IT Pros Climb Out of the Basement

We all know the stereotype of the basement-office, introverted information technology worker. But some large law firms are exploding that cliche by having more and more of their IT professionals work directly -- even full-time -- with clients.

Of course, many large firms have litigation support teams that sometimes work directly with clients on discovery issues.

Wisconsin-based Foley & Lardner is one firm that takes it a step further. There, technology consultant Charlotte Logullo's time is largely devoted to working with clients to set up secure online Web sites, or extranets. In addition to housing vast amounts of data, they also allow for things like conference calls -- complete with idea "white-boarding." These days, extranets are created for all kinds of legal work.

Product Roundup: E-discovery

E-discovery has become the buzzword on everyone's lips this year, thanks largely to the new US Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), which revised guidelines for producing electronic evidence last December. The revision means that companies that fail to produce electronic evidence in court may be granted leniency if they show a good faith effort to both preserve and produce the electronic data.

Until precedents are established by actual court cases, it remains unclear just what exactly good faith means, but in the meantime, most enterprises are trying to ensure they have documented practices in place for e-discovery purposes.

E-discovery Requires Advanced E-mail Systems

When the e-discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in the US took effect last December, there was a widespread feeling of panic among international corporations that their systems would not support the new requirements. This is not surprising, given the impact and cost implications, but it is not solely a US issue. The challenge is global, and organizations in the UK and other countries are equally at risk from failing to provide information in a timely manner.

States Move Toward the Center on IT -- Finally

Some states are moving to consolidate and better integrate their systems is to comply with new electronic-discovery legislation. For instance, the sate of Washington is deploying a unified e-mail archiving system from Symantec Corp. and later this year plans to seek bids on tools for searching the archives, said Gary Robinson, the state’s CIO. Robinson led the preparation of an “impact statement” on e-discovery that the NASCIO released last week.

Electronic Data Discovery is Hot Business

In 1987, there was one business dedicated solely to providing electronic data discovery (EDD) services. In 1992, there were about five more. In 2000, there were about 40. Today, there are over 600 offerings, or purporting to offer, these services. They range in size from very large enterprises, to one or two people.
So say George Socha and Thomas Gelbmann, two St. Paul-based law technology consultants who have studied the wildfire expansion of the EDD industry for the past five years.