IT is required to assure safety protocols and be “the guard” that is protecting all of a firm’s precious information. Is it wrong for lawyers to want to “speed things up” and bypass IT? It’s never safe and never recommended but it happens!
First off, a big thanks to the organisers of the “Today’s General Counsel” event in Los Angeles last week! The Exigent team recently attended an innovative event along with our partners at Morgan Lewis. The unique and interactive format fuelled conversation and allowed opinions, from around the globe, to share their successes and failures in E-Discovery projects including the issues of IT. The round table sessions provided attendees with actual solutions to some of the real business issues they are facing rather than the “typical talking heads” format that so many legal events adopt.
Technology is evolving e-discovery on almost a daily basis. With the advancements in TAR (technology assisted review) and predictive coding, there’s no end to where technology will take the legal practice. That being said, there is a need to IT to be diligent on all aspects of a case but data protection can often be seen differently dependent on the audience. There is no correct answer for this but going forward, issues like cross-border litigation are not going to go away. So how do we tackle it? I don’t have all the answers but vigorous protocols and accreditation of your security measures are invaluable in these times.
One of my favorite topics is how technology in discovery is getting broader with every new gadget that is introduced to society. For example, the FitBit can not only track your activity level but it can also tell your opposition exactly where you are at any given time. Or perhaps it will show that you run a marathon once a week so a pre-existing knee injury could change the outcome of a case? Where do you draw the line as that what is “private” or perhaps there is no line these days? With Facebook following your every move, how long will it be before a judge logs in and can see that I checked in at a pub on a Monday afternoon? IT has an interesting future ahead! Anyone interested in changing careers?
Written by Clare Smith, Associate Director at Exigent Group Limited.
