Category Archives: General

UK firms falling short on EDI discovery readiness

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The 3rd Annual Electronically Stored Information (ESI) Trends Report by Kroll Ontrack reveals that there is a significant gap between the existence of corporate document retention policies and ESI discovery readiness strategies.

According to the Kroll Ontrack news release, ESI management is top of mind for corporations but effective implementation is falling.

This year’s survey also reveals 77% of US companies and 56% of U.K. companies believe their ESI discovery policy or strategy is repeatable and defensible. However, only 57% of US and 39% of UK corporations have a mechanism to preserve potentially relevant data when litigation or a regulatory investigation is anticipated.

“Without an identified means to suspend the expulsion of potentially responsive data, many companies are not positioned to execute proper preservation protocol or claim their ESI discovery readiness policy is effective,” says the report.

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Scottish Civil Courts Review

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I missed the publication of the Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review when it was launched on 30th September 2009 by the Lord Justice Clerk, the Rt Hon Lord Gill. The report is in two volumes and contains 15 chapters and a synopsis.

The terms of reference are:

To review the provision of civil justice by the courts in Scotland, including their structure, jurisdiction, procedures and working methods, having particular regard to

  • the cost of litigation to parties and to the public purse;
  • the role of mediation and other methods of dispute resolution in relation to court process;
  • the development of modern methods of communication and case management; and
  • the issue of specialisation of courts or procedures, including the relationship between the civil and criminal courts;

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Ministry of Truth

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When I used to travel on business particularly in the countries of Latin America I used to enjoy the very real differences in the way lawyers worked and the institutions in which they operated.

There are, of course, obvious differences between the way of life I was used to in the UK and in Continental Europe and what lies below the Panama Canal. In particular I remember the disparity between what you leave behind at Miami airport and the reality of life in the outskirts of Caracas as you drive up the canyon from the airport to the city centre.

However, this is not meant to be a social commentary, you will be relieved to know. No, my point is a simple one. My purpose is to highlight certain developments during my practicing life which I strongly suspect have not been for the best.

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Scary!

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Over the weekend I heard part of a programme on the radio in which two employees of Microsoft Research in California were discussing what they described as “digitising your life”.

Apparently, this involves wearing some form of camera round your neck on a permanent basis which takes a photograph every 20 seconds and builds into a complete record of everything you do. Graham Bell and Jim Gemmill are conducting an experiment and have so far amassed over 300 gigabytes of material.

I could not help wondering why on earth anyone would want a complete record of what they had done!  I also thought I would rather be responsible for processing 300 gb of electronic data for a law firm client than seeing what I had had for Sunday breakfast at 20 second intervals!

The part of the programme I heard did not give a clue as to the reason for the research other than to suggest it was to see if it could be done and what it might look like.

Scary, huh?!

Too early to say

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Asked in the 1970s what he thought about the effects of the French Revolution, Chinese Premier at the time Zhou Enlai  famously replied, “It is too early to say”. 

Currently there are a large number of reports from a variety of sources that the end of the recession is here and that the good times are set to roll again. 

The Stock Market has surged above 5000, house prices appear to have risen or at least stopped falling and there are tentative reports that law firms have been through the worst (and it was pretty awful according to some reports) and that recruitment just might be in the up again.

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Opus Interruptus

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In his article for The Harvard Business Review Death by Information Overload Paul Hemp cites research that reveals not only how our personal wellbeing but also our productivity can be affected by the ever increasing volume of information available to us. 

Hemp claims that the sheer volume of information to be assimilated threatens our decision making and our ability to innovate, and perhaps he is right as I am commenting on what I have read rather than being innovative! 

Apparently in one study people took 25 minutes to return to work after being interrupted by an incoming email!! Fortunately, we need not take this too seriously to heart because, guess what, there is technology on hand to assist with the problem! 

By a combination of clever software which seeks to limit and prioritise the emails you receive, and taking control of your “addiction coupled with a change of culture in the workplace” you can help to cure the malady. 

Sensible and appropriate use of technology to assist in unravelling the issues in a case as early as possible makes sense for litigators faced with ever increasing amounts of data from clients and third parties. Use of the technology must always be proportionate (and that is another issue) but failure to use it in appropriate cases is likely to lead to information overload. 

Disproportionate perhaps!  Just like the reaction of an overworked associate who has just received another email interruption?

A drop in the ocean?

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Last weekend’s Sunday Times Business section carried an article by Danny Fortson and Kate Walsh about the advisers working on the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

The pictures at the top of the article showing a grim faced Dick Fuld, former Chief Executive, and one of the workers who lost her job that fateful day almost one year ago brought home what a momentous event the collapse of such a major investment bank actually was. The banks in the UK were deemed to be too big to fail and have been bailed out with huge amounts of taxpayers’ money but Lehman Brothers went under owing an eye watering $613 billion.

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What’s all this about?

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Charles HollowayCredit to Chris Dale in his blog post Sugaring the e-Discovery Pill (seventh paragraph from the bottom) for warning that “the only people who will read undiluted technical information are those who are already on side”. 

He goes on to say that “the audience we want is those who are not converted…”

I agree wholeheartedly.

In travels around the country visiting firms of varying sizes who are not always in the headlines, I find that there is great interest in the “technology” of electronic disclosure, but a concern and indeed an irritation with all the hype and the apparently impenetrable fog which surrounds the industry.

If the smart e-discovey blog is to achieve anything it needs to do more than preach to the converted. It needs to provide interesting and topical comments on the e-Discovery world as we see it, which will amuse, entertain and possibly also inform its readers wherever they are in the technology spectrum.

If it only attracts “the converted”, it will have failed!