California Civil Discovery Law. Retired California state commissioner Richard Best has written a comprehensive outline of electronic discovery issues. His site also features a list of links to additional resources on electronic discovery. californiadiscovery.findlaw.com/electronic_data_ discovery.htm
      ·Computer Forensics Research and Development Center at Utica College. Although this site concentrates primarily on computer forensics and law enforcement, CFRDC project manager Christine Siedsma has assembled a wealth of information of interest to electronic-discovery researchers. The "Digital Forensics Bibliography" is particularly comprehensive. www.e-evidence.info/index.html
      ·Litigation Support Vendors Association. This not-for-profit organization provides free forums moderated by industry experts and representatives from major software companies, covering topics from computer forensics and electronic discovery to best practices and standards. www.lsva.com
      ·The Litigation Support List. The leading listserv for litigation-support issues. http://finance.groups. yahoo.com/groups/litsupport
      ·Minnesota Association of Litigation Support Managers. www.malsm.org
      ·The Digital Practice of Law. Michael Arkfeld's Internet Portal to Litigation and Law Office Technology. www.arkfeld.com
      ·The Sedona Conference. Home of "The Sedona Principles: Best Practices Recommendations and Principles for Addressing Electronic Document Production." www.thesedonaconference.org
      ·Vendor-sponsored websites. Of the scores of electronic discovery and computer forensics firms in North America, a handful have developed useful educational websites to keep their current and prospective clients up-to-date on the law. These sites feature state and federal case law dealing with electronic discovery, computer forensics, and electronic evidence; white papers and links to leading law review articles; and sample forms for practitioners. Some of the best:
           ·Applied Discovery's Law Library. White papers, court rules, case summaries, articles, and newsletters. www.lexisnexis.com/applieddiscovery
           ·Computer Forensics Inc.'s Resource Center. Links to articles and white papers, case law, sample documents, and other resources. www.forensics.com/html/resource_ center.html
           ·Cricket Technologies Case Index. A comprehensive case index with a powerful and precise search tool. Free registration required. http://igdev.crickettechnologies. com/case_studies/search/index.php
           ·Fios' Discovery Resources. www.discoveryresources.org
      No matter how much you know about electronic discovery, there's always more to learn. Start with George Socha's generous website, and study your way ahead from there.
     

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