COLORADO EDD SUMMIT

Jeffrey Staal, litigation support manager of Denver's Davis Graham & Stubbs, checks in to let you know that the Colorado Association of Litigation Support Professionals will host its third annual E-Discovery Summit on October 30 at the Grand Hyatt Denver.

The event will feature Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck, (right) who is featured in Law Technology News' October "Up Close" will address the creation of a search protocol. 

Other speakers include Beth Niepokuj of Plunkett Cooney, Marcy Heronimus of Sherman & Howard, David Garrett of Stroz Friedberg, Elleanor Chin of Davis, Wright & Tremaine, and Timothy Gordon of Holland & Hart. A cocktail reception ends the day. For more information, contact Staal.

IM-PECK-ABLE

Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck, who serves on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, has been quite active in drafting e-discovery rulings, such as March's William A. Gross Construction Associates, Inc. v. American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Co. and Anti-Monopoly, Inc. v. Hasbro, Inc. -- both establishing important guidance for the creation keywords for searching electronically stored information. (See here, here, and here.)

But did you know that Peck also has written a reference book on all things Sherlock Holmes? Or that he drives to work (unusual for a Manhattanite). And you probably won't be surprised to see that he and I share the same favorite website. After all, he lives in New York City!

Check it out here in the October issue of Law Technology News.

STRANGE TIMES ELABORATED

 Can't get enough of the Socha/Gelbmann e-discovery survey report? (August Law Technology News' cover  story?)

Well, you have two different opportunities to hear more about it! We have produced both a podcast and a full webinar, both featuring George Socha and Tom Gelbmann discussing the always-anticipated report -- which found some seemingly contradictory trends -- including the simultaneous constriction and expansion of e-discovery services, and a continuing shortfall in qualified support staff.

You can listen to the free webinar, produced by Law.com, and proudly sponsored by Fios and Daticon EED.

The Law Technology Now podcast, produced by our partners at the Legal Talk Network, can be found here or here or on iTunes! 

SHOULD EDD PROFESSIONALS BE CERTIFIED?

Chere Estrin starts the debate over at EDD Update --  see why she and others have formed the Organization for Legal Professionals, and dive into the discussion and let us know whether you think e-discovery certification would help -- or hinder -- employees and employers.

7th ANNUAL TWINS/YANKS FEST

Bye Bye Dome.... The 7th annual Twins/Yanks fest was, as always, Big Fun -- a chance to connect with the terrific Twins Cities tech community and say goodbye to the Metrodome... (well, unless we meet again in October!)

As always, it was a jam-packed three days of vendor meetings and beisbol! We started off the trip with our annual visit to Thomson Reuters, with huge thanks to John Shaughnessy (far left), Gretchen DeSutter (below)  and Scott Augustin (left) for setting up a day of helpful briefings. We had a chance to say a quick hello to Allison Guidette, who has returned to Eagan as vp of litigation (she was headed to the airport for a trip west); then visited with Preston McKenzie, vp of  Hubbard One (which includes ContactNet, Hubbard One and Monitor Suite). Then we got a fascinating update from Rob Sargeson, senior vp & CIO, about the company's expansion plans for its massive data centers.

Over a yummy evil midwest lunch, (TR's commissary is just too tempting!)  Mike Abbott and Stephanie Krause updated us on pro bono projects designed to help displaced legal professionals. It's always great to see vp Laurie Zenner and the corporate communications team, which also includes Kevin Hunt and Michele Endgahl in addition to the aforementioned folks.

Then Denis Hauptly (vp strategic development), who has just returned from a long stint in Switzerland, offered his mighty wisdom about uber search and other trends on the horizon. Here's a link to his new book, Something Really New, which I will be reading shortly!

Next on the agenda was a briefing on the Westlaw Business' global outreach, with marketing vp Gus Thompson)  and sr. director Rob Kirchstein (with Gretchen, above).  The day wrapped up with sr. director Brian Knudsen mktg mgr John Vonhor offering me a tour of the company's PeopleMap public information software that helps everybody from litigators to skip tracers track down 411 on folks.

Before I headed to the Dome with Teri "Jersey Girl" McCarron and Teddy Lindgren for game 1 of the Twins/Yanks series, Incisive's Michael Medwig and Marnie Maroney (below left in white shirt, with Paul Godlewski from Thomson Reuters) and I  visited 3M -- with mktg communications mgr Joan Olseen and Erik Johnson for an update on the company's popular RFID system that helps law firms and companies track their paper files.(BTW, apparently Teri is not the only "JG" in Mpls -- check out the license plate I saw at Thomson Reuter parking lot!)

Day 2 began with an update from NightOwl, which offers document management services. Scott Sterkel, director of sales and mktg, told us how the company is growing with its e-discovery offerings.

Then it was off to Eden Praire to meet up with the Kroll Ontrack gang, including Christian Betancourt and Megan Kubacki, (left). Kaitlin Shinkle regaled us with reports on her June wedding at the St. Paul hotel (Congrats! plus a shout out to Michelle Lange, who is on maternity leave!)

Finally, we had a very interesting meeting with Avantstar's Matt Knudson about the company's content management system, and how they are getting increasing traction within the e-discovery community.

Then it was to the Dome for the Twins/Yanks fest. Thanks to everybody who joined us, including LTN edit board members George Socha and Tom Gelbmann (right); consultants LaVerne Pritchard and Linda Ulbrich. As usual, the gangs from Thomson  Reuters and Kroll. 

The Dorsey & Whitney crew included partner Melissa Krasnow, left in red -- who with colleague Nick Ackerman, was the star of our May Law Technology Now podcast. Next to Krasnow is her friend, General Mills counsel Cam Hoang. Also from Dorsey was Patrick Courtemanche (in light blue shirt) who has joined the firm's marketing department, with Dorsey marketing colleague Bob Kleiber (in royal blue shirt).

We were also thrilled that LTN's former associate editor Katie Montgomery could come north from Iowa to be with us! Incisive's Rob Hafiz of LegalTech also joined in the fun, as did Curt Meltzer of Meltzer Consulting, and Sean Solberg, of Faegre & Benson (far right).

BTW, we send our best wishes to Linda Will, who's on the DL, for a speedy recovery, and a shout-out to Amy Juers, who missed her first Twins/Fest because she was in California (good excuse!). 

Huge thanks to Luis Breazeale of the Twins for all his help getting us such great seats (behind home plate!) It was a great, tight game, a nailbiter all the way to the end, when Mariano faced Mauer, and for only the third time in our seven year Twins/Yanks fest history, the Yanks actually won. (Sorry, Minnesota fans :) On top of the good game, one of our rows was selected as the Hormel Hot Dog Row of the Game  -- so everybody in the middle of our group got a free hot dog! What a hoot!!

Day 3 started with a few "issues" with my Garmin Nuvi 200 -- actually, it wasn't the tech's fault, it was my fault for not updating the maps. The Twins City is undergoing a massive amount of construction (Three people told me the same joke: "Minnesota has two seasons: winter and road construction") and the whole area is completely chewed up (especially downtown) rivaling Boston's Big Dig. Trying to get to Roseville to meet up with the Merrill gang, I could not find an open on-ramp to 35W North -- and ended up almost at Bloomington trying to get north. I am soooo updating my maps before my next adventure!

But because I'm paranoid and always leave extra time to find new places, even with Garmin's 90% reliable "Jill," I pulled into the parking lot just at the meeting time. Thanks to Leonard Lee and the Merrill team for a terrific conversation about social networking, e-discovery and all the challenges they present. We enjoyed meeting with marketers Scott Snyder, Diana Lepper, and Dawn Edwards!

Finally, before heading back home, I had a chance to visit with Jon Bream, my colleague from my days at the Minnesota Daily, who is the veteran music critic at the Star Tribune. (His latest "coffee table" book is Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin). We headed to Wasabi, which I highly recommend as a terrific Japanese restaurant right about halfway between the  Guthrie theater and the Dome. 

We noticed a lovely new restaurant in the same complex, Sanctuary, and took the opportunity to get a quick tour from Michael Kutscheid, owner and GM. The charming bistro also has a sweet outdoor garden -- and I definitely plan to visit it on my next trip to Minnesota, hopefully in October! 

And if not for post-season, we'll look forward to returning next year for OUTDOOR baseball at the new Target Field (we'll bring our down coats). 

More photos here.

PECK & WAXSE HOLD COURT AT ROUND TABLE

Fascinating dinner last night with the Fios (see below) gang, to kick off LegalTech West Coast. Mary Mack and Debbie Caldwell were among the orchestrators of the evening, which featured two prominent U.S. Magistrate Judges who you have been reading a lot about (in Craig Ball's EDD column): Andrew Peck, (far left) of the Southern District of NY, and David Waxse (left) , of the District of Kansas. It was a sneak preview, of sorts, of tomorrow's keynote address at LegalTech West Coast.

Mary Mack moderated the eat-and-talk roundtable discussion, which drew about 25 lawyers and one summer associate for an off-the-record discussion of recent discovery trends. Peck recently caused a lot of heat with his Gross case ruling, a "wake up call to the bar" chastising attorneys about sloppy searches and failure to truly cooperate with opposing counsel (See Ball's June column), Waxse authored the key  Williams v. Spring/United Management Co. case in 2006.(See ABA Journal's "These Cases Rock").

The two men interact well together and quickly drew the audience into the discussion, which covered a lot of territory running from ethics to how EDD requests are sometimes used to bully the other side into submission because the sheer cost of production.

Both judges -- along with Tom Allman and moderator Carole Basri -- will be presenting the Thursday keynote (immediately following our "Green Your Career" networking breakfast for jobseekers) at LegalTech West Coast, at the LA Convention Center. Don't miss it. These two judges are entertaining, and substantive, and it's bound to be a great panel. For information, visit www.legaltechshow.com -- or just come on' over to the LA Convention Center!

MANAGEMENT SHIFT AT FIOS

Apparently, there's been a big shift in the exec offices at Fios. I'll find out more details tomorrow when I meet with their team, but John Hesse  (right) is now listed on their website as the "interim CEO" replacing Gerald Massey.

LTN board member Tom O'Connor (director of the Gulf Coast Legal Tech Center) tipped us that last Friday Prashant Dubey (SVP Consulting), Sam Panarella (VP Consulting) and Jeanette Siepian (SVP Sales & Marketing) were all let go. Dubey and Panarell's LinkedIn pages show the departures, Siepian's still states Fios employment.Massey's says he's still on the board of directors, but no longer lists CEO title.

Fios' Debbie Caldwell just confirmed the departures:

"Gerald is no longer CEO, he left in May.  He initiated the change as part of a succession plan, with discussions beginning last fall. Gerald maintained, and still does, full confidence by the board. He continues to be involved with Fios, both as a member of the board of directors and a shareholder. John Hesse, the company’s CFO, is the interim CEO

Additional changes:  Fios has made organizational changes within the company to better align our resources to take advantage of the rapidly changing e-discovery market. To better address market needs, Fios has combined its sales and professional services divisions and is also expanding its product teams."

MAILBAG #061209

I'm just about ready to head out to Charlie Haas' 7:30 p.m. book reading at the Barnes & Noble in the Village (396 6th @ 8th) for his new book, The Enthusiast... but before I dash out the door, need to catch up on some incoming!

• Attorney Paul Levine  also has a new novel out -- Illegal -- and he introduces a new "trouble-prone hero," Jimmy (Royal) Payne. It's a tale set in the California desert that tells the plight of a 12-year-old boy whose mom disappears during a border crossing. It was inspired by real events, says Levine. "A thriller with a social conscience, the book combines the moral decay of Chinatown with the sudden violence of No Country for Old Men," he says.

• Audrey Rubin checks in to announce the launch of her new website, Rubin Solutions. (Sigh, will they never learn -- but at least it rhymes!) (Audrey: NO SOLUTIONS!!!!!! It's the most abused word in the English language.) Chicago-based Rubin (right) served as COO for seven years at Wildman Harrold Allen and Dixon, and at Butler Rubin Saltarelli and Boyd.

• Clifford Chance's Sally King chimes in with a request to spread the word about a petition to help pass legislation that would protect women from "drive thru" mastectomies. Check it out here. This is really important -- and doesn't impact just women. Men, sign it too! Your mothers, wives, daughters and friends will appreciate your support.

• Frederick Hertz, my pal from SFO, also has a new book, which debuts in July  from NOLO, with Emily Doskow: Making it Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Parnterships & Civil Unions. Here's an interview with Hertz: Part 1 and Part 2.  (The book's not showing up on the Nolo site). 

• And we are not done with new books: Perry Binder says Unlocking Your Rubber Room will motivate you to achieve professional satisfaction, and is based on his courtroom and classroom experiences. (He's now a legal studies professor at Georgia State Univ. 

• Mais Oui! The Association of Legal Administrators has launched a French version of its website, available here.  It features French language introductions to key ino, special resources, and links to the English language section of ALA's main website.

• Perry Segal wants you to know about his blog, E-Discovery Insights, which covers EDD from a California lawyer's perspective.

• Adobe's Rick Borstein found this post from Matthew Buchanan about virtual letterhead to be a very green idea, (with a hat tip to Stephen Nipper). 

OK, all for now... I'm off to hear about Henry Bay!

MO' MAILBAG #052009

JoAnna Forshee checks in to let folks know that it will provide 10 scholarships to unemployed attorneys who are job hunting, to attend its "Get a Life" Conference that is presented by the Total Practice Management Association. It is a two-day workshop on marketing and practice management and social networking that will be held in Chicago on May 27 & 28. Deadline to apply, 5/22, 5 p.m. CST. 411 here.

• Brent  Bourque has replaced long-time director of marketing Connie Moser at Los Angeles-based Elite. She's a tough act to follow! Bourque, based in New Orleans, has been with Elite for 12 years, starting in sales. His title is senior director, strategic marketing and business intelligence, and he can be reached here.

• Charlie Haas, who went to University of California Santa Cruz, along with lawyer/marketer Louise Rosen Byer et moi, is embarking on a book tour for his latest novel, The Enthusiast (Harper Perennial). Check out his book readings:

Tuesday, June 2, 7:00 pm  - Books Inc. at Opera Plaza, San Francisco.
Thursday, June 4, 7:00 PM - A Great Good Place for Books, Oakland (Montclair district).
Monday, June 8, 7:00 PM - Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square, Oakland.
Friday, June 12, 7:30 PM - Barnes & Noble, 396 Avenue of the Americas (at 8th St.), New York, N.Y.
Thursday, June 18, 7:30 PM - Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles.

 I'm planning to attend the NYC reading -- after all, the main character's name is Henry Bay!

Charlie also wrote the sequel (Gremlins 2) to one of my all-time favorite movies Gremlins. (Whenever I'm in a funk I just remember the scene with all the critters singing "Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to work I go" with popcorn bucket hats!)

• Stephanie Hall wants you to know about her Relay for Life -- the American Cancer Society fundraiser she participates in every year to honor her mother, who she lost to cancer almost five years ago. Any donation helps.

• And our LTN colleague Theodora Blanchfield is also participating in a project, to benefit the Cancer Survivorship Initiative at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in N.Y. She's running to hnor her grandfather, Herbert Blanchfield, who died of mesothelioma in 2000. 

• Steve Schwartz reports that certain LSAT PrepTests (past administered LSAT exams) are available only to students who take prep courses, not those who self-study. Check it out on his LSAT Blog. 

MAILBAG #050109

Catchin' up with the inbox:

• Andy Adkins, of the Univ. of Florida (Gainsville) found this amazing update of Captain Sully's seaplane adventure: Download Hudson. It's even better than the ones I previously posted.

• Barkley Court Reporters check in to tell us  that -- as of March -- it has planted 10,000 trees on behalf of clients, as part of its "Green" program that encourages litigators to put transcripts in online repositories include of printing them on paper. Pat Barkley wrote about the program in LTN's Green Law column in July, 2007. 

• Brooke Keyser of RainMaker also checks in with a progress report, about the "Pay it Forward" challenge issued by James Hammond. (We wrote about it last month.) To date, RainMaker has awarded $127,850 in economic assistance funds, of the $1 million it has pledged, she says, and saw a 273% increase in traffic to its website. More than 1,000 firms expressed interest in the program, she says. The first firm to participate is Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman, says RainMaker. 

• Angelique Schaffer of Thomson Reuters reminds me to post this video from the WestBlog produced at this winter's LegalTech New York, (#LTNY) with yours truly pontificating on all things legal tech.

Blogosphere Updates:

• John Grisely reports that that he is building up the resource section of his blog, Mesothelioma Questions. 

• Andreana Pentaris wants you to konw about a new website, LawFirms.com. It devotes articles and resources to a vareity of legal topics, running from criminal defense to bankruptcy, and also has a blog, Legal Research Guides.

• Danielle Walker reports that  E-Lessoned Learned ( eLLblog) has been revamped.

• A.J. Levy -- who  writes the Out of the Box Lawyering blog forwards this post about some creative uses for Dragon Naturally Speaking voice recognition software. He also alerts us to a new blog targeting lawyers who use iPhones.

GREEN YOUR CAREER: A NETWORKING BREAKFAST

This erratic economy has been tough on everybody, but none more so than the members of our legal technology community who have lost their jobs. It's difficult, scary, and challenging for even the most self-confident professionals.

Our Incisive gang wants to help -- so we decided to team up at LegalTech West Coast and offer a simple, heartfelt gesture: On day 2 (Thursday June 25) we will host a very informal, free "Green Your Career" networking breakfast, from 7:45--8:45 a.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

It will be co-hosted by Law Technology News and law.jobs, with the support of the LegalTech crew, and has a straightforward format:  We're inviting job seekers -- as well as vendors and law firm leaders (even if you do not currently have an available opening).

For the first half-hour, we'll just schmooze together, and enjoy coffee, tea, danish, etc. — i.e., a chance to "work the room."  Then we'll gather at round tables, where at each table a leader of our community will talk about how he or she survived/thrived thru a career transition. Among the scheduled speakers are:

• John Tredennick, who was a litigator partner at Holland & Hart when he spun off Catalyst Respository Systems.
• Tom Collins, former owner of Juris Inc., who survived cancer and now is a murder mystery novelist!
• J. Craig Williams, who shuttered his small firm and joined Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold.
• Mary Mack, renowned counsel at Fios Inc.
• Brad Blickstein, who opened his own consultancy to help businesses serve corporate legal departments, after working in magazine publishing.
• Babs Deacon, who was one of the SPi folks who lost jobs last winter, who is the new director of consulting at Integreon, based in New York.
• Mark Reichenbach, who just joined Capital Legal Solutions after losing his gig at i365.
• John Lipsey, who left law practice to work for legal technology vendors, and now works for Martindale Hubbell Connected. 

The event is FREE -- and all attendees will be invited to stick around and visit our exhibit hall and the Day 2 Keynote Address (immediately following the breakfast) on us.

Job seekers will be encouraged to post their resumes on lawjobs.com, and all firms/vendors who attend will get free access to lawjobs.com (for a limited period, of course).

Again, just a simple concept:  let's provide an hour of inspiration, nurturing, contacts, and networking. 

Please come, whether you need a job, or just want to offer encouragement. And if you are coming to show support, please bring along a gift card (you can pick them up at most supermarkets or drug stores), so we can give a day brightener "party favor" to each job seeker. It can be just a few dollars (or more if you can tithe a bit more generously) -- to a national "chain" such as Starbucks, Target, Macy's, Chevron, Von's, movies, SuperCuts -- you get the picture. Something practical and upbeat that will lift spirits!

(If you can't attend and want to send a gift card, mail them to us c/o Law Technology News, 120 Broadway, 5th floor, NYC 10271.)

Job seekers: Come for warmth, support and new contacts! If you e-mail us at lawtech@incisivemedia.com, we'll have a badge ready for you (and that will help us make sure we have enough coffee and danish). But you can also just show up.

Firms/vendors: If you do have a spot open, what a better place to find great talent? And even if you don't, you might tomorrow -- so bring lots of business cards.

And as an added incentive for technology vendors: We will raffle off a wonderful lunch or dinner with moi (you can even use the word "solution" and I will promise to try not to cringe) where you can tell me about your company's plans, products and services and get a great meal on LTN!

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!  Visit www.legaltechshow for details, or e-mail LTN at lawtech@incisivemedia.com.

LAST but not least: Please help spread the word!  Twitter this! Blog this! Reprint this post freely! Let's get viral! The permalink is http://tinyurl.com/LTWCbkf. Twitter hash: #LTWC.

Update: Great news! The Los Angeles County Bar Association (which offers career resources on its website, has joined us as a co-sponsor of the breakfast!!

WATCH THE DOOR

With all the layoffs and corporate restructuring, sometimes legal holds can get lost in the shuffle. As computers and workloads get reassigned, sometimes key data can evaporate.

In LTN's April cover story, "Watch the Door," John Jablonski, a partner at Buffalo's Goldberg Segalla, offers a check list for folks in IT, risk management and HR, to help preserve proper legal holds.

Visit www.lawtechnologynow.com (or www.legaltalknetwork, or iTunes) to hear Jablonski talk with me about these issues -- and his upcoming Defense Research Institute conference. 

OBAMA: DON'T IGNORE EDD ISSUES

Law Technology News' e-discovery columnist has a message for President Obama: Don't ignore EDD issues while you revamp medical records." On the EDD Update blog Craig Ball urges the president to be careful about his push to digitize the nation's health care records.

If it is "done right, it can be truly a lifesaving legacy for the administration." But what can't get lost in the shuffle is that medical records are evidence -- so it's important to insure that EDD concerns have a place at the table when standards and systems are established, says Ball, an Austin-based lawyer and forensics technologist.

WHAT LIES BENEATH

With the news of layoffs at two EDD providers (i365/Metalincs and SPi), I thought you might want a sneak preview of Craig Ball's column "What Lies Beneath."

Ball warns us to be sure we have considered how to protect our firms and clients should a vendor evaporate.

View it here  or download it here: Download Ball_In_Your_Court

SHAME, SHAME: GENDER GAP FOR PARALEGALS

On our LegalBlogWatch, Bob Ambrogi spotted this report from Chere Estrin, noting that there appears to be a gender gap in paralegal pay (and no, the women are not making more than the men). Here's Bob's commentary:

Pay Inequity for Women Paralegals

Given that women have long outnumbered men among the ranks of paralegals, it would seem safe to assume that here is at least one segment of the legal profession where salaries are blind to gender. Surprisingly, such is not the case. In what Chere Estrin at The Estrin Report calls "the legal field's dirty little secret," it turns out that gender is very much a factor in pay scales for paralegals and legal assistants, with women earning only 93.2 percent of what men earn.

Based on an August report from the U.S. Census Bureau, Estrin writes that women paralegals and legal assistants earned a median salary in 2007 of $42,600. Men earned a median of $45,700. This was not as bad as the gap between female and male lawyers, where women earned a median of $93,600, just 77.8 percent of the median salary for men of $120,400. But still, writes Estrin, this is a field that was originally made up almost entirely of women and where women continue to far outnumber men. "No one can claim ... that men had the upper hand in terms of having a head start in the field."

So, what on earth has happened? Are you telling me that the majority of men do a better job than all women paralegals? So much so, that men will automatically get paid more?  Are you telling me that men are promoted to the manager position faster than women?  Not according to the International Paralegal Management Association whose membership lists approximately 90% of its members as women.

For Estrin, there is only one explanation, and that is that we still face a lack of equality between the genders. While we are less surprised by that in other fields, it is a shock for a field whose genesis is women. As Estrin says, "C'mon, Joe. Say it ain't so."

I think this is nothing short of outrageous, and I challenge every law firm, EDD vendor, and GC to drop everything  -- call HR -- check records and remedy this TODAY.

Update: Turns out, the paralegals and lit support women are in just about the best posture within legal: because the news is far worse about our industry as a whole. The census figures reveal even more grim statistics: across the board, our women are earning 51% of what our men earn. FIFTY ONE PERCENT!!!!! 

Why? Read some of the comments here and on EDD Update -- but one big reason appears to be that too many women don't negotiate effectively, and often take the initial salary offered to them without countering.

SNEAK PREVIEW: SOCHA/GELBMANN '08 SURVEY

Update before I turn over the mic -- the story's now live on  LTN website:

I turn the mic over to George Socha:                   

The anxiously awaited 2008 Socha-Gelbmann EDD Survey executive summary will be published in the August issue of Law Technology News, but here is a sneak preview to whet your appetite.

This year we gathered information from or about 107 EDD services and software providers, and from 29 law firms and 19 corporations.  Using more than 350 qualitative and quantitative factors, we ranked those providers - top overall EDD services providers, top overall EDD software providers, and top EDD providers in various categories.  Although one can, and perhaps should, take issue with the specific rankings, we feel that the providers listed below represent the best of the best, an elite cadre singled out from a field of well over 600 organizations that offer some form of EDD services or software.

At the same time, we cannot emphasize too much that these still are generalized rankings.  Anyone who makes buying decisions primarily on these rankings or any other generalized rankings is a fool.  Although as part of your selection process you might choose to consider these rankings, or rankings from the increasing number of other organizations who attempt to rate EDD providers, you really should conduct an analysis that focuses on your specific needs.  No generalized set of rankings will do this for you.

Our rankings are based on a detailed ranking model containing more than 350 qualitative and quantitative factors.  We used this model to evaluate information from or about 107 EDD services and software providers.

The top 5 electronic data discovery service providers, in alphabetical order, are:

    * Autonomy Zantaz
    * Fios Inc.
    * FTI
    * Kroll Ontrack
    * LexisNexis

Six through 10 for services are:

    * Encore Discovery Solutions
    * Epiq Systems Inc.
    * Huron Consulting Group Inc.
    * KPMG
    * Renew Data Corp.

Eleven through 15:

    * Electronic Evidence Discovery Inc.
    * Ernst & Young
    * Merrill Corp.
    * Onsite3
    * Stratify

And 16 through 25:

    * CaseCentral
    * Computer Forensic Services
    * Daticon
    * Discovery Mining
    * eMag Solutions
    * Guidance Software Inc.
    * IE Discovery Inc.
    * Pitney Bowes Legal Solutions
    * SPi
    * TechLaw Solutions

The top 5 electronic data discovery software providers, again in alphabetical order, based on a similar set of criteria, are:

    * Autonomy Zantaz
    * Clearwell Systems Inc.
    * FTI
    * Guidance Software Inc.
    * LexisNexis

Six through 10 for software are:

    * Attenex Corp.
    * CT Summation
    * Epiq Systems Inc.
    * iConect Development
    * Symantec Corp.

And 11 through 15:

    * AccessData Corp.
    * Equivio
    * Kazeon Systems Inc.
    * Kroll Ontrack
    * MetaLincs

In the August LTN issue, in print, and on its website (on August 1), and on EDD Update (August 4) we also will have:

    * Size of the market in 2007
    * Market size projections for 2008-2010
    * Discussion of key issues and trends relating to EDD

    * The top 1-5, 6-10 and 11-20 EDD service providers based on experience
    * The top 1-5, 6-10 and 11-20 EDD service providers based on capacity
    * The top 1-5, 6-10 and 11-20 EDD service providers based on corporation ranking
    * The top 1-5, 6-10 and 11-20 EDD service providers based on law firm ranking
    * The top 1-5, 6-10 and 11-15 EDD software providers based on corporation ranking
    * The top 1-5, 6-10 and 11-15 EDD software providers based on law firm ranking
    * The top 1-5, 6-10 and 11-15 EDD software providers based on reported use of software by others

We will also publish the Socha-Gelbmann rankings of service providers based on the stages of the electronic data discovery process set forth in the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (http://edrm.net/):

    * The top 1-5 and 6-10 EDD service and software providers - Identification
    * The top 1-5 and 6-10 EDD service and software providers - Preservation
    * The top 1-5 and 6-10 EDD service and software providers - Collection
    * The top 1-5 and 6-10 EDD service and software providers - Processing
    * The top 1-5 and 6-10 EDD service and software providers - Review
    * The top 1-5 and 6-10 EDD service and software providers - Analysis
    * The top 1-5 and 6-10 EDD service and software providers - Production
    * The top 1-5 and 6-10 EDD service providers - Production

SNEAK PREVIEW: FUTURETECH AT LTWC

We've been  putting the final touches on the upcoming, first-time ever  Law Technology News Presents FutureTech  at LegalTech West Coast.

We're calling it "The Trifecta" inside ALM, because it's the first time  we've conceived an effort that includes a live presentation, podcasts, and an LTN report.

And I'm updating this post today (June 4) with exciting news: FutureTech will be sponsored by BlueArc, a San Jose-based company that provides "high performance unified network storage systems to enterprise markets, as well as data intensive markets, such as electronic discovery, entertainment, federal government, higher education, internet services, oil and gas and life sciences."

BlueArc supports "both network attached storage, or NAS, and storage area network, or SAN, services on a converged network storage platform." We're thrilled to have them as our sponsor of FutureTech!

Here's the 411:

1. Live: Day-long FutureTech track presentation at LegalTech West Coast (L.A.) on Friday, June 27.

2. Podcasts: Podcast package of six standalone presentations, for our Law Technology Now   podcasts (created in partnership with Law.com and Legal Talk Network).

3. Law Technology News (print/digital/website): We'll run a “FutureTech" story, in the August 2008 edition, based on the topics in the track.

FutureTech Live Program at LegalTech West Coast

Panel description: The legal profession is undergoing a dramatic change as firms face a future where clients expect “better, faster, cheaper” legal services, demand use of technology, and require accountability. No longer can law firms be run behind closed doors, managed like private clubs. Today’s firms must compete to win — and retain — business, and are expected to demonstrate the same priorities as their clients: for quality work, diversity, cost management, and responsiveness. This track will explore how firms and clients are responding to these challenges. 

Law Technology News’ editor-in-chief Monica Bay  will moderate all panels

1. Sell Your Tech 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.
It’s no longer enough for firms to win business based on legal skills alone. Today’s savvy firms realize that they must offer top-line technology to win and keep clients. Our panelist will share how their firms have integrated technology tools, such as extranets and wikis, to increase collaboration and better serve their clients’ expectations.

Doug Caddell  —  CIO, Foley & Lardner.
Rob Kahn — Director, Business Development, Fenwick & West
Robin Solomon – Firmwide Knowledge Manager, Heller Ehrman

Green Law 1:30-3 pm
It’s Not Easy Going Green.... Or is It? Using technology tools to create a “green” workplace will not only lower your energy consumption, it will increase productivity, morale, profits, improve lifestyles and health, cut costs, and help you get, and keep, new clients. How your organization can establish a program, from leadership needed to concrete programs that work.

Alvidas Jasin, Director of Business Development, Thompson Hine
Bruce Lymburn, Partner, Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean
Tony Hoke, Global Technology Purchasing/Asset Manager, Morrison & Foerster

TomorrowLand  3:30-5 pm

Where is legal community headed, and what challenges does it face, as technology becomes embedded in every facet of our lives? From delivering the best possible legal services to our clients; to providing opportunities to excel in the workplace and at home; to confronting the challenges of competing interests in a global economy; it’s a heady challenge to move forward. Named for the iconic futuristic venue at Disneyland, this panel will showcase six legal technology leaders who will forecast what lies ahead — and where opportunities may abound.
 
J. Craig Williams – Partner, The Williams Lindberg Law Firm  (Tech & Law in Multi-jurisdictional Practices)
Craig Ball – Consultant/Attorney (Crystal Ball: Future of E-Discovery)
Douglas Caddell — CIO, Foley & Lardner (Next Generation – Systems & People)
Peter Hsiao — Head, Land Use & Environmental law Group, Morrison & Foerster (CleanTech)
Tom Baldwin — Chief Knowledge Officer, Reed Smith (Relationship Capital) 
Judith Flournoy – CIO, Loeb & Loeb  (Leadership)

I got the idea for the TomorrowLand sessions from TED (Technology Entertainment Design) -- the Silicon Valley think tank that produces amazing conferences where speakers are allowed exactly 18 minutes to talk. That's it. 18 minutes.

I loved the concept, so I'm trying this format (15 minutes) for the third session of the track -- AND -- we are going to tape them to create "Almost Live from LegalTech West Coast" -- six standalone podcasts for my Law Technology Now series (a joint project between Law.com & Legal Talk Network -- you can even subscribe on iTunes!

Finally, the LTN component: We'll produce at least one article in the August LTN, which will be available in print, digital and website versions.

We are tremendously excited about this first-ever Live/Podcast/Print/Digital/Website effort, and we hope you will join us at LegalTech West Coast, on June 27. And listen, and read! About the only media we're NOT doing (yet) is TV -- but don't rule that out for the future. Let me know what you think!

Cover Story:
June 2008
Law Technology News

By Monica Bay

Electronic data discovery is not just raising havoc with trial strategies, risk management decisions, litigation budgets, and document retention policies, it’s also uprooting traditional support staff job descriptions in law firms, corporate law departments and vendor shops.

With EDD now a $2 billion industry that is expected to double by next year, according to the 2007 Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey, there's a lot of chaos as organizations try to select and use the sophisticated new technology that is necessary to conduct discovery in almost any litigation. Many trial lawyers and paralegals simply do not understand technology (and don't want to), while many IT professionals do not understand the nuances of law.

But for firms and their clients to succeed, there is no choice — they simply must adapt — and that includes redefining responsibilities. Traditional support staff roles that segregate tasks into legal (paralegals who handle document coding, deposition summaries, managing exhibits) and IT (harnessing the hardware and software) are about as useful today as floppy disks. Roles are blurring, and new titles are showing up on business cards. And there is a lot of opportunity for the ambitious.

Over the last five years, one definite trend has emerged: new roles for lawyers — as trial support staff. Firms are hiring non-partner-track staff attorneys to oversee EDD operations; using partners as ombudspersons to interface between trial lawyers and support staff; establishing e-discovery practice areas; and even spinning off subsidiary EDD companies.

Phoenix consultant Michael Arkfeld,* a former federal civil litigator, says many trial lawyers are eager to delegate anything to do with e-discovery. They are relying upon vendors, consultants and designated staff attorneys "to provide the magic wand to make it happen properly," he says. "Generally, every firm has at least one or two attorney 'champions' they rely upon to handle EDD matters. They are extremely valuable and rare."

David Baker*, chair of Chicago-based consultancy Baker Robbins & Co. (www.brco.com), is among the many observers who see more lawyers jumping to EDD management roles in law firms. What's in it for the firms? Trial lawyers want consulting-level assistance, not just technical information, he explains. They want their trial support team to understand the litigation process, deadlines, and strategies.

In corporate law departments, "techno-lawyers" are proliferating, as general counsel are "being forced to run their law departments as business units," says BRCo director David Rohde, of New York. Some GCs (and firms) are rethinking their initial impulse to outsource e-discovery. Looking to control skyrocketing EDD costs as well as stabilize internal document management systems, some are considering "in-sourcing" — handling some (or all) EDD processes internally — and want support staff who understand both law and business, and can manage vendors, says Rohde.

EXAMPLES

Here are a few examples of lawyers who have jumped onto EDD's opportunities:

• Matthew Levy* is an attorney and manager of electronic discovery and practice suppport for Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin (www.howardrice.com), based in San Francisco.

Levy's principal duties are managing the firm's EDD and its practice support team (three full time staff); helping other lawyers counsel clients on e-discovery; managing vendor relationships; and educating firm attorneys.

"My position is officially as part of firm management," notes Levy. He practiced in construction defect litigation and medical malpractice, then worked as a contract lawyer at Folger Levin & Kahn, and Heller Ehrman, before joining Silicon Valley's Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (www.wsgr.com) in 1998. He started there as a contract attorney, then became a staff attorney; by 2004 he had a similar title and duties as he now holds at Howard Rice, which he joined in 2006.

"What I like most is working directly with other attorneys and our clients to develop reasonable and defensible approaches to EDD issues," says Levy.

• William Kellermann now holds the Wilson Sonsini post. He previously worked for several EDD vendors, including CT Summation (www.ctsummation.com), where he was director of corporate legal systems, and as a commercial, labor and employment litigation attorney at Sullivan Roche & Johnson.

Joining Wilson Sonsini in February 2007, Kellermann oversees its Electronic Data Operations Center, established to handle client electronic evidence, from the identification stage through production and post-discovery case assessment. He provides "internal and external consulting" on EDD matters, readiness, records management, education, and second-level technical support for all litigation technology.

Kellermann reports to the firm's CIO and its litigation group leader.

• San Diego's Browning Marean,* a partner at DLA Piper US (www.dlapiper.com/us), serves as the firm's EDD ombudsperson. Marean says his role at the firm gradually changed, largely because he is a selfdescribed technology evangelist/zealot.

"As litigation support efforts within the firm developed, I evolved into an interface role between the litigation support group and the attorneys," says Marean.

He now assists DLA Piper attorneys with e-discovery and other tech-related issues. A fixture on the EDD speaking circuit, he spends about 25% of his time at conference podiums — usually timed to visits to firm offices where he promotes technology and knowledge management.

Marean, 65, joined the firm as a summer clerk in 1968, and became a partner in 1976. He worked primarily as a commercial litigator for about 35 years, then transitioned to his technology post about five years ago.

Today, he spends about 10% of his time practicing, serving as national e-discovery counsel for several clients.

His biggest challenge? "Keeping up with new technologies as they develop."

PRACTICE GROUPS

Some firms have launched EDD practice groups, and others have gone another step — jettisoning EDD ventures into subsidiary entities:

• Hughes Hubbard & Reed (www.hugheshubbard.com) established an e-discovery practice group in 2006, co-chaired by partners Charles Cohen and Seth Rothman, both based in New York. "In addition to document productions and other e-discovery aspects of litigation, the group gets involved in counseling clients on document management and document retention policies, and hiring and working with vendors," says Rothman. With the exception of our e-discovery counsel, who are e-discovery specialists, the lawyers in the group are litigators," says Rothman. The group consists of partners, EDD counsel, associates and litigation support personnel. There are no plans to spin off the group, Rothman notes.

Due to increased EDD work, the firm has begun both a staff attorney progam and a litigation support group, he says. Staff attorneys are encouraged to participate in firm training, to take on pro bono cases, and volunteer for other projects as their workloads permit, he says.

• Fulbright & Jaworski (www.fulbright.com) partners Laurie Weiss, M. Scott Incerto, and Robert Owen co-chair the firm's E-Discovery and Information Management Group, which also supports internal litigators in complex matters involving EDD issues and serves as national e-discovery coordinating counsel for clients with multi-state litigation.

• Ryley Carlock & Applewhite (www.ryleycarlock.com), with offices in Denver and Phoenix, has a hybrid operation: it functions both as a firm and a vendor, says attorney Matthew Clarke. Its Document Control Group provides EDD services to client companies; and document review, retention and national coordinating counsel services to law firms, says Clarke. He says the decision to make the DCG a standalone practice group has helped the firm recruit and retain qualified staff. "When people feel like they are part of something that is growing and is cutting edge, they tend to stick around," he says. It also helps that the DCG "has been a good source of revenue for the firm as a whole."

• Washington, D.C.-based Howrey (www.howrey.com) has created a subsidiary, Capital Litigation Support, based in northern Virginia. (See LTN: http://tinyurl.com/65gu9e). Howrey partner John Rosenthal, who co-chairs the firm's E-Discovery Committee and has been active with Georgetown University Law Center's E-Discovery Institute, says the spin-off provides a range of EDD services from collection, to culling, to hosting review of e-data.

• Lawyers have jumped ship to start independent EDD consulting firms. Among them: Craig Ball,* (www.craigball.com), an Austin-based consultant and forensics special master, who writes LTN's "Ball in Your Court" EDD column; St. Paul's George Socha,* of Socha Consulting (www.sochaconsulting.com), who produces the annual Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey; Phoenix's Michael Arkfeld (www.arkfeld.com); and Cincinnati's Thomas Allman.*

ESCALATING SALARIES

In law firms and corporate law departments, salaries have escalated with increasing demand for qualified staff. Few firm officials will speak on the record about compensation, but several provided salary ranges. While the current economy has, due to recent layoffs, put more candidates into the marketplace, it's still predominately a seller's market as competition increases for qualified EDD attorneys.

One mid-sized firm partner says his firm pays $90- $125K a year for EDD staff attorneys and $130-$150K a year for managers, with a performance bonus. Those figures are typical for midwest and southern firms, say observers.

If you live on the coasts, you get a bigger paycheck: full-time EDD staff attorneys at major urban firms can expect to make between $150-$300K per year, plus bonuses —with review managers commanding the biggest W2s.

A developing question is whether or not EDD staff attorneys will have billable hour requirements, for time related to client matters.

VENDORS HIRING

While some GCs and firms may be "in-sourcing," e-discovery, many still don't want any part of it. So EDD vendors are quickly becoming a new career destination for lawyers.

"We have had lawyers, more commonly, paralegals, leave the firm and take jobs with our vendors," says Hughes Hubbard's Rothman. "We haven't viewed this as poaching, but as part of natural career development."

DiscoverReady's James Wagner Jr. says his company (www.discoverready.com), which provides document review services for Fortune 500 corporations, hires many attorneys for EDD positions, particularly document review. There's a steep learning curve, notes Wagner, because "some of the technical and project management aspects of the job are very unfamiliar" to the lawyers. "There are some differences that have to be worked through, especially as the attorneys take on roles concentrating on 'nuts and bolts' discovery services and project management."

Competition is spiking for the most experienced folks. Like their firm peers, many vendors won't publicly state their salary ranges, but most are comparable to Phoenix-based Encore Legal Solutions (www.encorelegal.com), which pays attorney consultants between $150-$200K, with incentives that can double the base salary — and many hires receive sign-on bonuses. On the sales side, Encore pays $125-$150K, with sign-on bonuses of $15-$25K — and a potential to double or triple base salary with commissions, says president Greg Mazares.

And those figures can go up, especially in big cities. "If an attorney has five-plus years experience, is involved in groups like [EDD thinktank] The Sedona Conference (www.thesedonaconference.com), and has a solid reputation, the number can creep into $225-$250K," says another EDD vendor.

Salaries typically are lower outside major metropolitan areas. New Orleans-based Connie Nichols,* director of technology with Docusource Digital Discovery Management & Trial Systems (www.docusource-lss.com), says attorneys can expect to earn $80-$100K for full-time project management work.

Minnesota's George Socha warns that top dollar spots — as high as $1 million a year for consulting posts with top consulting firms — often come with a huge psychic price. These high-stress jobs often have revolving-door turnover, and "seem to ask absolute devotion to the job," with no time for family, he cautions. But the lure can be potent, and some successful partners bolt to consulting jobs with vendors, hoping to hit the jackpot: "You know the drill — options, going public, huge payout."

HEADHUNTER'S BOUNTY

Firms, law departments and vendors alike are turning to agencies for help finding talent. Kari Johnson is director of business development at Chicago's Lawyer- Link (www.lawyerlinkchicago.com), which provides temporary and permanent placement services, and also offers outsourced EDD review services at its Sears Tower facilities.

She sees "a huge surge in corporations and law firms hiring attorneys as EDD specialists. Right or wrong, attorneys are often hired into this position because they are seen as having more credibility than paralegals, or traditional, non-attorney litigation support professionals," says Johnson.

Many trial lawyers, she says, want an attorney to serve as a liaison with people "they perceive as IT personnel." Some firms and law departments hire both an EDD technical expert (paralegal) and a substantive expert (attorney) with a focus on EDD, she notes.

Attorney Andrew Jewel, vice president, national operations, of Hudson Legal (www.us.hudson.com/legal), has a similar experience. "No longer are our clients simply looking to us to assemble a review team," he says. In response to the demand, Hudson has expanded its services beyond providing review teams, to also finding and setting up space and managing the entire EDD process for its client firms.

CONTRACT CAVEATS

EDD can be a gold mine for contract lawyers who for various reasons want short-term or part-time job commitments, but contract lawyering (especially in law firms) comes with strong caveats. By definition staff and contract attorneys are second-class citizens, say many observers, who also worry about the effect these posts have on career opportunities for minority attorneys.

According to ALM's Minority Law Journal summer 2008 issue, a high percentage of staff attorneys are minority lawyers — filling posts where they make less money than full-time associates, receive fewer (if any) benefits, and have little job security or real advancement opportunities. "Document review pits are a modern plantation," one anonymous attorney commented on Joseph Miller's JDwired.com blog.

An exception that may prove the rule is Hughes Hubbard. "A number of our staff attorneys have become associates, based on consistently excellent performance," reports Seth Rothman. But in most firms, a staff lawyer position never merges into a partner track.

Contract and temp lawyers are definitely at the bottom of the EDD food chain, typically earning in the $30-$40/hour range, with no health or retirement benefits, reports Minority Law Journal. One industry veteran, who asked for anonymity, says even those figures may be optimistic, saying in today's economy, $25/hour is not uncommon, and sometimes attorneys who are desperate for work will take paralegal jobs that pay $15/hour.

Another factor: U.S.-based contract work may soon evaporate as fast as arctic ice caps, warns Socha: "Tomorrow, the work will go to India (or parts similar) because those positions there are well-paying, wellregarded, career track positions. Rarely, if ever, is that the case here."

FRICTION

In any context, the introduction of more lawyers into traditional non-lawyer support staff turf can create tensions. One large firm partner, who asked not to be identified, says the new tier of attorneys "does cause friction. The litigation support staffers are all about getting work done. The attorneys seem more interested in writing memos."

But Craig Foster, marketing manager of Austin's IE Discovery Inc. (www.iediscovery.com), says the fissures in the traditional caste system help. It's much easier to deal with the friction today because EDD vendor jobs are "a much more accepted career path for a lawyer than it was in the past," he observes.

ESCALATING EXPECTATIONS

For non-lawyers working in EDD, roles are blurring between the traditional duties of paralegals and litigation

support staff. New non-lawyer positions are emerging, such as trial support specialist, and project managers, there are increasing opportunities to jump ship and make more money. Organizations such as the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (www.paralegals.org), ALM Events (www.almevents.com), Estrin LegalEd (www.estrinlegaled.com), and Thomas Edison State College (www.tesc.edu) are offering training to help support staff navigate the fastchanging waters.

Support staff are being pulled into trial teams earlier, and everyone's now expected to be facile with trial technology. Judith Flournoy,* CIO at Los Angeles' Loeb & Loeb (www.loeb.com), says her trial team is "expected to be experts in e-discovery, or, at a minimum, have the ability to coordinate activities with vendors as well as educate attorneys on best practices." They are required to be familiar with the spirit — if not the details — of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure amendments that went into effect in December 2006, she says.

Baseline technical IT skills are much higher than five years ago, says Wayne Smith,* MIS director at Columbus, Ohio's Chester, Willcox & Saxbe (www.cwslaw.com). Trial support staff must be well-grounded in computer forensics, native file formats, database systems, imaging and OCR, transcript programs, trial presentation systems, and Adobe Acrobat. And, he says, they must be able to maintain relationships with key EDD vendors, so that they can counsel and support attorneys with the greatest impact and economy.

Chicago's Bruce Blokell, firmwide litigation support manager for Bryan Cave (www.bryancave.com), sees "far more involvement in the front end of a matter, especially as a project consultant," a view echoed by numerous sources.

In the past, "the paralegals avoided the IT staff at all costs," says Dave Tiller, owner of Peoria, Arizona's Studeo Legal (www.studeolegal.com), which offers a range of EDD services. But now, "the more a paralegal gains expertise in the use of technology, the more valuable he or she becomes for the organization."

LawyerLink's Kari Johnson concurs: "Paralegals can no longer expect to be hired or promoted without technical skills, database knowledge, or a general comfort level navigating computers and new software."

RETENTION CHALLENGES

Trial support staff retention has become a critical issue, says just about every employer as they try to swat away poachers with high salaries, perks and bonuses. LawyerLink's Johnson says several very large firms are experiencing "major attrition" of litigation support/ EDD professionals. "The grass isn't always greener, but when there are so many options, these professionals are choosing to find out for themselves."

Chicago's Bruce Blank, director of litigation support and services, at Foley & Lardner, says getting quality litigation support people "has been a massive challenge. Once on board, keeping them is even harder. The market keeps bidding the salary higher and higher. Most firms don't market-adjust quickly enough," he says. "We have 'No Poaching Allowed' signs on all the doors. It's not working."

Loeb's Flournoy feels the pain. Over the last two years, "hiring, recruiting, retaining has become expensive — going for five- to six-digit salaries in some cases. . . . The nature of litigation practice at Loeb five years ago was very different from what it is today."

Studeo Legal's Tiller says his company now offers incentive bonuses to lit support project managers during and after projects, the company's salary structure has spiked 20% in the last five years. A key incentive, says Tiller, is that his lawyers, paralegals and lit support staff can work from home, reducing costs for both employees and the company.

But it's still cut-throat, he says. When word gets out that a vendor is having challenges or is for sale, "the recruiters and competing vendors (vultures and poachers) are contacting employees." He cautions peers to be extremely vigilant. "In today's market, incompetent employees can bounce from job to job, while increasing their compensation and title."

Further complicating staffing decisions are generational differences and expectations, observes Melbourne's Michelle Mahoney,* of Mallesons Stephen Jaques (www.mallesons.com). "For Generation Xs, a career in a law firm was respectable and could be your end destination," she notes. But today's young adults often see legal technology jobs as "an experience, or a place to visit on their life journey, rather than their end destination." This outlook forces firms to compress technical learning and increase practical learning.

"The ability for a law firm to milk feed young or new staff on the smaller or less complex tasks is being compromised by the very nature of EDD and transaction support. The risk factor for law firms has never been higher when dealing with corporate information."

OPPORTUNITIES

Despite worries that the current economy may chill some litigation, or that companies will settle cases sooner to avoid expensive EDD, the general consensus is that EDD is here to stay — and is a good thing. When run correctly, and effectively, it can save both firms and corporations time, money and resources, and help provide the golden grail: "better, faster, cheaper" services to clients.

And it will be a feeding frenzy for trial support staff. "There simply are not enough qualified EDD personnel to go around," says Phoenix's Arkfeld.

But there are at least two major challenges confronting the profession: getting trial lawyers to accept and understand e-discovery; and then finding and using the right tools and people.

Matthew Levy says his biggest hurdle is "finding — or teaching — that balance between technology and the law. It is critical that litigation support staff be able to convey often-complicated technology issues to attorneys and their clients in easy to understand terms." Both firms and corporations are "increasingly relying on both litigation support professionals and tech-savvy paralegals to help bridge the gap between IT and legal," he says.

But many trial lawyers, say experts, simply won't get their heads out of the sand. Arkfeld routinely cites surveys that consistently say that as many as 99% of practicing lawyers admit they don't understand EDD, including litigators. Browning Marean estimates that only about 20% of active litigators have a reasonable understanding of EDD, a figure mirrored by a recent survey of in-house counsel by EDD vendor Kroll Ontrack (www.krollontrack.com) that found that only 25% of U.S. in-house counsel, and 17% of U.K. in-house counsel say they are fully current with EDD case law, developments and regulations.

"There is still a powerful echelon who think this will either go away, or pass them by," observes consultant Craig Ball. When they end up in a courtroom facing tech-savvy opponents, or a forensics-wise judge, or a jury that watches TV's CSI, the fireworks can be spectacular.

"Lawyers are delegating too much substantive legal impact to junior lawyers, paraprofessionals and vendors, who end up dancing around blurred lines, because the lawyers refuse to admit what they don't understand, or expend the requisite effort to learn it. This stuff isn't that hard — but I've never seen anything that caused lawyers to get impatient, grasp for half-assed shortcuts, and tune out quicker." LTN

California attorney Monica Bay, editor-in-chief of Law Technology News, worked her way through law school doing discovery support. E-mail: lawtech@alm.com. *Member, LTN's editorial advisory board and/or author, EDD Update blog (www.eddupdate.com).

Law Technology News June 2008

TROUBLE & OPPORTUNITY

During our visit with the Kroll Ontrack folks, they shared with us the results of their 2008 international survey of in-house counsel re: practices for managing ESI in lit and internal investigations.

The findings are very consistent with the warnings of EDD Update authors, especially Michael Arkfeld -- who has been hollering to lawyers that they really need to pay attention to all of this, or be prepared to pay a hefty price, literally and figuratively.

Key findings include:

* Only 25% of U.S. in-house counsel -- and 17% of U.K. in-house counsel -- say they are full current with ESI case law, developments and regs.
* About half of respondents in both countries have no ESI policy.

                         

* There is confusion over who bears responsibility for ESI sanctions. About 35% of U.S. respondents say they don't know; about 20% would blame the CEO/board, roughly 20%  "own" it, and about 10% would dump it at the door of  the IT dept/CIO.
* Most respondents really don't understand the potential financial impact of poor ESI procedures.
* But 3/4s of respondents say they are losing time over lousy ESI procedures.
* Unmanageable volume heads th list of anticipated challenges over the next five years, followed by budget concerns, lack of training, tech,and/or innovation.

You can download the 2008 report Download 2008_esi_trends_report.pdf and here's last year's report Download 2007_esi_survey_results.doc as well.

             

QUICK TRIP TO MSP

Special thanks to the gang at Kroll Ontrack and at Merrill, for taking time from their very busy schedules to meet with us last week in the Twin Cities. Our conversations were terrific, and nuanced. We talked about everything from how customer service will be a differentiator as the vendor wars escalate, to  how everybody's trying to position themselves to provide effective counseling to their clients who are struggling to grapple with e-discovery.

Kudos to Craig Levinsohn , Allison Guidette and Daniel Pelc at Merrill, and  Michele Lange and her team (including Christian Betancourt and Kaitlin Creager) for all their insights. We also had a chance to touch bases with Benjamin Green, operations manager of ComputerForensic Services. And we always enjoy a chance to feast at the St. Paul Grille with the Thomson West gang (Gretchen DeSutter, John Shaughnessy, Jeff Patrias, and Melissa Deml). (We'll be returning to Mpls in early June for a more extended visit to Eagan).

On the EDD front, both Kroll and Merrill "get" that the profession is in desperate need of education on the complex challenges they face. Toward that goal, among the many materials both vendors have been producing are white papers, surveys, podcasts and webinars.

Here are some samples:

From Merrill:
* Total Evidence Management: A winning Approach to Complex Litigation.
* Authenticating Digital Evidence: Identify and Avoid the Weak Links in Your Chain of Custody.

From Kroll:
* Electronic Discovery Filtering: Early Processing Metrics Technology: Download kroll_ontrack_early_processing_metrics.doc

* ESI Trends Report  Download 2008_esi_trends_report.pdf (Also, see next post).