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The New Wave of Concept Search Tools
Although the concept of concept searching has been around for at least 2,000 years in philosophical circles and was first realized in the software world in the 1970s, it is making big news in today's electronic discovery and automated litigation support world. Over the past year, a series of vendors have introduced software solutions they claim can take us far beyond the results we get using tools built around searching full text or coding data using key words, strings of text and Boolean search algorithms. Whether it is through mimicking the thought processes of high-level aquatic mammals, developing libraries of semantically and geographically related words and terms or displaying documents as masses of dots within sprays of bubbles, these software programs, we are told, are the automated litigation support equivalent to Big Blue, the computerized chess champion.
Are they? Yes ' and no.
Yes: The electronic discovery market has been growing at a stunning rate ' probably doubling each year since 1999 and likely to continue to do so for the next couple of years. That growth means that we are starting to have to deal with cases where the potentially relevant data is the equivalent of tens, or even hundreds, of millions of pages of documents. We cannot work through that volume of data using the methods developed in the 1980s and 90s ' scanning, manual coding and then computerized searching using key words, string searches or Boolean algebra. Even in a bet-the-company case, only the rarest of parties can bear the costs of sending all that data through all those processes. And even then, we just cannot wait the time it takes to complete those steps. The methods of the late 90s ' capturing electronic data electronically, converting it to a more readily searchable electronic form and then searching it using key words, etc. ' are better but still not good enough. Too often, that means sitting 50, 100 or more attorneys before computers and asking them to review all the documents online. Even with culling based on hash codes and similar criteria, the volume of data can still be too great for a meaningful and timely human review.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Removing Restrictive Covenants In New York
In Rockwell v. Despart, the New York Supreme Court, Third Department, recently revisited a recurring question: When may a landowner seek judicial removal of a covenant restricting use of her land?