Annual UF Law E-Discovery Conference Next Month!

  
The University of Florida Levin College of Law will hold their 13th Annual E-Discovery Conference February 24-26, 2026. Now more than a dozen years since this program was created by Professor Bill Hamilton, it is renowned for providing practical, actionable education with real-world solutions related to electronic discovery. Forward-thinking national speakers present strategies that can be implemented at both law firms and corporate legal departments. All attendees, both virtual and in-person, will be able to participate in roundtables that commence during pre-conference sessions on February 24th. Leading organizations are forming committees, budgeting resources, performing research, conducting pilots, and beginning early implementations for generative artificial intelligence and new rules may be needed. Keeping pace with changes and making new connections in the industry are benefits of attending. Of course, the annual judicial panel with unique insights into courts handling these issues is not to be missed! Free online. See more here-- https://ufediscoveryconference.com/

 

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