Creating a Defensible Evidence Preservation/Collection Plan
August 30, 2005
Most companies have fairly comprehensive document retention/destruction policies for both paper and electronic information. Often, these policies have been crafted to meet a disparate range of state, local, federal and regulatory laws (HIPPA, SEC, Sarbanes-Oxley, etc.) that impact document retention schedules. For large companies that face regular, complex litigation (<i>ie</i>, "serial litigants"), the greatest challenge is when the company has to suspend these policies in response to litigation. A company's obligation to preserve data does not necessarily begin at the exact moment a complaint is filed. Rather, recent case law, local statutes, and American Bar Association (ABA) guidelines prescribe that a company's obligation to preserve data begins at the time litigation becomes likely.
Steering e-Discovery's Course
August 03, 2005
A group of vendors, attorneys and other electronic-discovery services "consumers" hopes to use public input to develop a reference model that would help set e-discovery standards and guidelines.
How To Choose An EDD Trainer
August 03, 2005
Even the most seasoned litigator may be puzzled by such arcane terminology as deduplication, metatags, blowbacks and concept querying. To make sense of the electronic-data discovery (EDD) process in general, and to further ensure that the litigator is adept in using the selected litigation review and production tools, selecting a trainer with the appropriate skills and pedagogical technique, combined with "real world" experience in setting up review workflows and meeting production deadlines, is nothing short of critical.
e-Discovery And Inevitable Litigation
August 03, 2005
Electronic discovery in today's quickly changing litigation environment presents many new demands and dangers for counsel and risk management executives. Dire warnings are being issued about the consequences of e-discovery, and with good reason. In cases such as <i>Zubulake</i>, companies have been punished for failing, in the court's eyes, to preserve electronic evidence properly. The penalties range from the severe ' attorneys' fees ' to the extreme ' the entry of default judgment. <br>There are, however, steps you can take now ' before a lawsuit is filed ' that may improve your company's ability to preserve electronic evidence without unduly burdening day-to-day operations.
Preparing Temporary Attorneys For An Online Repository Review
August 03, 2005
Training large document-review teams to consistently apply specified review criteria to millions of pages of often mind-numbingly dull documents has long been a challenge for counsel. The time- and cost-savings offered by online review tools, along with the enhanced automated quality control features of such tools, have made electronic review an increasingly compelling option for large-scale, time-pressured document reviews. While electronic-document review projects have become more common in the last few years, setting up the project and training attorneys in preparation for review remains challenging.
2005 Bankruptcy Act: What Your Company Needs To Know
July 28, 2005
On April 20, 2005, President Bush signed into law the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (the Act). The Act made significant modifications to the United States Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. Section 101, <i>et seq.</i>) and related federal statutes. While initial focus centered on the Act's consumer bankruptcy provisions, the Act also contains provisions that significantly impact businesses and their representatives, including officers, directors and employees.
FCPA Enforcement In A Sarbanes-Oxley World
July 28, 2005
American companies and their officers and employees doing business overseas are learning the hard way about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). For many years after its enactment in 1977, the government initiated relatively few investigations and enforcement actions charging violations of the Act. This was largely due to the government's difficulties in evidence gathering. Recently, however, the number of such enforcement actions has increased significantly.
Hotline
July 28, 2005
This month: <p>Second Circuit defines standard for loss causation pleadings<br>SEC liberalizes the Quiet-Period rule<br>Employer recovers legal fees for frivolous portion of discrimination claim<br>D.C. Circuit directs SEC to reconsider mutual fund governance rule<br>
