One of the big “buzzwords” that has picked up steam in the e-discovery universe is early case assessment or “ECA.”  It was also all the rage the LegalTech, just as “e-discovery” was in 2006 when the new rules came into effect.  That being said, Josh Kubicki has his own opinion on ECA.

From Joshua Kubicki:

Early Case Assessment (ECA) has gained momentum recently as ediscovery matures and clients look to improve their ability to not just respond but detect and assess issues proactively. The unfortunate truth is that the strong majority of proposed ECA solutions or products are nothing more that ediscovery accelerators. What is being sold is not necessarily ECA but a quicker more robust ediscovery process. The fact is that ECA has been around for decades and it is not something that can be addressed by technology alone or by speeding up the ediscovery process (though this could be useful at times)…

From the 451 Group:

For what was once a fairly staid Old Economy business, Iron Mountain has done a better job than most companies in acclimating itself to the digital age. The records management vendor has accomplished that with eight acquisitions over the past half-decade, picking up technology for online backup and e-discovery, among other offerings. The $158m purchase of e-discovery provider Stratify stands, in many ways, as Iron Mountain’s marquee acquisition for its digital business. It has maintained the Stratify name and, last November, turned its whole digital subsidiary over to Ramana Venkata, the founder and former CEO of Stratify…

…However, the market has been buzzing recently with another possible pairing for Iron Mountain – Mimosa Systems. Although Mimosa has talked in the past about going public this year, we have always thought that an acquisition of the company was more likely…

• Forget “quote of the day,” this may be the quote of the conference.
• This was by far the most interesting review platform that I saw at LegalTech.
• I give credit where credit is due, Bob Ambrogi did scoop me on the Thomson Reuters/SuperLawyers acquisition.
• Here is some more on Westlaw and Lexis.
• Ari Kaplan does a ton of interviews
• Sean Doherty puts in his two cents, so does Monica Bay.
• Niki Black put up her thoughts on UStream, while the folks from RocketMatter filmed their experience on YouTube.
• Guess who is now an “eDiscovelebrity?”
• Tamir Sigal liked the conference buzz.
• The Posse List is also fairly upbeat about things to come.
• Adrian Dayton writes on Gladwell and “infinite intelligence.”
• Superbowl Sunday is here!  There is a party I am going to try to make that is less than 2 miles from my house.  However, after all the snow I feel like I should leave 4 hours early.
• There are actually some really good photos of the storm on The Washington Post website.

Ugh, there is so much stuff I still need to do.  My arrival back from LegalTech was almost as overwhelming as the three days spent at LegalTech.  It is amazing on how much you miss when you are away from it, even if it’s for a short while.

Anyway I am trapped in my house due to the snow. I am also trying to upload a video I made at LegalTech to the blog as well as finish up a few post for Above The Law. You would think I would be tech savvy enough to figure out how to load my own video.  Well, you would be wrong.  No worries, I will figure it out.

Hope all is well with everyone.  -Gabe

PS: Here is a link to a snowball fight that was promoted on Facebook from the Washiongton Post.  The snowball page gain over 5000 fans.  Not sure how many actually showed.

That’s me on the right with Greg Bufithis, founder of The Posse List at the Fios Reception at LegalTech NYC

I’m over here.

I will be back to Gabe’s Guide shortly, but I want to put up a few more posts on Above The Law.  The people at Above the Law have been more than wonderful.

Here is a new platform that was introduced just before LegalTech.

From their website:

Epiq’s IQ Review solves the challenge of rapidly locating the documents that are actually responsive to a matter – typically less than 20% of a collection. Combining the best technology with the smartest procedures, IQ Review is the most intelligent, cost effective end-to-end approach to any matter.

A cornerstone of IQ Review is the ability to prioritize your documents by responsiveness…before review begins…

I arrived safely NYC this afternoon via the Bolt Bus from DC. I am really looking forward to this year’s LegalTech, which will most likely dominate this blog over the next few days. Although I will be mainly blogging with Above The Law, I will be linking back to this blog as much as I can.

First event is at 6:30 this evening.  It’s a party hosted by Technolawyer at an Italian restaurant called “A Voce.” So I better get cracking…

From a marketing perspective, doeLegal was one of the most creative vendors from last year’s LegalTech.  They had an actor playing Mark Twain who was taking pictures with everyone, including me.  Unfortunately I don’t have my picture anymore, but I look really forward to seeing what they come up with this year.

From their website:

doeLegal knows the risks associated with eDiscovery Collections that do not meet court requests.  By helping our clients avoid these pitfalls, doeLegal has been able to ensure current and emerging operational and regulatory requirements for ESI collections are constantly met.  Our own experts are ready to assist during early case assessment, searching/ retrieval, culling, and de-duping.  Incorporating simplicity while maintaining defensible chain of custody is crucial today. Maximizing technology and Minimizing Expenses is what doeDiscovery and doeLegal provide clients around the world…

From Sean Doherty of Law.com:

LegalTech Descends on New York

What are the next big improvements in information technology that will benefit lawyers and law firms? Find out at LegalTech New York.

LegalTech brings lawyers, paralegals, law firm administrators, developers, manufacturers, and technologists, and more to the Hilton New York from Feb. 1-3 to share developments and improvements in legal technology, including e-discovery. In 2009, LegalTech New York attracted nearly 13,000 attendees and featured almost 300 exhibiting companies. This year’s attendance will be comparable to 2009, says Henry Payne Dicker, vice president of ALM Events, and is ahead in some categories, like paid registrations…

Hat Tip: RR

Over at The Posse List, there is an interview with both Jason Baron and Ralph Losey that is worth checking out.  The interview is part of their series “Data! Data! Data!” — Cures for a General Counsel’s ESI Nightmares”.

Here is a snippet from the intro:

Jason and Ralph have been creating a  movie entitled “e-Discovery: Did You Know?” which will be premiered in it’s final form next weeks at LegalTech New York.  We have seen several ”beta” versions and discussed it before (click here).   It always seems to blow away the crowd.  The guts of the presentation in a nutshell:  e-discovery is expanding exponentially and Ralph and Jason speak in petabytes, and exabytes — not terabytes.

From Anthony Vittoria of Ober Kaler on the impact of electronic documents in everyday business:

There have been literally thousands of articles commenting on the new rules adopted by the federal courts regarding electronic documents (such as e-mail and spreadsheets) during litigation. Most of those articles focus on the obligations of the parties and their counsel to preserve and produce relevant electronic documents to the opposition. Still other articles focus on purely legal issues such as the preservation of the attorney- client privilege in the midst of a large production of electronic documents, and the “safe harbor” provision included in the new rules that addresses accidentally deleted electronic documents.

In the midst of this sound and fury, what is often ignored are the effects that this new focus on electronic documents has on the everyday operation of a business. One of the most important aspects of the new rules that could significantly affect how a business is run is the requirement that the parties address — very early in the litigation process — particular issues relating to electronic documents, including the number, location and format of the relevant electronic documents. Because court deadlines are tight and failure to meet those deadlines could result in severe penalties, companies that have a firm grasp of these issues prior to the commencement of a lawsuit will have a distinct advantage, both in litigation and in everyday affairs.

The following are a few of the important things regarding electronic documents that every business, especially a construction- related business, should know…

This blog from California e-discovery attorney and consultant, Perry Segal is a good read.  He tends to cover alot of e-discovery odds and ends that many people miss.

From his last post:

e-Discovery LOL: Open Sesame!

Person1:  Did you set up a password for the system?

Person2:  I sure did.  It’s “Cabaret+FiddlerontheRoof+Camelot+Sacramento”

Person1:  What kind of a crazy password is that?!?!?!

Person2:  Well, the network administrator said it should include at least three numbers and one capital!

But seriously, folks…check out this great article…

Here are just a sample of press releases/announcements I have received in the last two days:

• Stratify Bolsters eDiscovery Production Capabilities
• H5 Introduces H5 EDGE™ Classifier for Enterprise Information Governance
• Autonomy roll out trio of new products inc iManage conflict manager
• Epiq Systems Expanded Electronic Discovery Segment Finishes 2009 on a Strong Note
• Falcon Discovery Unveils InsideOutTM, an “Insourced” e-Discovery Services Practice

Although I love to post about great legal marketing, I rarely, if ever, have posted about a legal marketing company.  That being said, I have to hand it to Edge Legal Marketing.  In the run up to LegalTech NYC, Edge has been very busy with many aspects of the conference.  Their newest innovation is The Edge Room, explained below, which will be very helpful to “blogger know-it-alls” like me.

From the TheEdgeRoom.com:

Edge Legal Marketing and the LegalTech have partnered to provide The Edge Room – a new take on the old press room. We understand the importance of having an easy way for editors and vendors to communicate and The Edge Room enables exhibitors to easily upload their company information and show announcements, and give the media attending the event secured and easy access to view this information and plan out who they want to visit or meet with at the event. If you are media or an exhibitor and need a username and password, click Here.

Over at the ABA Books Brief Blog, you can read an excerpt of Electronic Evidence and Discovery: What Every Lawyer Should Know Now, Second Edition, by Michele C.S. Lange and Kristin M. Nimsger.

Cost Allocation for E-Discovery

The price tag connected to an electronic discovery project can be significant, depending on the circumstances of the case. Not surprisingly, some of the most intense arguments ensue over which party should bear the costs associated with e-discovery. All courts have the authority to require a party requesting discovery to pay the costs that will be incurred by the responding party; it is in the court’s discretion whether to exercise this authority, and under what circumstances…

From their website:

Integreon’s eView™ Document Review Platform is a proprietary application built upon a powerful, scalable SQL-based engine. It features an easy-to-use, Citrix web-based interface. eView substantially reduces the time and expense associated with attorney document review and is ideal for large and complex projects. eView helps clients to:

• Control Cost: Reduce the cost of review by enabling more efficient management and reporting for the entire review process.
• Minimize Risk: Facilitate timely completion and accuracy with built-in workflow and quality control capabilities to ensure production of only responsive data.

The eView Advantage

• Configurable Workflow: eView permits a flexible approach to management of reviewer workflows and document assignments.
• Administrative Control: eView provides client administrative control, with the flexibility to call on assistance from Integreon when preferred.
• Real-Time Reporting: Productivity metrics assist clients with understanding how many documents have been reviewed, who reviewed them, and how long the review process is taking.