Saturday, May 19, 2012

Special Master

Do you believe your product or services are best of breed, but for whatever reason lawyers and judges aren't aware of them the way they should be?

One way to position your company better with the legal market is to work with lawyers like us who serve as consultants, experts and Special Masters in cases where we can influence the technology choices litigants make. .

As lawyer technologists, we are uniquely positioned to serve as Special Masters under FRCP 53 or its state equivalents, or as court-appointed experts, in order to help all the parties to a matter streamline the e-discovery process in a cost-effective way.

We can serve as an officer of the court to help court and counsel to identify and sample only the most likely relevant electronically stored information. Using best practices and in conformance with the amended federal rules regarding e-discovery, we also work with all counsel to devise a fair Discovery Plan as envisioned in Rules 16 and 27. We help them devise electronic discovery protocols; recommend search criteria and perform searches; provide advice on technology implementation choices (e.g., data sampling; native file format production; rolling productions; imaging protocols); establish criteria for a Web-hosted document repository for court and counsel; propose rulings or advise the court on electronic discovery motions and cost-sharing issues; and assist in the selection of qualified third-party vendors, such as you, as needed.

As lawyers, we understand the litigation process, each of us having practiced law for over 20 years. We know what is expected of Special Masters and court-appointed experts. In a recent article entitled "E-Discovery Attorneys: Hot or Not?" that appeared in findlaw.com and published by Law Firm Inc., Seth Davis, an attorney and recruiter for Major, Lindsey & Africa, considered Tom Howe and Larry Johnson to be among "capable e-discovery attorneys" that number only "around 200 worldwide." Johnson has served as Judge Pro Tem in over 135 cases and as arbitrator in dozens of others.

Let us know more about your products and services. If you meet the quality criteria we expect from e-discovery vendors, we will be sure to include you in our Online RFP(tm) process and our book, "Electronic Discovery Technologies, Practical Tips and Tools for Electronically Stored Evidence," launch date May '07, which will consist of loose-lea binders so that subscribers will be constantly updated with new or revised information.
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