In a recent interview, sports and entertainment reporter Chris Connelly talked about how he became an active social media user for his job. “I just got the feeling that my esteemed corporate overlords kinda wanted people on Twitter,” he said. However, he notes that despite this vague directive, there is little control over the use…
read moreSmall firms might imagine eDiscovery is like a John Grisham movie, where a plucky young attorney practicing law in a rundown office is hopelessly outgunned by a large, well-heeled law firm. There certainly was a time when big law firms could count on bigger budgets and staff to out-muscle opposing counsel at smaller law firms.…
read moreMore than a decade ago, at the end of the dotcom boom, I wrote an article called “Has the Net Stopped Growing?” At the time it was a shocking thing to consider, since the incredible economic growth of the previous decade had been built largely on the fantastic growth of the Internet. It was a temporary hiccup, because…
read more• Trial Tips from Nextpoint • One of the most devilish problems in litigation is proportionality – figuring out how to keep the cost of managing evidence in control while serving the interests of justice. Courts have made it clear any party has a duty to maintain potentially relevant evidence as soon as any future…
read moreSome high drama recently hit the insular world of eDiscovery. Or, at least what passes for drama at an academic conference featuring federal judges. According to legal blogger Ralph Losey, Judge Shira Scheindlin, easily the most respected judge on discovery-related matters, told the audience at the recent Georgetown eDiscovery Conference that she was, “disappointed that the…
read moreOne of the most useful rules in the history of economics is called Stein’s Law. Named after Nixon’s chairman of the Counsel of Economic Advisors, Herbert Stein, the rule says “Trends that can’t continue forever, won’t.” That may sound too simplistic to be of much use, but the fact is, humans are bad at trend…
read more2012 was a year of radical change for the legal technology industry. Law firms remained under intense pricing pressure, forcing lawyers to consider new business and billing models. Meanwhile, technology continues to advance, offering the industry new platforms and tools that can save the profession from the ongoing challenges and pressures it faces. Through it all, Nextpoint…
read moreNot too long ago, lawyers could honestly say that they didn’t know if social media was discoverable for litigation. This year, courts have moved well past that question, granting broad discovery from Twitter, Facebook, and any other social media outlets. The focus this year was mainly on details of social media discovery, like whether social…
read more• Trial Tips from Nextpoint • Last week, we talked about the ways small firms can use the eDiscovery rules to their advantage. Today, we’re going to drill down into the way that works at the start of a matter. When a lawyer is given a lawsuit that might involve digital evidence, the first…
read moreThe adversarial nature of the system of law in the United States is not about cooperation and playing nice. In law school, lawyers are trained to crush their opposition. But the updated eDiscovery Rules of Civil Procedure and emerging case law actually make it not only possible to make discovery a cooperative process, but if…
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