Because You Need to Know: Monthly News Round-Up for September 2017

A monthly round-up of industry news stories, useful publications, and notable cases of which you should be aware from the preceding month

Welcome to “Because You Need to Know,” XDD’s monthly news round-up.  In these posts, we gather together interesting articles, new publications, noteworthy cases, and XDD materials from the preceding month.  This post gathers items of interest from September 2017.

Industry News Stories

Interesting news stories from September include the ongoing adoption of AI legal tools, the continuing expansion of the duty of technical competence, and continuing concerns about cybersecurity for legal services:

• Adoption of AI Legal Tools
  • Corrs Chambers Westgarth Deploys Artificial Intelligence in M&A Due Diligence
  • Legal Know-It-All Robot ‘Lia’ Joins Allstate’s In-House Ranks
  • Baker Donelson the Latest Firm to Adopt AI for Contract Analysis

• Expanding Duty of Technical Competence
  • Another State Adopts Duty of Technology Competence, Bringing Total to 28

• Continuing Concerns About Cybersecurity for Legal Services
  • Online Imposters Add to Law Firms’ Cyber Risks
  • There May Be ‘No Do-Overs,’ but SEC Hack Provides Important Security Lessons
  • Deloitte Hack Reveals Email Vulnerabilities and Regulatory Gaps

Notable Cases

New eDiscovery cases identified in September include:

• Court: Production of Hard Copy Versions of Documents Also Kept As ESI Does Not “Run Afoul” of Rule 34
• Court Imposes Adverse Inference for Failure to Preserve Non-Party’s Text Messages Within Defendants’ “Control”
• Court Grants Lesser Sanctions Against Defendant for Various Discovery Issues
• Court Opts for Lesser Sanction for Failure to Preserve Electronic Vehicle Data

Useful Publications

New industry publications released in September include the Public Comment Version of a new guidance document from The Sedona Conference that focuses on the operation of FRCP 34 since its revision in December 2015, which emphasized the role of proportionality in dictating discovery scope:

• The Sedona Conference Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 Primer, Public Comment Version

XDD Materials

XDD published six new blog articles, one new white paper, and one new educational webinar in September:

• Blog Articles
  • Data Targeting Series:
    • Target More, Spend Less – Part 1
    • Data Targeting During Collection and Processing – Part 2
    • ECA Options and Planning Considerations – Part 3
  • Mobile Device Discovery Series (ongoing):
    • A Supercomputer in Every Pocket – Part 1
    • A Different Diary in Every Pocket – Part 2
    • A New Collection Puzzle in Every Pocket – Part 3

• White Paper
  • Measure Twice, Discovery Once: Initial eDiscovery Project Scoping and Planning – This 23-page guidance document provides a step-by-step guide to each early project activity necessary to effectively scope and plan for a new eDiscovery effort. Topics include: initial scoping activities; investigation activities; volume and cost estimation; and, roles and communication.  Activity-specific checklists are also provided for your future use in your own organization.

• Educational Webinar
  • Hold On: Get a Grip on Conducting Effective Legal Holds – This free, one-hour webinar provides detailed guidance on how to execute legal holds effectively for your organization including: standards and triggers; hold drafting; recipient identification; processes and policies; available tools; and, other issues.

As always, we welcome your input regarding future topics for our webinars, articles, and white papers.  Share your interests with us here.

About the Author

Matthew Verga, JD
Director, Education and Content Marketing

Matthew Verga is an electronic discovery expert proficient at leveraging his legal experience as an attorney, his technical knowledge as a practitioner, and his skills as a communicator to make complex eDiscovery topics accessible to diverse audiences.  A ten-year industry veteran, Matthew has worked across every phase of the EDRM and at every level from the project trenches to enterprise program design.  He leverages this background to produce engaging educational content to empower practitioners at all levels with knowledge they can use to improve their projects, their careers, and their organizations.