LAWTECH GURU BLOG by Jeff Beard

Five Good Articles on Electronic Discovery Issues

Via Law.com, these links to five articles from the Law Technology News magazine on EDD (Electronic Data Discovery) are well worth the read:

• "The Discovery Dance", Daniel Blouin, Law Technology News, Jan. 15, 2004

  Discusses recent EDD cases such as Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC, et al., and In re Ford Motor Co., and their effect upon negotiating and drafting electronic discovery requests.

• "Data Collection Standards", Albert Barsocchini, Law Technology News, Jan. 15, 2004

  An analysis of why the current methodology for collecting electronic evidence in response to Hart-Scott-Rodino second requests and large electronic discovery cases is about to change dramatically, and suggested factors to use when evaluating EDD vendors.

• "Can Your Old Files Come Back to Life?", Craig Ball, Law Technology News, Jan. 15, 2004

  A good primer for explaining how hard drives retain information, the forensic implications of "slack space" and "cluster size", and why these issues should be addressed in drafting discovery requests and the actual forensic collection.

• "The Dilemma of Duplicates", Stephanie Sabatini, Law Technology News, Jan. 15, 2004

  Another good primer on the pros and cons of either keeping or removing duplicate data in electronic discovery cases, as well as related metadata, contextual, and privilege issues.

• "Raves for Two New EDD Books", Albert Barsocchini and Craig Ball, Law Technology News, Jan. 15, 2004

  Good reviews on two essential EDD books, "Electronic Discovery and Evidence" by Michael Arkfeld, and "Essentials of Electronic Discovery: Finding and Using Cyber Evidence" by Joan Feldman.

  While you're at it, I highly recommend checking out Mike's two blogs, Electronic Discovery and Evidence and Digital Practice of Law, for a host of useful tips and resources.