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 March 1, 2013 at the annual E-Discovery conference!

I'll be speaking on the following two panels at ACEDS annual E-Discovery Conference:

What Florida’s Bouts with New E-Discovery Rules Teach Lawyers and Corporations
Florida’s first ever rules for discovery of electronically stored information in civil courts just took effect. They caused a sea change in the way the state’s many trial attorneys practice, and have imposed novel burdens on the Florida court system, parties in litigation, visiting litigants, and the multitude of large and small businesses inhabiting the state. The rules have created some efficiencies in civil procedure, but they have also tested the infrastructure of county and circuit courts from Pensacola to Key West. Though Florida is not one of the first to join the e-discovery fray, its legal and corporate diversity, division of rural and metropolitan areas, and abundance of international businesses make it a melting pot that lawyers, rulemakers, and e-discovery professionals nationwide and at the federal level are eying closely. What new liabilities and opportunities have the rules created, and how can you learn from them? Where are lawyers, litigants and judges most vulnerable to the perils of electronic evidence? What tools and services do you need to excel at e-discovery as the volume of your client’s data balloons? How can you navigate the rules to reduce costs? Can mediation by an E-Neutral save money? And how do you protect against e-discovery malpractice? On this panel, legal experts from across the state, including the attorneys who crafted the rules, will give you important lessons gleaned from this unsettled legal terrain.

Double-Edged Sword of Social Media-- Boost Your Bottom Line While Avoiding Risk
As Facebook hits one billion global users and Twitter approaches a half billion, it’s safe to say that social media is here to stay. Some organizations and law firms have embraced it for the unique marketing and networking avenues it affords, and the business it can drive. Others pass on its benefits because of the clear reputational and legal risks it presents. Social media can open doors to engage stakeholders and potential clients, but it is hard to monitor and even tougher to incorporate into existing information governance frameworks. The stakes are high. When the threat of a lawsuit strikes, it is crucial to know who is saying what, where it is located, and how to preserve and collect it for litigation. How can you use social media to drive business success, while reigning in the dangers it presents? What does an effective employee social media policy look like, and how can you integrate it with compliance policies that are already in place? How do you govern social media in the cloud? What are the best ways to preserve, collect, and produce social media? And how do you decide which methods are best? In this panel, e-discovery and technology experts from top organizations and law firms show you how to use and regulate social media in a way that is safe, effective, and profitable.

More about the E-Discovery conference here: http://www.ediscoveryconference.com/panels

Join My Upcoming ESI CLE Webinar February 13, 2013

Why Florida’s recent E-Discovery rulings and other developments should matter to you and your organization
The Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS), established in 2010, is the member organization for professionals in the private and public sectors who work in the field of e-discovery. ACEDS is building a community of e-discovery specialists for the exchange of ideas, guidance, training and best practices. This free ESI CLE webinar program offers a preview of what I will discuss at the upcoming annual ACEDS Conference-- www.ediscoveryconference.com/panels/

While Florida’s recent rules for the discovery of ESI in civil courts that took effect September 1st have improved efficiency in civil procedure, they also have caused a sea change in the way attorneys practice. What new burdens, liabilities and opportunities have the rules created for the court system, parties in litigation, visiting litigants, and the multitude of large and small businesses inhabiting the state of Florida? And why should they matter to you and your organization? Join our panel of legal experts as they share invaluable insights, including important lessons and best practices learned from this recent ruling and other developments in the e-discovery arena.

Session Panelists: Lawrence Kolin, Mediator/Arbitrator, Lawrence H. Kolin, P.A

                               Brad Schultz, Litigation Support, Berger Singerman

                               Daniel Whitehouse, Attorney, Whitehouse & Cooper, PLLC

Session Moderator: Charles A. Volkert, Executive Director, Robert Half Legal

See link for details (GoToMeeting starts at 1PM EST)--

http://www.aceds.org/why-floridas-recent-e-discovery-rulings-and-other-developments-should-matter-to-you-and-your-organization/

UPDATE: In case you missed it live, the recorded webinar is now available at http://go.pardot.com/e/5972/training-on-demand-training-/l2183/442031232.

E-Discovery Education

Just a note that I will be speaking about Florida's civil procedure rule amendments addressing ESI at the Technology Committee of the Orange County Bar Association (OCBAnet.org) at noon tomorrow, Thursday, July 19, 2012.  I am also speaking as a panelist in a national webinar for the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists® or ACEDS.org which will take place at 1 pm EST on August 3, 2012 online. I will also be presenting regarding the new rule amendments during the OCBA's Family Law Committee CLE on September 21, 2012. Look for future speaking engagements as the campaign to educate bench and bar about the effect of these changes continues.

About the Speaker, Lawrence Kolin, Esq. - A full-time neutral and Supreme Court of Florida Certified Circuit-Civil and Appellate Mediator, in Winter Park, Florida, he handles alternative dispute resolution of complex multi-party cases involving professional liability, construction, technology, real estate, employment and contract disputes. Now a qualified arbitrator, he frequently practiced in state and federal courts in diverse areas of civil trial work including business, commercial and patent litigation. Previously, he was a partner in a statewide firm, trying cases in insurance, intellectual property, health care, and medical malpractice, among other areas. He earned a political science degree from Trinity College in Connecticut and a law degree from the University of Miami School of Law, where he was Executive Editor of the Entertainment & Sports Law Review. Mediating since 2001, he is AV® Rated and member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. He served as founding Chair of the Florida Bar Civil Procedure Rules Subcommittee on Electronic Discovery which drafted new rules becoming effective September 1, 2012.

E-Discovery Rules Effective FL September 1st

The Supreme Court of Florida's opinion just out today adopts amendments to civil rules as previously outlined in my blog below. See full decision here: http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2012/sc11-1542.pdf
Six years in the making! Now begins the education campaign for bench and bar. Effective September 1, 2012 are amendments to seven existing Florida civil procedure rules: 1.200 (Pretrial Procedure); 1.201 (Complex Litigation); 1.280 (General Provisions Governing Discovery); 1.340 (Interrogatories to Parties); 1.350 (Production of Documents and Things and Entry Upon Land for Inspection and Other Purposes); 1.380 (Failure to Make Discovery; Sanctions); and 1.410 (Subpoena). This is the culmination of a six-year effort initially chaired by me and with the help of members of my subcommittee of lawyers and judges and the Civil Rules Standing Committee of the Florida Bar. These rules will further allow for the ability for neutrals to play a role in dispute resolution of ESI issues in state court cases. 

"This is the culmination of a rigorous effort to modernize procedure in Florida to include electronically stored information,” attorney Lawrence Kolin, of Winter Park, founding chair of the e-discovery rules committee, told told the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists®. See ACEDS Bulletin here - http://aceds.org/news/florida-ediscovery-rules-take-effect-september-1

Neutrals may ease anxiety over Florida’s new E-discovery rules

This podcast featuring my commentary just in from an interview with the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS) Editorial Director, Robert Hilson: On March 7, the Florida Supreme Court heard argument on proposed E-discovery rules for state cases, the first such rules for the fourth largest state. The court has put them on fast track, and could approve them by the end of the year. The rules will affect the state’s diverse legal and corporate community and its 63,000 active attorneys. They aim to streamline case management, but they will also impose unfamiliar burdens on practitioners who are new to e-discovery. Neutral third parties, such as special masters, mediators and referees, may be able to assist in these instances. These so-called “neutrals” can shape discovery plans, allocate costs and suggest and create efficiencies that did not exist. Their services are not limited to grappling with old or new rules, or to discovery disputes. Lawrence Kolin, an Orlando lawyer and full-time mediator, chaired the Florida Bar committee that helped craft the e-discovery rules the Supreme Court is considering. In this ACEDS podcast, he tells how neutrals can help litigants navigate e-discovery pitfalls and resolve expensive battles before they arise. “I try to focus parties on the merits and try to get them off using e-discovery as a sword or shield,” says Kolin. “Mediation is an avenue that can present parties with significant cost-savings if performed early enough in the litigation.”
Podcast introduction:
http://aceds.org/aceds-ediscovery-mediation-podcast-with-lawrence-kolin
Listen to .mp3 here:
http://aceds.org/sites/default/files/ACEDS%20Mediation%20Podcast%20with%20Neutral%20Lawrence%20Kolin.mp3

ACEDS 2012 and Florida's Forthcoming Rules

I spent the last couple of days at the national annual conference of the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS). There were many vendors, attorneys and even court personnel attending. Of particular interest was a pilot program developed by Clerk of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Robert Barth. That court has identified special masters and e-neutrals as fulfilling the need to effectively address issues presented by the preservation, collection and production of relevant Electronically Stored Information (ESI) during the litigation process. The parties in those cases reportedly benefit from the appointment of Electronic Discovery Special Masters (EDSMs) in appropriate cases. Any findings of fact or conclusions of law reached by the EDSM will be presented to the court as a report and recommendation, to which the parties will have the opportunity to object, prior to a de novo review by the court (see details at - http://www.pawd.uscourts.gov/Pages/ediscovorey.htm).  Florida's draft rules do include a case management topic of optional appointment of special magistrates in the event such issues need to be referred.  This was discussed during an ACEDS panel I served on with my successor on the Florida Civil Rules Committee, Kevin Johnson. We also spoke on the likelihood of a decision from the Supreme Court of Florida concerning the proposed amendments to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and any time frame for implementation. Given the largely friendly reception during oral argument, it appears adoption of the language is imminent, but the forthcoming opinion could delay the effective date of the rules, given the Court's concern for educating the bench and bar.

I'll be speaking at the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists

Join me at ACEDS 2012 Annual Conference and Exhibition
 http://aceds.org/conference/program-panels#Sunshine
(I'll be speaking April 3rd).

4:40 PM - 5:50 PM

Session: You can’t spell Sunshine without ‘ESI’: What you should expect under the new Florida e-discovery state rules

Florida will soon have e-discovery rules for its state courts for the first time. The product of a long process led by the Florida Bar, which elicited the views of urban and rural practitioners and judges throughout the very diverse state, the proposed rules are not mirror images of the federal e-discovery rules. They are a sea change in Florida legal procedure. Florida’s 63,000 practicing attorneys, their litigation support and IT staffs, as well as their clients, will be challenged. Most of them are unfamiliar with e-discovery and the duties it entails. What do the proposed Florida state rules require? How do they differ from the Federal e-discovery rules? When are they likely to be approved by the Florida Supreme Court? How should Florida lawyers prepare to handle them well? What penalties are they likely to face for mishandling electronically stored information, and how do you avoid them? In this special panel, experts from around the state, including the lawyer who chaired the Florida Bar rules committee, will show you what you must do to prepare and to implement them when they arrive. This is a vital panel for all Florida legal practitioners and their staffs and for the service providers that do business in the Sunshine State.

Monday-Wednesday, April 2-4, 2012
The Westin Diplomat | Hollywood, Florida USA
Speaker Courtesy Savings Voucher From Lawrence H. Kolin
Save $150 if you use Code "Kolin"
Priceless Knowledge and Networking, Plus Up to 17 CLE Credits
Phone: 786-517-2701
Online: ACEDS.org/conference/registration