Category Archives: Case Management

Interview: Karyn Harty of McCann FitzGerald on the need for eDiscovery training for judges and litigators

I take every opportunity to interview Karyn Harty of McCann FitzGerald. Over the years we have discussed her involvement in the leading TAR case Irish Bank Resolution v Quinn, the use of eDiscovery tools and skills for non-disputes purposes, the … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Relativity, Relativity Fest, Technology Assisted Review | Tagged | Leave a comment

Seeking judgments on abusive use of disclosure in England and Wales

Note the point towards the end – I am not seeking mere anecdotes about bad disclosure conduct but judgments in which aggressive or abusive disclosure – not just cock-up or incompetence – was punished An interesting question came my way … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges | Leave a comment

Jackson – Solicitors must be ready for electronic working

I was sorry not to make it to Lord Justice Jackson’s speech to the Society for Computers & Law this week. Someone will doubtless write a full report in due course, but for now the Law Society Gazette brings us … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges | Leave a comment

Late eDisclosure application tacked on to pre-trial review at a cost of £47,000

Court decisions about procedural hearings rarely tell the full story. There may be all sorts of reasons why two good firms of solicitors should find themselves, three months before a 10-day trial, at a pre-trial review onto which had been tacked a … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure | Leave a comment

Lord Justice Jackson in Singapore: Piloting Civil Justice Reforms

The best judicial advocates of proportionate electronic discovery emphasise that, however significant the costs and other implications of discovery, they are but a part of a wider duty to make justice affordable. That duty is distributed – it lies with … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Lord Justice Jackson, Singapore | Leave a comment

E-Discovery / E-Disclosure Predictions for 2011

Metadata, as we all know, is data about data. Perhaps next year we could have predictions about predictions – an article put up at about the beginning of November guessing what the various pundits will include in their list of … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation Support, Posse List | Leave a comment

If judges can rate barristers then barristers should be able to rate judges

The Master of the Rolls is considering the idea that judges should rate the quality of the barristers who appear before them, with marks out of ten for various elements in their performance – a kind of Strictly Come Advocating, … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges | Leave a comment

Over-estimating both costs and risks in the eDisclosure Practice Direction

There is a general sense that the eDisclosure Practice Direction has broad acceptance amongst lawyers – those who have read it before commenting on it, anyway. It is not just another CPR burden, nor is it something to fear – … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, CPR, Disclosure Statement, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Inquiry blog – Discovery of Documents in Australian Federal Courts

An Inquiry into the law, practice and management of the discovery of documents in litigation before Australian Federal Courts was launched by the Attorney-General in May 2010. I wrote about it at the time (see Terms of Reference for Australian … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Court Rules, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Discovering new methods of persuasion

As you know, part of my role is to persuade, and I am always looking out for new ways of getting people to consider how best to handle electronic documents. It is the mere consideration which matters – no-one is … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure | Leave a comment

Australian ediscovery round-up

My conclusion after my recent visit to Sydney was that every jurisdiction which engages in ediscovery thinks that it is behind the others. This is certainly not true of Australia, and  Master Whitaker and I were not merely being polite … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Clearwell, Court Rules, Discovery, e.law, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, eDiscovery Tools, Electronic disclosure, Equivio, Ernst & Young, FTI Technology, KCura, KPMG, Litigation, Litigation Support, Nuix, RingTail | Leave a comment

Lunch-time talk in Sydney with Nuix and KPMG

Knowing that Master Whitaker and I were going to be in Sydney for the Chilli IQ eDiscovery conference, Eddie Sheehy of Nuix invited us to speak at a lunch organised by Nuix and KPMG. The venue was a room on … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Australian courts, Case Management, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, KPMG, Litigation, Litigation Support, Nuix | Leave a comment

E-Disclosure in Liverpool with Cats Legal, Epiq Systems and Dominic Regan

I have to take back what I said yesterday about my rail trip to Liverpool. I had expected the usual shambles, those delays with risible explanations and insincere apologies which are the norm on our overcrowded, badly-run rail network. In … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, CPR, Discovery, DocuMatrix, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Liverpool EDisclosure event on 3 June

The Liverpool Law Society is host to a three-hour course on electronic disclosure on Thursday, 3 June starting at 13.30 pm. The speakers include Professor Dominic Regan and me, together with litigation software supplier Epiq Systems and litigation services supplier … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, Judges | Leave a comment

CEIC 2010 comes to an end

CEIC 2010 is winding down here in Las Vegas. Whatever measure you take – the quality of the sessions, the opportunity to catch up with people and meet new ones, the sheer numbers of people attending (1,300 or so), the … Continue reading

Posted in Canadian Courts, Case Management, CEIC, Data privacy, Data Protection, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, EU, Forensic data collections, Guidance Software, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

IQPC the best London e-disclosure conference again

The three-day IQPC Information Retention and eDisclosure Management Summit is over for another year. It is the biggest and best conference in the London calendar and one which genuinely aspires to do better each year. Everyone I spoke to seemed … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, Ernst & Young, FRCP, Guidance Software, IQPC, Judges, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Masters Conference, Nuix, Part 31 CPR, Recommind, Trilantic, Women in eDiscovery | Leave a comment

Imminent reform in prospect for Australian discovery process

Reform of the discovery process in Australia is said to be “imminent”, according to an article in the New Lawyer. The article says that the Attorney General has asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to explore options to promote the … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, IQPC, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Recommind, Singapore | Leave a comment

Recommind webinar: Technology is Changing the Economics of e-Disclosure, Are You Prepared?

My title is the name of a webinar which I am doing with Jason Robman of Recommind on 25 May. Its description reads as follows: The enormous costs and time associated with the e-Disclosure process are staggering, with the document … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation Support, Recommind | Leave a comment

E-Disclosure law, practice and technology in one educational package

The first of the E-disclosure seminars organised jointly by Professor Dominic Regan and me took place yesterday at Ely Place Chambers. Dominic and I were joined by Senior Master Whitaker and by speakers from three technology providers, 7Safe, Legal Inc … Continue reading

Posted in Attenex, Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Forensic data collections, FTI Technology, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Nuix, Part 31 CPR, RingTail | Leave a comment

The 2010 Duke Conference on US Civil Litigation

No one with any interest in the US Federal Rules of Civil Procedure could be unaware of the debates which have been going on about the costs of civil litigation and, in particular, of discovery. A conference is being held … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Guidance Software, IQPC, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

Vector Investments: successful claimant made to pay for unhelpful disclosure

Is quite rare to come across UK cases where the quality and costs of disclosure become the subject of a reported judgment. In rare cases such as Digicel, Earles or Goodale, disclosure is either the primary subject-matter of the judgment … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

New e-Disclosure articles on the SCL website

The website of the Society for Computers & Law has two new articles about electronic disclosure. One is by barrister Clive Freedman of 3 Verulam Buildings and is called Disclosure: the Proposed Rule Changes. It summarises succinctly the elements in … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Standards and outcomes: Hitler, the NHS, the police, social workers – and e-Disclosure

My heading, I appreciate, looks like the components of some random word game. There is in fact a connection, and it is to do with the supremacy of result over procedure and of destination over the journey. Hitler, the NHS … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Spring Offensive in the eDisclosure War

It feels suddenly as if a new phase is opening up in the war to tackle the wasted costs of e-disclosure. If the Rule Committee’s recent failure to grasp the nettle seemed a rebuff, there is a new Spring Offensive … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Data privacy, Discovery, DocuMatrix, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, EU, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Nuix, Trilantic | Leave a comment

Goodale v MoJ – a template judgment for active management of eDisclosure

The publication of Senior Master Whitaker’s judgment in Goodale v Ministry of Justice is important for reasons beyond the fact that the parties used the ESI Questionnaire which is annexed to the proposed e-Disclosure Practice Direction and which is also … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

E-Discovery and Judicial Involvement in Australia

Project Counsel is the sister site to The Posse List, both run by the ubiquitous Gregory Bufithis. Project Counsel’s web site carried an article on 25th February with the title In Australia, e-Discovery and enhanced judicial involvement come of age … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, EDRM, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Nuix, Posse List, Singapore | Leave a comment

You cannot really complain at a full InBox and lots of tweets

A day in London leaves me with a pile of e-mails and a heap of tweets – all signs of a lively market, and to be welcomed despite the time it will take to catch up. Add a crusading podcast, … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Data privacy, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson, Part 31 CPR, Twitter, Women in eDiscovery | Leave a comment

Moving forward on all fronts

I am off today to record a podcast for CPDCast about the e-Disclosure components of Lord Justice Jackson’s report. You may recall that I was booked to do this on the day before the Civil Procedure Rule Committee met to … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

No need to wait for the eDisclosure Practice Direction and Questionnaire – just get on with it

The decision (or, rather, the non-decision) of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee to send the e-Disclosure Practice Direction and EDisclosure Questionnaire off into the sidings of a sub-committee has been the equivalent of coming up behind a funeral cortège whilst … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

Jackson untroubled by delay to e-Disclosure Practice Direction

I do not generally deal in instant news in these pages – considered reflection is more my style and, besides, there is normally a queue of things to write about. At the top of that queue at the moment is … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

There is more to FTI Technology than Attenex and Ringtail

My self-imposed job description involves flitting between all the players in the electronic disclosure / electronic discovery world, picking up information and ideas from one place and dropping them in another. I talk to judges, lawyers and technology suppliers, read … Continue reading

Posted in Attenex, Case Management, CPR, Discovery, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Forensic data collections, FRCP, FTI Technology, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Part 31 CPR, Regulatory investigation, RingTail | Leave a comment

Dominic Regan on the Jackson Report: the word of the moment is momentum

There is a great deal of interest being shown in electronic disclosure amongst UK lawyers at the moment. Some of the activity is reported in my post Containing the interest in the eDisclosure Practice Direction and ESI Questionnaire. That ended … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

Containing the interest in the eDisclosure Practice Direction and ESI Questionnaire

There has been much interest in the draft eDisclosure Practice Direction and the Questionnaire which forms part of it. Lawyers and education providers keep asking for a sight of it. Lord Justice Jackson commended it. Rule-makers in other jurisdictions have … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson, Part 31 CPR, Women in eDiscovery | Leave a comment

Stratify eDiscovery Super Session panels at LegalTech

I have already mentioned one of the four panels which Stratify is running on Tuesday, 2 February in the Sutton Parlor Center Room at the Hilton in New York. The sessions are as follows: 8.30 Can we have our cake … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, LegalTech, Litigation, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Welcome to Stratify as new Project sponsor

I am very pleased to welcome electronic discovery software company Stratify as a sponsor of the e-Disclosure Information Project. Their addition to the list of sponsors coincides with the opening of their London office and data centre, as well as … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Readiness, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

The Continuing Challenges of Preservation, Collection and Exchange

The first session at the Thomson Reuters e-Disclosure Conference in London last week was called The Continuing Challenges of Preservation, Collection and Exchange. George Socha’s panel included a solicitor, a software provider and a judge – Matthew Davis of Lovells, … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Disclosure Statement, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation, Litigation Readiness, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Business mixed with pleasure at the Thomson Reuters London e-Disclosure conference

The Thomson Reuters Fifth eDisclosure Forum was sponsored by Autonomy, Stratify and Legastat and, as before, the co-chairs were Browning Marean, George Socha and me. I enjoyed it and, unless they were just being polite, the audience seemed to think … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Legastat, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Master Whitaker addresses London Solicitors Litigation Association on e-Disclosure

I went to listen to Senior Master Whitaker speak last night to the London Solicitors Litigation Association about electronic disclosure. I was not expecting to hear much that was new to me – I have heard him speak five times … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Disclosure Statement, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, KPMG, Litigation, Litigation costs, Part 31 CPR, Stroz Friedberg | Leave a comment

FTI webinar: financial, transactional and operational databases in e-disclosure

FTI Consulting are presenting a webinar on structured data on Thursday 19 November at 1300 GMT. The subject is perceived by some as too difficult to talk about, but it cannot be ignored. Elephants have provided a recurring theme throughout … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Disclosure Statement, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FTI Technology, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Earles v Barclays Bank reported in the Times

Earles v Barclays Bank was reported in The Times today with the heading Disclosing electronic data. I have already written about this (see Costs penalty for non-compliance with e-disclosure obligations). It is significant at several levels: unlike Digicel it is … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, Document Retention, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Mercantile Courts, Regulatory investigation | Leave a comment

Spitting on the deck of the CPR

Unintended consequences are not necessarily unforeseeable. It was wholly predictable that the pre-issue obligations of the 1999 Civil Procedure Rules would shift the battleground to the front end of the litigation, and with obvious consequences in costs. As with the … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, FRCP, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs | Leave a comment

Costs penalty for non-compliance with e-disclosure obligations

A judgment given yesterday by His Honour Judge Simon Brown QC sitting as an Additional High Court Judge in the Birmingham Mercantile Court, will focus minds on the need to comply with the requirements of Part 31 CPR and the … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Mercantile Courts, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Reaching informed agreement that e-disclosure is not needed

Having just published an article about whether electronic disclosure is needed in all cases, I turned to Ralph Losey’s blog to discover that he had just published an article about whether electronic discovery is needed in all cases. We do … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

How would Bray & Gillespie play in the UK?

Bray & Gillespie is a US eDiscovery case which has attracted attention partly because its outcome was so predictable and partly for the strong views expressed by the judge as to the conduct of those involved. What would have been … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure | Leave a comment

Fifth Annual eDisclosure Forum in London for only £99

London’s Fifth Annual eDisclosure Forum takes place on 13 November. Run by Thomson Reuters with Sweet & Maxwell, it is generally agreed to be one of the best in the London calendar. The delegate fee is only £99 + VAT, … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

I disclose the discovery that Britain is on its own

The UK cast itself off from the US and the rest of the common law world when we renamed “discovery” to “disclosure”. Now the whole Special Relationship has apparently died. US-UK cooperation on discovery/disclosure will survive that. Inevitably, this column … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP | Leave a comment

Judicial College gives hope of e-disclosure training

Today’s Times reports on the launch of a new Judicial College which will give judges the opportunity to top up their skills and keep up to date with developments in the law, practice and procedure. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

Judge Facciola on US and UK judicial discovery education

US Magistrate Judge John Facciola has recorded a podcast interview with Sarah Haynes of IQPC. This follows a very successful judicial panel which Guidance Software organised at IQPC’s e-disclosure conference in London in May (see The discovery of disclosure commonality … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Courts, Discovery, Document Retention, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation, Litigation Readiness, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

Jackson Litigation Costs Review consultation ends

A few seconds before midnight on Friday, an e-mail arrived from Abigail Pilkington, the Clerk to the Review of Civil Litigation Costs. It was a bit eerie, really. The East Wing of the Royal Courts of Justice is a cavernous, … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Attenex, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, DocuMatrix, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Equivio, FTI Technology, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, RingTail | Leave a comment

Well-justified anonymity of Jackson commentator

I am not sure what to make of an article which I have found on a blog criticising aspects of Lord Justice Jackson’s Preliminary Report on litigation costs. I have a general rule that if I do not have something … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Courts, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Forensic data collections, Judges, Litigation, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Woolf v Genn: the decline of civil justice

My post’s heading, Woolf v Genn: the decline of civil justice, is taken from an article in the Times of 23 June 2009 which I missed. I do not altogether blame myself for not seeing it — the people who … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges | Leave a comment

Getting away from it all

I have never been much good at this holiday lark. I can manage the logistics of travel, and I do not suffer from any illusion that the world’s continuing rotation depends on my being at my desk. I can flit … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Cooperative hands across the sea

My post about the increasing exchange of ideas between the US and UK on matters of electronic discovery (Preserving the old ways, protecting the new ways) followed a spate of references in US e-discovery commentaries to what is happening in … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Data privacy, Data Protection, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Preserving the old ways, protecting the new ways

This column, as you may have noticed, is deeply attached to the old principles of discovery of documents as a means of bringing evidence before the court. It is also a determined advocate of new ways of managing it. The … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Legal Technology, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Australia at the centre of the discovery world

The default map of the world shows Britain in the middle and near the top, with Alaska at top left and New Zealand at bottom right. Perhaps that is because Europe invented the Greenwich Meridian; maybe it is a legacy … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, eDiscovery Tools, EDRM, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, FTI Technology, Guidance Software, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Nuix, Part 31 CPR, RingTail | Leave a comment

Ark Group e-Disclosure Conference 2009

You can generate a lot of notes in six conference days in three countries in nine days and have little time to transcribe them. I am quite good at actually recording what people say, less so at the small but … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, Forensic data collections, Litigation, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Jackson conference challenge to litigation support providers

Lord Justice Jackson laid down a challenge to litigation support providers at the Ark Group e-Disclosure 2009 conference in London last week. They must, he said, find a way to bring down the cost of e-disclosure; if they cannot, then … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Judge Grimm webinar on the Maryland Protocol

When US Chief Magistrate Judge Paul W Grimm was in London for the IQPC Information Retention and e-Disclosure Management Conference recently, he mentioned the Maryland Protocol which he and others have devised for the better handling of electronically stored information … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Judges | Leave a comment

Birmingham Post reports on costs management trial

The litigation costs management trial on which I reported a few days ago (Jackson launches costs management trial in Birmingham) has been covered by the Birmingham Post. Their article of 3 June is headed City will be test case for … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Civil justice, Courts, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson, Outsourcing | Leave a comment

Labour’s fall may be matched by litigation’s recovery

I have just sent off my slides for my keynote speech at the Ark Group’s e-disclosure conference on Monday 9 June. Its title is The Empty Bear Garden, and it is about the decline of litigation since the CPR of … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, DocuMatrix, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, Epiq Systems, Litigation, Litigation costs | Leave a comment

Parallel and cross-border developments in eDiscovery

I have just had to turn down the opportunity to speak at a conference organised by LexisNexis in Hong Kong on 20 and 21 July. The invitation was to deliver the keynote speech at the start of the first day … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Data privacy, Data Protection, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Regulatory investigation | Leave a comment

Jackson launches costs management trial in Birmingham

Lord Justice Jackson went to Birmingham on Tuesday to encourage its litigation solicitors to take part in a costs management trial in the specialist courts. The details are interesting, but less so than the policy considerations which underlay Sir Rupert’s … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson, Mercantile Courts | Leave a comment

Hard to keep up with Lord Justice Jackson

I went to Birmingham on Tuesday evening to hear Lord Justice Jackson launch a new costs management initiative in the Specialist Courts there, and got a taste of the energy which has brought us his Preliminary Report on Civil Litigation … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Civil justice, Courts, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

Mock e-Disclosure hearing photographs

For those who have already seen the post about our mock e-disclosure hearing at IQPC last week, I have now added some photographs to it. They and others can also be found here. They were all taken by Sonia Perez … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Guidance Software, IQPC, Judges | Leave a comment

Making a play to sugar the e-disclosure pill

In a previous post (The discovery of disclosure commonality with a trans-Atlantic judicial panel)  I told how IQPC had, at my suggestion,  invited US Magistrate Judge John Facciola and Chief US Magistrate Judge Paul Grimm to come to their Information … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Guidance Software, IQPC, Litigation costs, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

The discovery of disclosure commonality with a trans-Atlantic judicial panel

If I were to define a perfect working day it would go something like this: wake up in a comfortable hotel and take a five minute stroll to Piccadilly; sit on a platform with the two leading US and the … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Guidance Software, IQPC, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

Compliance with the demands of an e-disclosure diary

I don’t think I envisaged a peaceful life when I decided to commit all my time to promoting electronic disclosure, but I am not sure either that I foresaw this much activity compressed into a short space. It is just … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Forensic data collections, IQPC, Litigation, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Trilantic | Leave a comment

Clyde & Co selects Epiq Systems and Trilantic as preferred e-disclosure providers

Although the business of the e-Disclosure Information Project involves telling law firms and corporations about electronic disclosure technology suppliers, I avoid discussions about pending competitive tenders in the e-disclosure market. Given the range of people with whom I am in … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, Litigation, Litigation costs, Trilantic | Leave a comment

Something for everyone in the Jackson litigation costs report

Lord Justice Jackson’s interim report on civil litigation costs weighed in at 650 pages, not the 1,000 pages which rumour anticipated. It is as well that I am commentator not a newshound journalist, because I missed the big day and … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

E-Disclosure in the £50,000 case

The article to which I am about to refer you is in fact called E-Discovery in the $50,000 Case by Conrad Jacoby and not as my heading shows it. We in the UK renamed the ancient process known as discovery … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

LexisNexis debate marks ten years of the CPR

LexisNexis, publishers of the Civil Court Practice 2009 “The Green Book” marked the tenth anniversary of the Civil Procedure Rules with a debate chaired by Lord Neuberger which considered the impact of the CPR and assessed its strengths and weaknesses. … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, eDisclosure, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Informed comment in the Times adds to the Woolf rules debate

No sooner had I published my post Have the Woolf reforms worked? yesterday when Jonathan Maas flicked me a link to an article in Times Online on the same subject. It is called Sad and unsatisfactory – but not destroyed … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, eDisclosure, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

Not going to Canada for the second time this month

As you may recall, I was not able to go to a meeting in Toronto at the beginning of April, when Senior Master Whitaker and I had hoped to see Justice Campbell and others to talk about common ground between … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, EU Safe Harbor, Legal Technology, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Have the Woolf reforms worked?

An article in the Times of 9 April had the title Have the Woolf reforms worked? Written by Lawrence West QC, it makes an uncompromising start with the assertion in the first paragraph that “the reforms — known as the … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

KordaMentha picks EnCase from Guidance Software for Australian eDiscovery

Like sport and so much else, the idea of proving a legal case by discovery of documents is an old English concept which was adopted wherever the English had a hand in establishing a system of law. America kept it … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Forensic data collections, FRCP, Guidance Software, Litigation, Litigation Support, Regulatory investigation | Leave a comment

Catching up with KPMG

Part of the function of the e-Disclosure Information Project is to keep up with what the providers of software and services are doing. Given my emphasis on the human aspects of this business (which recurs in this blog and elsewhere … Continue reading

Posted in Attenex, Case Management, Clearwell, Commercial Court, CPR, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FTI Technology, KPMG, Litigation, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR, Regulatory investigation | Leave a comment

Explaining the Procrustean Bed

My post Zander sees his Woolf CPR predictions fulfilled refers you to an article by Michael Zander QC. As an aside, a generation deprived of a classical education may be puzzled by Zander’s reference to a “Procrustean bed”, as I … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, eDisclosure, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Zander sees his Woolf CPR predictions justified

Michael Zander QC, now Emeritus Professor at the LSE, was a forthright and eloquent critic of the Woolf reforms which led to the Civil Procedure Rules in 1999. Few took much notice of his predictions, least of all Lord Woolf. … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Mediation and ADR, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Free e-disclosure podcast from CPDCast

I recorded a podcast last week with James Sheedy of CPDCast. You can listen to it for free and solicitors, barristers and ILEX member can get CPD points for doing so. There is a note at the bottom of this … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

The growing importance of metadata preservation in eDiscovery

If UK lawyers do not share the US enthusiasm about the preservation, collection and use of metadata, that is in part because they are not clear what it is and how it might be used. A forthcoming webinar will be … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, CaseLogistix, Commercial Court, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Forensic data collections, FRCP, Guidance Software, Litigation costs, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Ark Group Conference 8-9 June 2009

The brochure came out today for Ark Group’s e-Disclosure conference taking place in the Ibis Hotel, Earls Court, London on 8-9 June. The main attraction is Lord Justice Jackson who will be presenting a review of the litigation costs working … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Commercial Court, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Document Retention, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Mediation and ADR, Mercantile Courts, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Law Society Seminar – Disclosure – the risks after Hedrich

I spoke yesterday at a seminar organised by the Law Society and sponsored by Legal Inc and Millnet. The theme was as foreshadowed in my article Law Society Disclosure Seminar in London and was implicit in the name I gave … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Law Society, Litigation, Litigation Support, Millnet | Leave a comment

Legal Inc panel at LegalTech lives up to its billing

Litigation support providers from the relatively small UK market  made a good showing at LegalTech in New York this year. Amongst them was Legal Inc who hosted a panel of luminaries moderated by Charles Christian of Legal Technology Insider. LTi … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Haslam, Attenex, Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Ernst & Young, FRCP, LegalTech, Litigation Readiness | Leave a comment

Mediation – not about just settlement but just about settlement

Professor Dame Hazel Genn QC has launched a stinging attack on the downgrading of civil justice and the promotion of mediation at the expense of the civil litigation system. ADR is a worthy parallel remedy but government promoted it more … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs | Leave a comment

Judge Facciola LegalTech messages are for UK as well as US lawyers

There was something almost surreal about the discovery that the LegalTech organisers had failed to record US Magistrate Judge John Facciola’s keynote speech, given that Facciola regularly delivers Opinions castigating parties either for faulty decisions about technology or for technological … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Judges, LegalTech, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Kazeon to host judicial e-discovery webinar

I have yet to write up the tremendous speech made by US Magistrate Judge John Facciola at LegalTech in New York last week. My excuse, if such be needed, is that it contained so much of importance to anyone practising … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, EDRM, Electronic disclosure, LegalTech, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

LegalTech lessons for lawyers from extinct species

Only one practising UK commercial lawyer came to LegalTech in New York. Recession hit the litigation support industry before our eyes. One of the recurring themes there was that the clients are taking discovery in house.  Down the road we … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, CPR, Data privacy, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, LegalTech, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Discovery Practice Note issued in Australia

The Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia yesterday gave effect to the long-awaited Practice Note No 17 – The use of technology in the management of discovery and the conduct of litigation. Those of us involved in drafting … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, LegalTech, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Jackson sets out some litigation costs issues

A thoughtful article by Simon Davis and Simon James of Clifford Chance has appeared on the Lexology site. A purist might quibble about its title – Jackson’s dilemma – or how to cut the cost of litigation – on the … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

Plenty to write about but no time to write

I had a patch recently when I had no time to write for a few days. Someone sent me a message, not exactly complaining, but making it clear that my apparent dereliction of duty had been noticed. It is not … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Law Society, LegalTech, Litigation, Litigation costs, Millnet | Leave a comment

Fannie Mae – be careful what you agree to with e-discovery orders

The American Fannie Mae case shows what can happen if a lawyer unskilled in electronic disclosure agrees to something which is beyond his skills and knowledge. UK judges may baulk at questioning an advocate’s expertise, but they have an absolute … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Courts, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

SCL Summary of Digicel v Cable & Wireless

I have written much about the Digicel case Digicel (St. Lucia) Ltd v Cable & Wireless Plc [2008] EWHC 2522 (Ch) but delayed writing a summary of the actual judgment because I knew that barrister Clive Freedman was doing so. … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs | Leave a comment

Identify early and co-operate in 2009

As I sign off for Christmas, I would like to thank all those who have sponsored, supported or in any other way encouraged the e-Disclosure Information Project in 2008 and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Civil justice, Commercial Court, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Litigation, Litigation costs | Leave a comment

Mancia: interest in US being interested in them

A growing theme on this site which will get more important in 2009 is that electronic discovery in the US is getting to be of more interest to us in the UK. This is not because the English courts are … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Judges, LegalTech, Litigation, Litigation costs | Leave a comment

Audio recordings of SCL e-disclosure seminar

My article Electronic Disclosure: Meeting the Challenge was a report of a seminar presented by the Society for Computers & Law in October. Janet Lambert, Christine Gabitass and I were the speakers under the chairmanship of Clive Freedman. The sessions … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

SCL Predictions 2009

Computers & Law, the web site and magazine of the Society for Computers & Law always collect predictions at this time of the year from some of those who work at the intersection of law and computing. One of mine … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure | Leave a comment

Mancia – US discovery lessons for UK lawyers

Many UK lawyers and judges affect disdain for the American way of litigating and, in particular, for the way US lawyers handle electronic documents. The UK lawyers’ perception that e-disclosure is all very expensive not only confuses cause and effect … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs | Leave a comment

A takeaway of Digicel tips

The old cliches are the best, and it is fair to say that English judgments about the case management of electronic disclosure are like London buses at the moment. After years with hardly any any reported cases, we have had … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, KPMG, Litigation, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Getting expert search evidence in front of the court

Yet another important new UK case on electronic disclosure, Abela v Hammonds, reaches me whilst I am listening to a US webinar about searching. The theme of both is knowledge, understanding and expertise – and co-operation to arrive at a … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, H5, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support | Leave a comment