Free Annual UF E-Discovery Conference Online

The University of Florida Levin College of Law returns March 23^rd and March 24^th 2022 for its 9^th Annual E-Discovery Conference. The Conference combines its topics, sessions and legal, technology, and E-discovery experts to address the challenges for matters and provide key takeaways that you can put into practice. The conference is centered squarely around practical education for matters that range from small to large and is perfect for lawyers and legal professionals of all levels. Spread over two full days (mornings and afternoons if you’re in the U.S.), it’ll be a combination of several short talks, panel discussions with live Q&A, and product videos. All sessions will be recorded and available for you to watch in your own time. To ensure content is as accessible as possible we will have close captioning during the event and pre-recorded content will be captioned as well.

During the 2-day conference will discuss various aspect of e-discovery including:

• Preparing for the Rule 26(f) and Rule 16 conferences
• Effectively handling e-discovery motions, objections, and hearings
• Managing proportionality
• Negotiation ESI Protocols
• Basic and advanced search techniques
• Maximizing document review speeds and accuracy.

See more here-- https://ufediscoveryconference.com/

 

Anniversary of E-Discovery Amendments

Today marks one year since significant changes were made in 2015 to the original 2006 federal rules for electronic discovery. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)1 now emphasizes proportionality and seems to have influenced determining the expense or burden of proposed discovery in a more realistic way. The advent of technology assisted review has also brought costs down and is being employed more frequently by parties and is accepted and even encouraged by courts. My role remains as E-neutral, mediator or sometimes court-appointed special master to facilitate the electronic discovery process by helping parties to agree on the form in which they want information produced and the extent to which metadata will be produced. Mediation can feature private caucuses with retained experts or information technology liaisons that may help conduct discovery proportionally, minimizing motion practice, and avoiding sanctions and unpredictable judicial outcomes. Cooperation using alternative dispute resolution may also encompass settling procedures to be followed when discovering privileged information that has been inadvertently produced in the course of discovery, including clawbacks or agreed confidentiality orders. Rule 37(e) improved the safe harbor for mistakes in deletion, recognizing the volume of data generated is ever increasing and has made preservation more challenging. Sophistication of the parties is still taken into account in reasonable steps taken to initiate holds, but a lawyer's duty of competence in technology in more important than ever. Our E-Discovery & E-Neutral Services can help in that area, providing assistance by hosting Meet and Confer sessions, facilitating cost effective, mutually cooperative, and relevant ESI programs-- even in state court, with Mediated Case Management or Pretrial Stipulations under Florida Civil Rules 1.200 or 1.201. As Special Magsitrates, we are available to monitor E-discovery compliance or perform complex in-camera reviews for which judges don't have time. See more here-- https://www.uww-adr.com/services/e-discovery-and-e-neutral-services/index

Join me in NYC for the Masters Conference

Please join me this month as I've been invited to speak about streamlining electronic discovery at the Masters Conference for Legal Professionals on Tuesday, July 21, in New York City. Having chaired the recent effort to amend Florida Civil Procedure Rules to include e-discovery and previously taught for the state’s Advanced Judicial College, I'll join other industry experts in taking attendees through the life cycle of a complex case. We'll be focusing on fixing problem areas for a more cost-effective approach in a panel discussion titled “How to Streamline E-Discovery,” which runs from  11 am to noon. All eight of the conference’s sessions will take place at New York’s famed Harvard Club. The conference will concentrate on e-discovery, data protection, records management and related topics. “Whether you’re dealing with e-discovery in a new, socially networked world, find your company expanding globally and thus facing international discovery issues, or planning for the future of e-discovery in your firm or company, you know there’s a divide between what is in practice today and where your firm needs to be in the near future,” according to conference organizers. “Legal professionals must develop strategies for spanning this e-discovery divide before it expands further across traditional borders, whether physical or technical.” My emphasis will be on avoiding discovery disputes in the courts through the use of E-Neutrals, Mediated Case Management and Special Masters in culling the universe of information available to parties, in order to let them focus back on the merits of the claims and defenses. For more information about our panel at the Masters Conference, please visit-- http://themastersconference.com/agenda/how-streamline-ediscovery and for the full agenda in New York, see-- http://themastersconference.com/events/new-york-city

E-Neutral Services at UWWM

Just a moment of personal privilege-- I'm pleased to announce moving my dispute resolution practice to Upchurch Watson White & Max, a nationally leading mediation firm known for facilitating reasonable agreements to resolve complex civil litigation. As a UWWM neutral panelist in Florida in exclusive practice in Alternative Dispute Resolution, I'll continue to offer my wide-ranging experience in ESI disputes, including serving as an Arbitrator, E-Neutral and Special Master. Please see our E-Discovery Services-- http://www.uww-adr.com/services/e-discovery-services. In this role, I'll keep writing and speaking on implementing innovative methods of ADR, such as Early Neutral Evaluation of lawsuits. You can also get the latest trends on my more frequently updated and officially ABA listed "Blawg" at www.abajournal.com/blawg/Orlando_Mediator 
For more information on my new firm and scheduling:
http://www.uww-adr.com/biography/lawrence-h-kolin
(800) 863-1462

Join me in Orlando at OCBA's Bench Bar Conference!

Tomorrow, April 11, 2014, I will be speaking on a few panels at the Orange County Bar Association's Bench Bar Conference at the Loews Royal Pacific Hotel at Universal Studios Orlando Resort. I am particularly excited about joining the Hon. David Baker, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Florida, on Advanced E-Discovery. We will be reviewing some of the proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including 37(e) and 26(b)(1). Our CLE is actually occurring the same time that the federal civil rules advisory committee is meeting in Portland. Concerns about  proportionality moving factors to Rule 26(b)(1) were raised last fall at the Duke conference-- that it will shift the burden of proving proportionality to the party seeking discovery, that it will provide a new basis for refusing to provide discovery, and that it will increase litigation costs. None of these predicted outcomes is intended and the proposed committee note has been revised to address them. The note explains that the change does not place a burden of proving proportionality on the party seeking discovery and explains how courts should apply the proportionality factors. The note also states that the change does not support boilerplate refusals to provide discovery on the ground that it is not proportional, but should instead prompt a dialogue among the parties and, if necessary, the court. The Duke subcommittee was convinced that the proportionality considerations — which already govern discovery and parties’ conduct in discovery — should not and will not increase the costs of litigation. To the contrary, they maintain more proportional discovery will decrease the cost of resolving disputes in federal court without sacrificing fairness. See OCBA seminar agenda here-- http://www.orangecountybar.org/content/uploads/PDFs/Bench%20Bar%20Content%20by%20Session.pdf See advisory committee report here-- http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/RulesAndPolicies/rules/Agenda%20Books/Civil/CV2014-04.pdf