Category: Storage

I discovered a new e-discovery blog today that I’ve added to the blogroll - E-Discovery Bytes from the Quarles & Brady LLP law firm.

Their post “The Problem of Reviewing Electronic Data” caught my eye because it pointed to a ComputerWorld story entitled “Security Manager’s Journal: E-Discovery Prompts a Second Look at Data Retention.” I always perk up when I see an e-discovery story from a non-legal-related source.

The ComputerWorld story records the struggle of a IT security manager (who could be from any company) in comprehending how legal rules written by and for lawyers could have such a profound effect on his every day activities. The only way he heard about the rules was because the general counsel at his company attended a dinner sponsored by an e-discovery vendor.

The story reveals the tortuous balancing act that so many IT professionals have to face when deciding how much data to save. On one hand, you have to backup employee e-mail for disaster recovery and business continuity. On the other hand, this requires ever-increasing storage space and heightens the possibility that you’ll have to expend enormous effort and time to produce relevant e-mails when the company is involved in litigation.

For some IT managers (including the author of the ComputerWorld article), dealing with e-discovery might just drive them to “turn back the technological clock:”

“For paper information, it’s simple: Point the lawyers to the file cabinets and tell them to have a good time.”

Link to story.

While the story doesn’t directly involve a litigation matter, the IntraLinks video “45 Days to Find a White Knight” provides a splendid example of how an online, virtual dataroom can facilitate the distribution of documents between clients and outside counsel.

The story recounts how Carl Icahn announced a hostile takeover bid of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, which prompted the Fairmont shareholders to frantically shop around for a better deal.

The professionally produced short video interviews general counsel from Fairmont as well as attorneys from Fairmont’s outside counsel in Canada, McCarthy Tétrault.

My favorite parts of the video are where the McCarthy Tétrault attorneys are talking about the limitations they struggled with in the past with “paper” datarooms (i.e. requiring the client to physically, and inconveniently, visit the storeroom) and how with a virtual dataroom, the client can look at any document right from their desk. The documents can even be secured so that visitors can only read the document and nothing else.

The attorneys also reported that they saved on copy costs by uploading digital documents, and they were able to track exactly what documents that potential buyers viewed when they were invited into the system.

In the end, the CD backups of the 150,000+ document database effectively acted as their “disclosure statement.”

The video is obviously a fluff marketing piece for IntraLinks, but the story is a golden example of how technology can triumph in the practice of law.

Link to video.

A great headline from InfoWorld.com that briefly looks at the effects the amended FRCP has on IT professionals who are tasked with purchasing storage platforms for their companies.

I don’t totally agree with this quote by author Mario Apicella, but I can certainly appreciate his perspective:

“… hosted services that offer remote access for e-discovery and similar activies are a worthwhile alternative to building a layer of compliance applications in-house.”

True it may be easier (and more efficient) for a company to outsource some of their storage/compliance responsibilities, but it is still imperative that the IT professionals and company attorneys discuss the issues revolving around the storage and preservation of electronic records (i.e. e-mails, e-docs, etc.).

Even though a hosted service may adequately handle the logistics of preserving e-mail, the amended rules still impose a quasi-duty upon lawyers to be familiar enough with their clients’ information systems so they can intelligently discuss the exchange of electronic data with the opposing party.

Link to article.

eWeek.com frequently posts some short, quick slideshows like today’s “The 10 Biggest Storage Challenges Facing Companies Today.” Along with cutting cooling costs, improving I/O flow, and online storage, the #7 challenge is “Identifying a good e-discovery strategy and getting it into operation.”

An interesting, but plausible twist to using an expert is pointed out by Larry Westcott in his Electronic Discovery Blog. The court ordered the Plaintiff to pay their expert, Mark Lanterman, the “reasonable expense for his services and the electronic copying expenses” but that he would act under the guidance of the Defendant (Quicken Loans, Inc.). Quicken is providing backup tapes with documents that are “potentially material” to the litigation but it is unable to ’screen out privileged or proprietary information and documents” on its own.

Searchstorage.com runs a good piece (via the Electronic Discovery Blog) by Rick Cook on what it means to degauss an old backup tape. He also provides some tips on dealing with old tapes (i.e. don’t sell them and physically destroy tapes that contained confidential data).

Comptuerworld.com summarizes an IDC report on the top ten storage predictions for 2007.

On an interesting note, the report dictates storage virtualization will drive greater adoption of server virtualization.

On an ediscovery note, the report “forecast[s] tighter integration of content management, unified messaging and security products to satisfy electronic discovery and records-retention demands.”