Current News
At the request of the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for Northern District of California, Chuck Ragan is serving on the Advisory Subcommittee on the ADR Local Rules.
On May 23, 2008, Jim Daley spoke on “Litigation Readiness: The Importance of Proactive ESI Management Systems,” at the Information Retention & E-Disclosure Management 2008 Conference in London, England.
Jonathan Redgrave was recently published in the May 2008 edition of The Federal Lawyer. His sidebar was entitled “Needs, Wants, and Civil Discovery: Why Less Can Be More for Requesting Parties.” The article discusses the obsession for production of metadata, and contrasts that with the need for pertinent information in discovery. It also discusses the need for being “the most reasonable” party in the proceedings and being prepared to ask only for “legitimate and demonstrable needs for preservation and production” which will lead to quality over quantity of information, and moving the approach to discovery "from all-out warfare to greater collaboration". The article can be found here.
RDRW recently made a contribution to We Can Ride, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a Premier Accredited member of North American Riding for the Handicapped Association. We Can Ride was founded in 1982 and offers therapeutic horseback riding and carriage driving to adults and children living with disabilities. For more information, please visit We Can Ride’s website at http://www.wecanride.org/.
On May 2, 2008 Jim Daley was quoted in an online IT World Canada article about a recent “virtual round table” discussion regarding e-records retention and international data privacy and protection. The article can be found here.
RDRW recently made a contribution to The Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan, a 501 (c) 3 corporation established in 1990 in response to the very real needs faced by people with a severe and persistent mental illness. Supplemental grants from the Mental Health Foundation, help to bring the opportunity for security, independence or better health for people whose lives have been affected by mental illness. For more information, please visit the organization’s website at http://www.themhf.com/default.asp.
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Jim Daley has been appointed to the Planning Committee for 2008 Georgetown Law Institute’s Advanced E-Discovery Conference scheduled for November 20 – 21, 2008 in Washington DC.
The prestigious Chambers has announced that its USA 2008 edition will include RDRW and Chuck Ragan among its recommended U.S. Leaders in the Field for Privacy & Data Security.
RDRW has made a contribution to Idea Village, a New Orleans based, non-profit organization whose mission is to "inspire creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship in New Orleans." The donation is in response to a challenge issued at the conclusion of the mid-year meeting of The Sedona Conference’s Working Group 1 last month in New Orleans to raise $10,000 to assist the efforts to rebuild the city. To learn about the Idea Village's programs to assist small and startup businesses, visit the organization's website at www.ideavillage.org
An article by Jonathan Redgrave and The Honorable Shira A. Scheindlin has been published in the April 2008 edition of the ABA Journal. Entitled “E-Discovery: Technology requires greater care in preserving evidence,” the article discusses the importance of preserving evidence during the early stages of litigation. The article is a short excerpt from the authors’ highly-acclaimed chapter on E-discovery in the treatise Business & Commercial Litigation (Second Edition) which is published by Thomson West Publishing.
RDRW has made a contribution to the Women’s Intersport Network for Kansas City (WIN for KC). The mission of WIN for KC is to empower women and girls through advocating and promoting the lifetime value of sports and fitness while providing opportunities for participation and leadership development. Because of this organization, hundreds of low-income girls are able to participate on sports teams, learn new sports, and even attend sporting events like the Women’s Big 12 Tournament (attendance is based on participation in reading challenges). RDRW’s contribution will be designated to sponsor eight girls to attend Camp WIN a four-day camp that teaches girls (ages 6-12) how to play 14 different sports. Each day also features a Life Skills session with speakers on topics like teamwork and body image. The organization is hoping to receive scholarships for 150 girls who would otherwise not be able to afford to attend the camp. RDRW’s Lisa Lukaszewski is a former board member of WIN for KC and remains active in the group’s events.
M. James Daley and Ken Prine published an article entitled “One Year After the Federal E-Discovery Rule Amendments” in the Spring 2008 edition of the ABA Journal on Natural Resources & Environment. The article explored the responses by courts and litigants to the 2006 FRCP amendments including the Suggested Protocol for Discovery of Electronically Stored Information (the Maryland Protocol), and various Ethics Committee opinions. The article also discussed acceptable forms of production or standard image formats, the ethical debate on the mining of metadata, the necessity of correctly identifying key players in a “timely manner,” and the issues of ESI admissibility.
RDRW recently made a contribution to the New Orleans affiliate of Rebuilding Together. Rebuilding Together, Inc. is a national organization which works to preserve and revitalize houses and communities, assuring that low income homeowners, particularly those who are elderly or disabled, can live in warmth, safety and independence. After hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans affiliate of Rebuilding Together began repairing hurricane and flood damaged homes for city’s residents. Rebuilding Together has taken on the challenges of total renovation so that elderly and disabled homeowners can safely move back into their homes.
Chuck Ragan, who has 25 years’ experience in international arbitration, co-authored an article in Legal Times on the prospects for a reasonable approach to e-discovery in that specialized area of the law. The article posits that tactical approaches to e-discovery that have been prevalent in U.S. courts need not be imported fully into international arbitration, and highlights provisions of a protocol under consideration by the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.
On April 22, 2008, Jerami Kemnitz participated in a live national audio conference entitled “Meet and Confer – Complying with Tougher Dis
covery Rules: Containing Costs, Reducing Risks and Avoiding Sanctions,” which focused on practical strategies to prepare for Rule 26 Meet & Confer disclosure obligations. The audio conference was sponsored by the Legal Publishing Group of Strafford Publications.
RDRW’s Beth Bodelson and Ellie Murphy are active volunteers for the Wills for Heroes program in Minnesota. This project dedicates itself to the first-responders who serve our communities and protect the well-being of others. “Wills for Heroes programs provide essential legal documents free of charge to our nation’s first responders, including wills, living wills, and powers of attorney.” For more information about this program, please click here.
RDRW recently made a contribution to the MacPhail Center for Music in connection with MacPhail’s annual “Music Matters Luncheon.” Among the community benefits that MacPhail provides are long term education partnerships with schools and community music programs, early childhood music education, and music therapy and adaptive lessons for those with mental, developmental, and/or physical disabilities. Nearly 50% of MacPhail’s 7,500 students receive music education from MacPhail through community partnerships funded by contributions to MacPhail. For more information, please visit MacPhail’s website at http://www.macphail.org.
Watch www.thesedonaconference.org in the coming weeks for publication of THE SEDONA GUIDELINES: Best Practice Guidelines & Commentary for Managing Information & Records in The Electronic Age (2nd Edition) (2007). The Sedona Guidelines is a publication of The Sedona Conference ® Working Group on Best Practices for Electronic Document Retention & Production (WG1). This updated edition will soon be available for free download, and includes: updated case law and references, reference to the ESI amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, greater discussion of data privacy issues, emphasis on the importance of metadata for records and information management, an improved discussion of third party contractor issues, and a discussion of simplified retention schedules. Lori Wagner served as the Editor-in-Chief of the 2007 updates, a responsibility she shared with Jonathan Redgrave and Chuck Ragan in connection with the 2005 edition.
The Sedona Principles (Second Edition): Best Practices Recommendations & Principles for Addressing Electronic Document Production (2007 Annotated Version) is available for purchase from BNA Books. See http://storefront.bnabooks.com/ for details. The Sedona Principles (Second Edition) is a publication of The Sedona Conference® Working Group on Best Practices for Electronic Document Retention & Production (WG1) and is available without the annotations for free download from www.thesedonaconference.org. Jonathan Redgrave served as the Editor-in-Chief of this edition.
Andy Cosgrove recently passed the Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) examination. The CIPP certification is administered by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)—the world’s largest association of privacy professionals. The IAPP organization represents over 4,000 members from businesses, governments, and academia across 32 countries. Obtaining the CIPP certification means an individual has successfully completed study of the essentials of U.S. and international privacy and data protection laws, standards, and practices. RDRW congratulates Andy on this accomplishment.
Charles Ragan has been selected to appear in the premiere April 2008 issue of Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition, on the Business Litigation list.
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