http://www.lawtechguru.com/ you deserve to get what you've always got."]]> en-us 2009-06-08 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2009/06/08_free_ilta_white_paper_best_practices_for_the_legal_hold_process.html I'm honored that ILTA asked me to contribute a white paper on best practices for legal holds.  It's a topic near and dear to my heart, as I advise companies seeking to implement more effective hold policies and procedures.  The legal hold process is a critical stage in eDiscovery.  Implementing and executing a well-designed legal hold process can significantly reduce the risks and costs associated with eDiscovery and other compliance requirements. Crafting, adopting and implementing legal hold best practices often raises the following questions: When is our legal obligation to preserve information triggered? Where is all of our data relating... Electronic Discovery jjbeard 2009-06-08 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2009/05/29_microsoft_exchange_2010_adds_email_archiving_limited_ediscoveryfriendly_features.html According to InformationWeek, the next version of Microsoft's e-mail server, Exchange 2010, "will include integrated archiving and multi-mailbox search capabilities at no extra cost, making it easier for companies to, for example, comply with e-discovery requirements. But Microsoft will have to be careful not to alienate third-party archiving vendors such as Symantec and Quest." "Until this version of Exchange, companies seeking to archive their e-mail centrally have had to rely on third-party software. That costly proposition has hurt adoption, and according to Osterman Research, only 28% of companies currently have central e-mail archives." From this report, Exchange 2010 will also... Electronic Discovery jjbeard 2009-05-29 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2009/04/09_juror_tweets_not_so_sweet.html Mobile Tech & Gadgets jjbeard 2009-04-09 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2009/04/01_twittering_away_a_job_infamously.html It's all over Twitter and the web - how a Twitterer made a negative Tweet about her new job offer from Cisco.  Naturally, someone who identified himself from Cisco saw it and responded.  It's now an urban wegend (web legend), dubbed the "Cisco Fatty" incident, in reference to the "fatty paycheck" comment in her Tweet.  There are already YouTube videos parodying and discussing it. Covered in a DailyTech article, the Twitterer identified as Connor Riley explained her situation and intent in why she turned down the job and sarcastically tweeted about it to her friends.  But she didn't protect the... Privacy & Security jjbeard 2009-04-01 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2009/03/30_big_hard_drives_big_failure_rates_how_safe_is_your_data.html Consider this post as a public service announcement.  I've recently been shopping online for a nice big capacity external hard drive, as well as a larger capacity notebook drive.  Over the years, I've seen the major hard drive manufacturers go through major problems with quality control and drive failure issues.  So naturally I headed on over to Amazon and Newegg to check out the feedback on various drives.  It's good to know which zone they're in at the moment before buying. Since my last 3.5" drive was a Seagate that has performed exceptionally well in one of my desktops, I... Mobile Tech & Gadgets jjbeard 2009-03-30 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2009/03/21_think_before_you_insource.html My latest InsideCounsel article, "Think Before You In-source" is now available online.  While there has certainly been a trend to bring eDiscovery in-house, lately I've been hearing from a number of corporate legal and enterprise IT professionals regarding their frustration in this area.  I'm not alone, having heard the same from colleagues at LegalTech NY and elsewhere. As I shared in the article, I have recently heard from a number of companies who have been dissatisfied that what they've brought in-house from software providers hasn't lived up to the hype, delivered the best results or integrated with all the necessary... Electronic Discovery jjbeard 2009-03-21 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2009/03/11_multipass_erasure_myth_debunked.html In his latest LTN column, Ball in Your Court, Craig Ball debunks the long-held hard drive multi-pass erasure myth, that goes like this: "Top notch computer forensic examiners have special tools and techniques enabling them to recover overwritten data from a wiped hard drive so long as the drive was wiped less than 3 or 7 or 35 times."  The myth also goes that someone using a magnetic force electron microscope would be able to discern the trace magnetic signal left behind on a drive that wasn't wiped enough times, and somehow piece together the underlying wiped data.  Which is... Electronic Discovery jjbeard 2009-03-11 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2009/03/03_risk_assessments_recommended_for_companies_as_sec_prepares_to_flex_its_muscles.html Electronic Discovery jjbeard 2009-03-03 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2009/02/09_thoughts_from_legaltech_2009.html Back from a very busy week in New York.  The buzz from the show centered around several themes this year: Naturally, discussions about the economy and the overall health of the legal market prevailed.  With the shuttering or RIF'ing of a number of law firms and service providers alike, many believe we're just seeing the first wave.  Vocal concerns over where to place ESI tells me there is a definite Flight to Quality as corporations, law firms, and independent consultants want to know the service provider will be around throughout the life of their legal matters, which typically span several... Electronic Discovery jjbeard 2009-02-09 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2009/01/30_see_you_at_legaltech_new_york.html It's been a busy week preparing for an even busier one next week.  I'm looking forward to seeing many friends and colleagues in the Big Apple.  Look me up if you'll be there, and you can also leave word for me at the Daticon EED booth. With the somber economic situation, everyone is trying to cut costs while increasing efficiency.  eDiscovery process, technology, and sourcing decisions are naturally important concerns and priorities within many companies.  Enterprise platforms and service combinations are evolving and emerging to address the entire eDiscovery process, from in-house processes and solutions to those provided by leading... Legal Technology jjbeard 2009-01-30 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2009/01/26_wsjs_mossberg_on_windows_7_beta_leaves_vista_in_the_dust.html I rather enjoy reading Walt Mossberg's Personal Tech column.  Walt likes to tell things as they are, the good and the bad, without slanting it with too much tech enthusiasm or jaded pessimism.  He recently loaded the Windows 7 Beta onto two laptops and overall had some good things to share about it, including a personal video. If his experience is any indicator, performance is noticeably better than Vista, its nag prompts are better controlled, and there's some interesting tweaks to the user interface relating to the task bar for better control. I'm also interested in the new multi-touch input... Mobile Tech & Gadgets jjbeard 2009-01-26 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2009/01/04_2009_predictions_from_across_the_blogosphere.html It wouldn't be a new year without predictions popping up all over the blogosphere.  I've made a number myself in previous years.  This time around, I thought I'd share those that caught my attention and got stuck in my "filter" if you will. Regardless of those that may amount to nothing more than either wishful thinking or pessimism, it's illuminating to read and keep them in mind as we move forward into the fresh year.  Without further ado: 1. Sonya Sigler (Guest blogger at Ralph Losey's e-Discovery Team blog): 2009 Predictions and Trends GC Sonya Sigler covers such compelling issues... Electronic Discovery jjbeard 2009-01-04 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2008/12/19_apply_a_critical_security_patch_for_ie_5_6_7_8_asap.html As if "Clickjacking" wasn't bad enough, yet another critical security exploit was found in IE, and it affects virtually every version that people would have on their PCs (from the older v. 5.0 all the way through to IE's 8 beta). This flaw was recently publicly reported, and Microsoft just released the critical patch yesterday, Dec. 18th. Since it's very rare when Microsoft issues a security patch out of their normal cycle, you can tell this one is important. Without going into techie details, suffice it to say that thousands of web sites have already been compromised to deliver the... Privacy & Security jjbeard 2008-12-19 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2008/12/17_acrobat_9_adds_refinements_greatly_improved_web_site_capture.html A few months ago, Adobe released Acrobat version 9. I've wanted to blog about this for a while now, but also really wanted to use the software before posting to provide a realistic assessment. This time around, I've had the good fortune of trying both Acrobat 9 Professional and the new Extended version. Keep in mind this is the ninth version, so it's become quite a mature package by now. While there's not a huge number of new features, there are a number of subtle refinements throughout, which is a good thing. Unlike the jarring interface change from Acrobat 7... Legal Technology jjbeard 2008-12-17 http://www.lawtechguru.com/archives/2008/12/13_norton_internet_security_2009_what_a_difference.html I recently upgraded my personal laptop to Norton Internet Security 2009, and was very pleasantly surprised. In stark contrast to prior versions, the new 2009 version has been streamlined and so far seems very light on system resources. In recent years, Symantec has needed to rebuild both its brand and its products, mainly due to the horribly bloated and CPU-intensive 2005 and 2006 versions of their Norton Internet Security (NIS) and Norton Antivirus (NAV) programs, which prompted many customers to post negative feedback online. Starting with the 2007 version, Symantec recoded these products from the ground up in an effort... Privacy & Security jjbeard 2008-12-13