There are several e-Disclosure conferences in London this year, including a couple which have not been seen in this space for a bit. Conference organisers have a keen eye for what is topical and have obviously decided that 2008 is the year in which people will want to know about e-Disclosure.

So they should: the Commercial Court Recommendations and the new spirit of judicial proactivity in case management are not the only factors which will make it necessary to be on top of this subject.

Corporates are beginning to think about taking some of the preparatory work in house, including some who are newly alerted to the potential costs and risks of not being on top of their potentially disclosable documents

Some law firms are reconsidering the trade-off between doing the technical work themselves and outsourcing it. Some of them, so it is said, are seriously wondering if they are equipped to handle litigation involving large volumes of documents.

Those who provide the software and services are improving and realigning what they offer in what is an increasingly busy and competitive market.

The conferences provide a very good way not only of catching up with the problems and the potential solutions, but also of meeting others – others with the same problems as they face, or others with possible answers. I find the networking side of these events as important as the formal proceedings.

I am involved in one capacity or another in nearly all the conferences – I planned one for CLT Conferences, am speaking at ILTA Insight, am co-chair of the WestLegal one, on the expert panel of IQPC’s and am due to speak for an hour on the Commercial Court Recommendations at the Lawyer’s one. That does not disqualify me from summarising what they are about, and I will do this shortly.

Meanwhile, I have put a list of them on my website which I will supplement with links to the programmes and some comparative information as the programmes are finalised.

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