With Social Media Discovery as with much other Electronic Discovery, the key issue is often defining and managing burden. Begin with the end in mind – you need to know what you want and you need to know the paths and the obstacles to getting there. Can you cut to the chase with the opposing party? Need you leave yourself... Continue Reading...
Continue ReadingSocial Media Discovery & Evidence Part 2: Beast of Burden
It’s just not emails anymore
It is no secret that the means of communicating electronically are expanding at an ever-increasing rate. Within the last few years, e-discovery into communications has expanded from a largely email centered endeavor to one that includes texts, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media. More recently, the proliferation of messaging apps like Whatsapp, Viber, Snapchat, Marco Polo, Kik, Line, Slack and... Continue Reading...
Continue ReadingSocial Media Discovery & Evidence Part 1: Can’t You Hear Me Knocking?
At some point all litigators will need access to social media to pursue or defend our clients’ claims. Parties, employees and witnesses often post or message without any discretion. They may share digital images that contradict their claims of damages or demonstrate inconsistencies in their testimony. Often, parties resist allowing access to their social media due to privacy and relevance... Continue Reading...
Continue Reading“Legacy” Data — the Orphaned Information Nobody Wants to Think About
Is your business thinking about retiring or updating its software or systems? Where are you in the planning process? Have you even thought about what will happen with your existing applications or systems? Many organizations retire or replace old or outdated applications or systems without enough planning about the information that does not get migrated to the new system. Employees... Continue Reading...
Continue ReadingDigital Picture Postscript
On June 20, 2018, we published a blog post entitled “A Digital Picture is Worth a Thousand Words – but is it Authentic?” Not long after that posting, I participated in a five day jury trial in which the issue of spoliation of digital photographs became a central issue. The spoliation issue arose in a medical malpractice action that involved... Continue Reading...
Continue ReadingDiscovery Masters in Indiana’s Commercial Courts
Discovery Masters in Indiana’s Commercial Courts – A Time and Cost Saving Option For Business Litigants The Indiana Commercial Courts pilot project launched in 2016, and the statistics and feedback show that the project is a success. The Commercial Courts’ homepage lists several purposes for the pilot project, including to “allow business and commercial disputes to be resolved with expertise,... Continue Reading...
Continue ReadingA Digital Picture is Worth a Thousand Words — But is it Authentic?
How often have you accepted a printed rendering of a digital picture as authentic? For those of us practicing since the 90s or earlier, we have often accepted a witness’s testimony that a printed picture is a fair and accurate depiction of the witness’s personal observation. However, when a digital image comes into play and small details in the image... Continue Reading...
Continue ReadingThe New Gmail– What Will It Mean for E-Discovery?
Google has announced a major refresh to the Gmail platform, with several new features that will add new challenges to e-discovery practice. Business clients utilizing the G Suite for their operations will be among the first groups to receive these new features, and personal Gmail accounts set to receive them sometime thereafter. As these features are rolled out over the... Continue Reading...
Continue ReadingWhat Does Data Mining Facebook for Voter Information Have to Do with Your Litigation Strategy?
We have all recently heard about Cambridge Analytica mining Facebook users’ data through a variety of applications. We all probably know now that if we have a Facebook account, we need to pay attention to privacy settings to ensure that our posts are only directly available to those whom we want to see them. However, have you ever really considered... Continue Reading...
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