Sedona Conference Update: Achieving Quality in the E-Discovery Process
Date: October 07, 2009
Duration: 60 minutes
The legal profession is at a crossroads: The choice is between continuing to conduct discovery as it has “always been practiced” in a paper world – before the advent of computers, the Internet, and the exponential growth of electronically stored information (ESI) – or, alternatively, embracing new ways of thinking in today’s digital world. Cost-conscious clients and over-burdened judges are demanding that parties now undertake new approaches to solving litigation problems.
The focus of this webcast is on the recently released Commentary by the Working Group 1 of The Sedona Conference® focused on "Achieving Quality in the E-Discovery Process." The speakers discuss the variety of processes, tools, techniques, methods and metrics that fall broadly under the umbrella term "quality measures" that can be applied during the various phases of the discovery workflow process. Topics include:
- Greater use of project management, sampling and other means to verify the accuracy of what constitutes the "output" of e-discovery
- The importance of identification and use of best practices in collection, review and production to achieve quality
- How to decipher all of the competing ideas about quality methods and techniques offered by the vendor community
- Court expectations for quality control measures and supporting documentation
Speakers
Jason R. Baron, Esq., Co-Editor-in-Chief of "The Sedona Conference Commentary on Achieving Quality in E-Discovery"
Jason is an internationally recognized lecturer and author on e-records and e-discovery topics. Previously, while at the Justice Department, Jason acted as counsel of record in landmark cases involving the preservation of White House e-mail. As NARA's representative to The Sedona Conference®, Jason serves on the Steering Committee for Working Group on Electronic Document Retention and Production (WG1), and was named Editor-in-Chief of the The Sedona Conference® Best Practices Commentary on the Use of Search & Information Retrieval Methods in E-Discovery (2007), and Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Sedona Conference® Commentary: Achieving Quality in the E-Discovery Process (2009). Jason also serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland School of Information Studies, and is a founding coordinator of the TREC Legal Track
Thomas Y. Allman, Esq., Attorney and Consultant, Cincinnati, OH
Tom is currently an attorney and consultant in Cincinnati, OH. He was Senior Counsel to Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw (Chicago), having served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of BASF Corporation from 1993 to 2004. While at BASF, he helped initiate the movement to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to achieve e-discovery reform and currently co-chairs the E-Discovery Committee of the Lawyers for Civil Justice. Tom is co-chair of the Steering Committee of The Sedona Conference® Working Group on Electronic Document Retention and Production (WG1) and chaired its Special Project Team on E-Mail Management. He speaks and writes often on corporate compliance and information management and is active in ARMA, AIIM, ACC and the ABA.
Maura Grossman, Esq., Counsel, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Maura advises the firm and its clients on legal, technical, and strategic issues involving electronic discovery and information management, as well as on matters of legal ethics. She has represented Fortune 100 companies and leading financial services institutions in corporate and securities litigation, including both civil actions and white-collar criminal and regulatory investigations. Maura is a member of The Sedona Conference® Working Groups on Electronic Document Retention and Production (WG1) and International Electronic Information Management, Discovery and Disclosure (WG6), and serves as a Topic Authority in the Legal Track of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST's) Text Retrieval Conference (TREC). She is also an active member of Association of the Bar of the City of New York's Committee on Professional and Judicial Ethics. In addition to her legal qualifications, Maura has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical/School Psychology.
Cynthia Bateman, Senior Manager, Professional Services, Fios, Inc.
Cynthia Bateman joined Fios after spending more than 13 years with Georgia-Pacific, most recently serving as the global privacy and e-discovery director. Bateman is adept at developing and implementing e-discovery programs that are legally defensible, cost efficient and in compliance with regulatory and court-defined rules. With nearly 20 years of industry experience, she earned her paralegal certification from the National Center for Paralegal Training in Atlanta and is certified by the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE). Prior to joining Georgia-Pacific in 1995, Bateman was a senior litigation paralegal for law firms Arnall Golden & Gregory and Hunton & Williams, focused on the management of large scale, document-intensive litigation, including antitrust, products liability and commercial disputes. Bateman is a frequent speaker and contributor on best practices and challenges related to legal holds tracking, data accessibility and collections. She is an active member of The Sedona Conference, participating in both Working Group 1 focused on electronic document retention and production and in Working Group 6 focused on international electronic information management, discovery and disclosure.
Moderator:
Mary Mack, Esq., Corporate Technology Counsel, Fios, Inc.
Mary has more than 20 years' experience delivering enterprise-wide e-discovery, managed services and software projects with legal and IT departments in publicly held companies. Follow her on Twitter (@mackmary) and on her blog, Sound Evidence, on DiscoveryResources.org (www.discoveryresources.org).
Download the Webcast
Download the Podcast
Download the Webcast Slides