Law Technology News - Sample Issue

FEET

Expecting the unexpected — tech predictions for 2013: http://at.law.com/LTN132 TC

SPEED BUMPS

For several years now, LTN’s February signature has been our E-Discovery Showcase, and this year is no exception. We look back at the last 12 months to see where we’ve been, and try to predict the new year.

In 2012, one topic dominated: predictive coding (aka technology-assisted review or computer-assisted review). So it’s a safe bet that as we gather at the Hilton New York for Legal Tech 2013, it will be front and center.

But there is one sure sign that electronic data discovery is maturing: We’re starting to hear a bit more loudly from the skeptics. Perhaps “skeptics” is too severe a label; “ cautious” may be a better moniker. I doubt that anyone under the age of 75 would seriously propose that TAR be abandoned, but credible folks are suggesting that we just might want to shift out of overdrive. Speed, after all, can have unfortunate consequences, they argue.

Among those waving the yellow caution
flag is United States District Court Magistrate
Judge James C. Francis IV, of the Southern
District of New York. In our Communiqué col-
umn, Francis calls for more “Judicial Modesty”
when it comes to e-discovery. Jurists might
want to hesitate before they jump into tech-
nology decision-making in cases. “At some
point,” he says, “judicial intervention morphs
into judicial interference and ends up as a net
burden on the litigation.”
And in our inaugural “Vendor Voice” com-
mentary, attorney Howard Reissner, CEO of
Planet Data sings harmony. He, too, is wary
of what he sees as overzealous enthusiasm.

He supports TAR, but with a careful eye on
the speedometer: “We still are very much at
the ‘trust but verify’ stage of TAR, and attor-
neys still worry that we may be giving up the
ability to obtain what we seek in discovery.
And we have yet to see the consequences of
not selecting the proper tool for the data set
in a case,” says Reissner. “Perhaps the bot-
tom line, for now, is attorneys should care-
fully divine their judge’s interest, expertise,
and assertiveness when it comes to the use of
TAR in any litigation.”
Our cover story, “Discovery on the Go,”
by Alan Cohen, explores how vendors are
addressing the explosion of tablet comput-
ers and increasingly smart phones. Cohen
reveals some of the options currently avail-
able, and in development, to help litigators
manage and execute e-discovery tasks.

Littler Mendelson’s Cecil Lynn III presents his third annual “E-Discovery Year in Review,” providing a concise analysis of 2012’s most important cases. We complement his report with highlights from December’s Georgetown Advanced E-Discovery Institute, held in Tysons Corner, Va. The conference has become a must-attend event for the EDD intelligentsia, due to the active participation of front-line judges who analyze the year’s key e-discovery cases and trends.

Our EDD columnist Craig Ball takes on the question of why anybody is still using .tiff or load files when processing electronically stored information. In Paradigm Shift, Foley & Lardner’s Adam Losey reveals the six most important technology trends of 2012 that in-house lawyers should watch in 2013.

Big Data and privacy, cousins to EDD, are also tackled in this issue. John Edwards takes us on a “Big Data Dip,” explaining how predic-

tive analytics can help companies and firms harness data collections. In “Privacy, Illustrated,” we look at how J. Trevor Hughes created a PowerPoint presentation that dramatically illuminated nuanced privacy issues by using images of fine art and You Tube videos.

Never fear, if you have tired of EDD. There’s plenty more on our agenda, such as Sean Doherty’s review of four mobile Wi-Fi storage devices; Robert Ambrogi’s assessment of ALM’s updated VerdictSearch; and two case studies that address how White & Case helps its lawyers manage “attention,” and lessons learned at Xerdict Group when Sedgwick lawyers wanted (gasp!) to work offline.

We so hope to see you at Legal Tech New York 2013. Please help us congratulate the winners of our 2012 LTN Innovation Awards, at 9 a.m., Jan. 31, and everyone is invited to our free Editors’ Breakfast, at 8 a.m. at the Gibson Suite, on Jan. 30, which segues into the Legal Bloggers’ Breakfast at 9 a.m.