Category Archives: Litigation

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

Remember to seek disclosure of telephone recordings

A “document” is defined in Rule 31.4 CPR as “anything on which information of any kind is recorded”. Lawyers brought up in the days of paper disclosure, even those who have adjusted to electronic versions of those paper documents such … Continue reading

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

Graphical display of thesaurus terms

The graphical display of discovery / disclosure information has been one of the most interesting developments in software designed for search of all kinds. It is specifically so for litigation document review purposes and, perhaps even more so, for early … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Legal Technology, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support | 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

Recommind recommends recognising risks of e-disclosure unreadiness

I do not take a great deal of notice of press releases. If they are interesting, everyone else will gamely recycle their contents, and who wants to be like everyone else? If they are not…. you don’t need me to … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Readiness, Lord Justice Jackson, Recommind, 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

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

Everything and everyone at the IQPC Information Retention and E-Discovery Management Conference

I reached IQPC’s Information Retention and E-Discovery Management  Conference 2009 just as the first speaker stood up on Wednesday morning, feeling rather like Phileas Fogg as he burst into the Reform Club with seconds to spare. Although I had not … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, Ernst & Young, FTI Technology, Guidance Software, IQPC, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, 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

The untapped potential of YouTube as a promotional medium

You can launch political policies, bands and brands on YouTube, but perhaps not 1,000 page interim reports on litigation costs. Lord Justice Jackson will do his launch tomorrow with an old-fashioned press conference. Other things, however, bring the marketing and … Continue reading

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

Richard Susskind webcast on the End of Lawyers?

Professor Richard Susskind caused a stir at the ABA TechShow in Chicago in April with his thoughts on the way the future looks for the legal profession. The context was the launch of his latest book, The End of Lawyers?, … Continue reading

Posted in Civil justice, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Legal Technology, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support | 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

Irish discovery rules embrace electronic documents

By happy chance, the discovery rules in Ireland have the same number as those in the Civil Procedure Rules of England & Wales. Order 31 of the Rules of the Superior Courts give the court the power to order discovery … Continue reading

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

Dropping in to Oxford, dropping out to Paris

The printed description of a software application’s capabilities is no substitute for interaction with the people who are selling it, just as the bare record of historical narrative without people does little to bring a subject alive. People buy from … Continue reading

Posted in CY4OR, Discovery, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Forensic data collections, Litigation, Litigation Support, Web Sites and Blogs | Leave a comment

Anacomp gets unqualified SAS 70 Type II security certification

Anacomp, which owns the litigation review platform CaseLogistix, has received a full unqualified SAS Type II certification for its hosting and operations centre at Herndon, Virginia. SAS 70 is an auditing standard established by the American Institute of Certified Public … Continue reading

Posted in CaseLogistix, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, 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

Confounding the expectations of a cynical audience

Susan Boyle, the unlikely-looking star of Britain’s Got Talent, reminds us that first impressions may mislead. You do not know how good something can be unless you see – or, in this case, hear – it. Your cynicism as to … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation Support | 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

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 FSA swoops on the unprepared

The American Museum of Natural History in New York contains many tableaux – scenes of animals and man in various stages of early development. My son and I spent an afternoon in there when LegalTech had ended and I found … Continue reading

Posted in eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, LegalTech, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Regulatory investigation | 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

How TREC can help you evaluate e-discovery investments

H5 and Clearwell Systems are giving a webinar on 19 March about TREC Legal Track’s practical application in evaluating and assessing search and review methods. Why should we in the UK pay attention? There is a danger in talking to … Continue reading

Posted in Clearwell, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, H5, Litigation, 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

Guidance Software Q4 results – a guide to the wider market?

Guidance Software, Inc., which is amongst the sponsors of the e-Disclosure Information Project, has posted Q4 2008 results which are its best quarter’s results in its history, with revenue of $25.2 million. CEO Victor Limongelli was on bullish form in … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Guidance Software, Litigation Readiness | Leave a comment

Law Society Disclosure Seminar in London

I am presenting a two hour seminar in London next Monday 9 March under the auspices of the Law Society. Sponsored by Legal Inc and Millnet, both well-known suppliers of electronic disclosure solutions, this is a nuts-and-bolts review of everything … Continue reading

Posted in E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, Electronic disclosure, Law Society, Litigation, Litigation Support, Millnet, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Autonomy panel at LegalTech points to proactive clients – and lawyers

Panel sessions at LegalTech and other conferences combine the best of all worlds so far as I am concerned. The burden is distributed – the moderator has to have a plan and the ability to herd the speakers through it, … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, EDRM, Electronic disclosure, LegalTech, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Regulatory investigation | 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

E-Disclosure Taster Menu in Bristol

I went down to Bristol last week with a group of electronic disclosure suppliers at the invitation of the Western Chancery & Commercial Bar Association. The aim, as in Birmingham last year, was not just to talk about electronic disclosure, … Continue reading

Posted in CaseMap, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, EDRM, Electronic disclosure, Equivio, Forensic data collections, FoxData, Judges, LexisNexis, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Mercantile Courts, Part 31 CPR, Trilantic | 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

Collections trainees seek Guidance on civil e-discovery

One of the benefits of being linked to the companies who sponsor the e-Disclosure Information Project is the opportunity to talk to those who work for them. These are the people who are out meeting with and working with the … Continue reading

Posted in Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Forensic data collections, FRCP, Guidance Software, Litigation, Regulatory investigation | 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

Hanzo Archives show web archiving at LegalTech

So, you have got your mind round this “move to the left” bit they were all talking about at LegalTech and you are clear about the importance of information management, the first stage of the EDRM diagram as a start-point … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, Document Retention, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, EDRM, Electronic disclosure, LegalTech, Litigation Readiness, Regulatory investigation, Web Sites and Blogs | 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

Welcome to Equivio as new Project sponsor

I am delighted to welcome Equivio as a new sponsor of the e-Disclosure Information Project. As I wrote in November (see New integration and new web site for Equivio) I met CEO Amir Milo at the Masters Conference in Washington. … Continue reading

Posted in CaseLogistix, Discovery, DocuMatrix, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, Equivio, KCura, LegalTech, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Masters Conference | 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

Autonomy to buy Interwoven

I am not much into instant journalism, but it is nevertheless good to be able to report on the big stories as they happen. Just my luck, then, to be stuck on a train with a day full of back-to-back … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, Early Case Assessment, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation Support, Regulatory investigation | 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

Welcome to LDSI as sponsor

You will have noticed a new logo on these pages as LDSI joins the list of sponsors of the e-Disclosure Information Project. LDSI is a full-service provider of a wide range of solutions for handling documents for litigation, regulatory and … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation costs, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Epiq opens in Brussels

Epiq Systems, Inc. have opened an office in Brussels to provide support for clients involved in pan-European and global litigation and regulatory investigations. Epiq is best known for its DocuMatrix review platform and for corporate insolvency, as well as for … Continue reading

Posted in Brussels, Discovery, DocuMatrix, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, EU, Litigation, Litigation Support, Regulatory investigation | Leave a comment

SCL meeting – Civil Litigation Costs Review

Lord Justice Jackson is conducting a year-long review into the costs of civil litigation at the request of the Master of the Rolls. His terms of reference require him to undertake a fundamental review of the rules and principles governing … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Civil justice, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson | 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

Why is electronic disclosure like ice-hockey?

Like ice-hockey, e-disclosure requires some equipment and some skills. You don’t need to be a genius, merely competent, and you can delegate the technical skills to others. You are on thin ice if you approach litigation in 2009 without the … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Legal Technology, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support | 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

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

Australian judgment served via Facebook

Lawyers in Australia have served a default judgment on borrowers by sending it via Facebook. The Supreme Court of Australian Capital Territory gave leave for service to be effected in this way because the borrowers had left their last-known address. … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Legal Technology, Litigation, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Is Hedrich more important than Digicel for e-disclosure?

A cigarette packet carries the warning that smoking can kill you. Solicitors’ standard terms of business should carry a warning that litigation can cost you. For litigation is an inherently risky business: there are no certain winners; and very often … Continue reading

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

Webinar: Benchmarking E-Discovery Methods

The webinar anticipated in this post has now taken place. My report on it, and its fortuitous coincidence with a new UK case,  can be found in my post Getting expert evidence in front of the court which also includes … Continue reading

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

Reviewing the Commercial Court Recommendations

The risk that contentious work might shift to arbitration or to other jurisdictions such as Germany is reason enough for us to fight to keep it here. The Commercial Court Long Trials Recommendations may have had too wide a focus. … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Civil justice, Commercial Court, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, Judges, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Support, Outsourcing, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Ignorance of mainstream technology may cost you

Internet telephony, like litigation technology, is now accessible and affordable. Ignoring VOIP merely passes up the chance to cut your telephone bill. Ignoring litigation technology may cost you rather more. The problems, and the solutions, are the same everywhere A … Continue reading

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

The revolutionary consequences of Digicel

The importance of Digicel v Cable & Wireless lies not in any new law and still less in allocating blame for the outcome. We cannot predict its consequences but what matters is that everyone now knows about the Practice Direction … Continue reading

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

E-Disclosure Information Project first birthday

November marks the first anniversary of what became the E-Disclosure Information Project. It did not have that name when I ran a half-day training session for judges in Birmingham last November but it was effectively launched with that event. This … Continue reading

Posted in CaseLogistix, CaseMap, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, DocuMatrix, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, Ernst & Young, Forensic data collections, FoxData, Guidance Software, ILTA, Legal Technology, LegalTech, LexisNexis, Litigation, Litigation costs, Masters Conference, Part 31 CPR, SEO, Trilantic, Web Sites and Blogs | Leave a comment

What exactly is it that you do?

A career devoted to court rules and electronic documents is not an instant turn-on for dinner party conversation. The subjects are, however, important ones for businesses beyond those which actually work in litigation, and the rate of change is increasing … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Judges, Legal Technology, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Millnet | Leave a comment

Autonomy Early Case Assessment at the Ritz

Most of my speaking engagements are of the nuts-and-bolts, cradle-to-grave variety where I speak for a couple of hours about the issues raised by electronic documents and about how proper use of the Civil Procedure Rules, coupled with an understanding … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, EDRM, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

LexisNexis and LDM joint venture

LexisNexis and LDM Global were hosts at a party on 6 November at the Andaz Hotel at Liverpool Street. The occasion was a link-up between them which brings together LDM’s role as a provider of a wide range of legal … Continue reading

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

New integration and new web site for Equivio

Equivio has reached the enviable position of being synonymous with de-duplication and data redundancy. It is not that no-one else does it, but Equivio specialises in it and has moved outwards from that specialist niche into the business functions which … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, DocuMatrix, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, Equivio, Litigation, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Job cuts at the Legal Services Commission

The Government’s commitment to access to justice is so important that it even warrants capital letters – it is Access to Justice, no less, which, as I noted in another post recently, must mean that it is an “initiative” (or … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice, Civil justice, Litigation, Litigation costs | Leave a comment

Companies in dark over litigation costs

Companies in dark over litigation costs is the title of an article on the Financial Times web site today (login required). It tells of an Ipsos Mori survey commissioned by Addleshaw Goddard. The survey’s subject-matter was more specific than the … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, Document Retention, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation costs, Litigation Readiness | Leave a comment

Jackson and CJC focus on costs models

Lord Justice Jackson’s review of litigation costs will presumably cover a wide range of subjects from rules and procedures, to the actual practice in the courts, to the better use of technology, to training matters and beyond. One of the … Continue reading

Posted in Court Rules, CPR, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

Birmingham Law Society e-disclosure seminar

A collections expert, a data archive specialist, a commercial barrister and a judge took a Birmingham audience – the second audience there in three weeks – through the stages of data handling, from organising it on the clients’ server, through … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, CaseMap, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, LexisNexis, Litigation, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Terms of reference of litigation costs review

The Terms of Reference for Lord Justice Jackson’s review of costs have now been published. The stated objective – “To carry out an independent review of the rules and principles governing the costs of civil litigation and to make recommendations … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Courts, Litigation, Litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson | Leave a comment

Judgment in Digicel (St Lucia) v Cable & Wireless

I wrote about this case on the basis of a short summary of the judgment – see Case law at last on scope of reasonable search. In summary, I described it as important not because it made any new law … Continue reading

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

Catching up with CaseLogistix

Products and suppliers have taken a back seat in this blog whilst wider issues and travelling have taken most of my time. Anacomp’s CaseLogistix has been busy, with a new paper on the discovery of audio files. It has a … Continue reading

Posted in CaseLogistix, Court Rules, CPR, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation Readiness | Leave a comment

Guidance Software launches Real eDiscovery

Guidance Software has produced the first edition of a new quarterly magazine called Real eDiscovery. The costs and risks of compliance with the demands of litigation discovery and regulatory investigations were going up the corporate agenda even before the recession … Continue reading

Posted in Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Forensic data collections, Guidance Software, Litigation, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Getting disclosure information out of SharePoint

I was interviewed last week by one of the big computer magazines about the ever more ubiquitous Sharepoint – Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) to give it its full name. The context, unsurprisingly given my own area of practice, was … Continue reading

Posted in Court Rules, CPR, Disclosure Statement, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Lord Justice Jackson to head litigation costs review

The Master of the Rolls, Sir Anthony Clarke, has appointed Lord Justice Jackson to head a committee to review the costs of civil litigation. The appointment apparently follows a meeting between Sir Anthony Clarke and Bridget Prentice, Parliamentary Under Secretary … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Civil justice, Commercial Court, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Legal Technology, Litigation, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Lord Justice Jackson, Ministry of Justice | Leave a comment

Speaking and listening in Australia

Sydney feels familiar from the moment you step off the plane. It is not just its culture, language and architecture which makes you feel at home – its law, its information management issues, the remedies available to judges and the … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, CaseMap, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Disclosure Statement, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, Guidance Software, KPMG, Kroll, LexisNexis, Litigation, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Betting on certainties in the information war

The odds on gaining improved information management from the recession are better than those on offer for Peter Mandelson’s resignation before the next election. The war to tame the information needed for litigation and regulation, like other wars, will breed … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, CPR, Document Retention, Legal Technology, Litigation, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Birmingham barristers see e-disclosure applications

A seminar in Birmingham allowed an audience of lawyers to see some of the applications used to handle electronic disclosure topped and tailed by some explanation of the litigation context. It was not just a trade show but a visual … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, CaseMap, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Disclosure Statement, Discovery, DocuMatrix, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, EDRM, Electronic disclosure, Epiq Systems, FoxData, Judges, LexisNexis, Litigation, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR, Trilantic | Leave a comment

What will recession do for civil justice?

I nearly did Gordon Brown an injustice last night. My notes for a talk to be given in Birmingham included the observation that “our weasel-worded Prime Minister has not yet found the guts to admit that we are in or … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Civil justice, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Judges, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Leadership in litigation

This is a report of a speech given by US Magistrate Judge John Facciola at the Masters Conference in Washington on 17 October 2008. Its theme was leadership. Whatever view UK lawyers and judges may take about US litigation discovery, … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Courts, Discovery, Document Retention, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation Readiness, Masters Conference | Leave a comment

Judging the importance of form over function

The parties are gathered for a Case Management Conference. It has been the diary for some time, and no-one is in any doubt as to the time, date, place or nature of the business to be discussed. The summons is … Continue reading

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

Discovery of Australian and US connections

The purpose of the e-Disclosure Information Project is to assimilate and disseminate information about electronic discovery / disclosure. As you may conclude from my silence on this site for a fortnight, I have been doing more assimilating and less dissemination … Continue reading

Posted in Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, EDRM, Electronic disclosure, Litigation, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Take the best and discard the worst from US litigation

The Vikings brought with them some habits which were deplored by their hosts, but they also brought technology which we turned to our advantage. We do not much like some of the practices in US civil courts, but we can … Continue reading

Posted in Attenex, Case Management, Clearwell, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Ernst & Young, FRCP, KCura, KPMG, Legal Technology, Litigation, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Ernst & Young Forensic Party

If Ernst & Young Forensic Technology and Discovery Services manage their clients’ work as thoroughly as they manage their party invitations – as I am sure they do – it seems unlikely that they miss much. My Inbox is full … Continue reading

Posted in Attenex, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Ernst & Young, Litigation, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Smoking guns, haystacks and teeth

It is not often that I devote a whole article merely to the opening remarks of the chairman of a conference, but then it not often that one has a former Lord Chancellor in the chair. Lord Falconer’s speech at … Continue reading

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

Litigation Forum: Facing the Future

Legal Week’s Litigation Forum this week, sponsored by Ernst & Young, was rather different from the (many) others I have been to this year. They have been e-disclosure conferences with litigation practice and procedure as a context. This week’s event … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Ernst & Young, Litigation | Leave a comment

Practical Guidelines for e-Disclosure Management

Litigation solicitors in private practice and in-house lawyers would have done well to be at the Ark Group conference last week. Run over two days within spitting distance of the Tower, it had the title Adopting Practical Guidelines to e-Disclosure … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, CaseLogistix, CaseMap, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Data Protection, Discovery, DocuMatrix, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, Forensic data collections, FoxData, Guidance Software, LexisNexis, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, Part 31 CPR | Leave a comment

Where were the lawyers at IQPC?

The potential audience for these musing ranges from large London firms with Terabytes of data for review down to much smaller firms with modest volumes and budgets to match. A report of a two-day, high-end conference in London will resonate … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, IQPC, Legal Technology, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Whose discovery rules would you rather break?

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t is the dilemma which faces many who are responsible for document production simultaneously in more than one jurisdiction. The subject was covered in some of the sessions at IQPC’s Information Retention and … Continue reading

Posted in Courts, Data Protection, Discovery, Document Retention, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, FRCP, IQPC, Kroll, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

E-disclosure conferences and seminars 2008

I have updated on my web site the list of conferences, seminars and similar events known to me for 2008, with hyperlinks to the programmes where they are available. I have left up the programmes for the past events, since … Continue reading

Posted in Australian courts, Case Management, Commercial Court, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, Document Retention, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, Electronic disclosure, ILTA, ILTA Insight, IQPC, Law Society, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support, The Lawyer | Leave a comment

Defensibility of the UK e-Disclosure process

Do the UK courts ever question the manner in which electronic evidence was collected? It is a source of much contention in the US but we have little case law directly on the point here. It is clearly vital to … Continue reading

Posted in Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, FoxData, FRCP, Guidance Software, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

E-Disclosure conferences in London 2008

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 … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Commercial Court, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, Document Retention, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, ILTA, IQPC, Legal Technology, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

The Qualcomm CREDO Program

The judge who heard the sanctions part of the Qualcomm case set out a program for devising an action plan to prevent future disclosure violations. UK companies may like to measure their own preparedness against it. On 30 January I … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Courts, Discovery, Document Retention, eDisclosure, eDiscovery, Kroll, Legal Technology, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Discovering what to do about e-disclosure

The paucity of blog postings recently does not imply that there is nothing to write about On the contrary, there is too much going on to stop and write it all up. A quick summary of what has come up … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Commercial Court, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, LexisNexis, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support | Leave a comment

Guidance on the Human Factor in eDiscovery

My first port of call in New York last week was Patrick Burke, Assistant General Counsel at Guidance Software. I did a webinar with Patrick over Christmas (Americans don’t really do Christmas I discover – the last e-mail in on … Continue reading

Posted in Case Management, Commercial Court, Court Rules, Courts, CPR, Discovery, Document Retention, E-Discovery Suppliers, eDisclosure, eDisclosure Conferences, eDiscovery, FRCP, Guidance Software, Legal Technology, LegalTech, Litigation Readiness, Litigation Support | Leave a comment