Our e-discovery experts at EMC Kazeon have returned from the LegalTech show in New York and have hailed it as a huge success. Some of the biggest highlights were presentations by The Honorable Frank Maas and The Honorable Andrew J. Peck, who were panelists on a presentation by Andrew M. Cohen, Esq, GM of EMC eDiscovery, entitled The Ten Commandments of eDiscovery. (The Ten eDiscovery Commandments are revealed at Kazeon’s blog…Discover.)

Other noted guests included the authors of the new book eDiscovery for Dummies by Dr. Linda Volonino and Ian Redpath, Esq., who signed copies of their book at EMC’s booth. By popular demand straight from LegalTech, Dr Volonino and Ian Redpath, Esq., will deliver their LegalTech presentation via webinar on March 3rd. Visit www.kazeon.com/newsroom2/webinars.php to register for this limited attendance event.

“Bringing eDiscovery In-House for Dummies: In-sourcing, Outsourcing and eDiscovery Zen”
With the original author of “Bringing eDiscovery In-House for Dummies”, Jake Frazier, MBA, Esq., leading the LegalTech session on “Bringing eDiscovery In-House for Dummies: In-sourcing, Outsourcing and eDiscovery Zen”, which built and expanded on the original text to discuss new developments and trends in In-House eDiscovery practices. Panelists included David C. Shonka, Esq., Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Federal Trade Commission and he heads the FTC’s E-Discovery Steering Committee, Jake Frazier, MBA, Esq., Greg Buckles, independent eDiscovery expert, William E. O’Neil Esq., EMC eDiscovery expert, James D. Shook, Esq., EMC eDiscovery expert and Ari Kaplan as moderator from Ari Kaplan Advisors.

Between our super sessions and booth, Kazeon gave away nearly 1,000 copies of Bringing eDiscovery In-House for Dummies by EMC’s own Jake Frazier, MBA, Esq., and Senior Director of EMC’s Compliance and eDiscovery Practice. The book helps analyze the issues surrounding in-house eDiscovery so that you can determine what is right for your organization. You’ll see what processes can effectively be brought into your operation, and what challenges you’ll face in implementing those changes. Register for your free copy of the book here http://www.kazeon.com/ediscovery-dummies.php.

Due to audience demand, the presentation by David Shonka, Esq., of the Federal Trade Commission has had a repeat performance and it will be available for viewing at Kazeon.com on Feb. 17. The webinar was recorded and is available at www.kazeon.com/newsroom2/webinars.php.

eDiscovery War Stories
“eDiscovery War Stories: The Dirty Truth from the eDiscovery Trenches” was moderated by James D. Shook, Esq., of EMC expert eDiscovery team. The panelists were Steven Teppler from Edelson McGuire; Jeff Seymour from Deloitte; and EMC’s own Matt Nelson.

The plan was to talk about what really happens in eDiscovery — how shortcuts are sometimes taken, lawyers and IT people miscommunicate, repositories get missed and even good plans go awry — basically that stuff happens. The panelist wanted to get these stories out in the open, have input from the audience and discuss why sometimes eDiscovery projects do not go as planned — and learn what can be done better.

In reality, our audience was extremely engaged and active, and we followed their lead. We covered about 25% of our planned material. One of our key points was discussing the frequent disconnect between Legal and IT, and how important it is for these two groups to communicate well to insure successful eDiscovery processes. An audience member thanked James and the other panelists for the best session of the day, saying that for her, the depth of detail and knowledge provided by our panelists was ideal.

In one final twist of irony, the best war story came not from a panelist, but from an audience member!

“The Future of eDiscovery: Emerging Trends in Law and Technology and How it will Impact your Business”

With eDiscovery pioneers and special guest Robert D. Owen from Fulbright & Jaworski, Farrah Pepper from Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher, George Socha, Esq., and Andrew M. Cohen, Esq., from EMC, Jake Frazier, MBA, Esq., was in top form to moderate the noted panel. The session discussed the law, recent cases and rulings, as well as how new technology has impacted the business and law surrounding eDiscovery. One attendee characterized it session as “powerful and insightful.”

eDiscovery StraightTalk
A topic of discussion at LegalTech was Judge Scheindlin recent opinion. Kazeon delivers insoght into her opinion in our blog eDiscovery StraightTalk with James D. Shook, Esq., entitled “New Decision Orders Sanctions… But Provides Strong Guidance.” The article discusses the very recent decision by Judge Scheindlin in the Pension Committee vs. Banc of America Securities et. al case. Her decision provides the eDiscovery community with some clear guidance on appropriate litigation hold and collection procedures, as well as a framework for determining when sanctions are appropriate and the level of those sanctions. Read more in Mr. Shook’s explanation of the decision in his blog post for the Kazeon blog…Discover.

Bringing eDiscovery in-house
The buzz of the show was the topic of bringing eDiscovery in-house, which attendees were very interested in discussing with EMC Kazeon executives. Although several vendors, including ECM have been championing in-house eDiscovery for several years, the tipping point is happening now, says Kazeon in its blog. Kazeon says http://www.kazeon.com/blog/2010/02/emckazeon-at-legaltech-in-house-is-hot/: “The question customer should ask is ‘With all the sanctions and fines leveled by Judges in eDiscovery cases, can your company provide the support to deploy eDiscovery, manage the complexity of integrating into our data centers and provide process and legal best practices to support us before, during and potentially after ligation?’ If the answer to this question is anything less than an unequivocal YES then customers must think again about their provider.”

Read more about that and other news from Kazeon at the Kazeon Web site http://www.kazeon.com/ and the Kazeon blog http://www.kazeon.com/blog/, written by legal professionals.

J. David Morris, EMC