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Brad Jenkins, President and CEO of CloudNine Discovery, has over 20 years of experience leading customer focused companies in the litigation support arena. Brad has authored many articles on litigation support issues, and has spoken before national audiences on document management practices and solutions.
Doug Austin, Professional Services Manager for CloudNine Discovery, has over 20 years experience providing legal technology consulting and technical project management services to numerous commercial and government clients. Doug has also authored several articles on eDiscovery best practices.
Jane Gennarelli is a principal of Magellan’s Law Corporation and has been assisting litigators in effectively handling discovery materials for over 30 years. She authored the company’s Best Practices in a Box™ content product and assists firms in applying technology to document handling tasks. She is a known expert and often does webinars and presentations for litigation support professionals around the country. Jane can be reached by email at jane@litigationbestpractices.com.
May 22, 2013
Last week’s blog post covered class action litigation – that is, a case that is filed on behalf of a group (or class) of members who have a common grievance or have suffered a common injury. One lawsuit is filed and there is one trial if the case goes that far. Another type of lawsuit that “consolidates” is multi-district litigation (usually referred to as MDL).
Read moreMay 15, 2013
In the last two posts in this series, I told you a bit about alternatives to litigation. And that followed discussion of the litigation process, through the post-trial appeals process. We’re not done yet, though. When I discuss the litigation process with law firm technology professionals, they often ask me about different types of litigation… for example, about class action litigation, or multidistrict litigation, or antitrust litigation, and so on. In the next few posts, I’m going to describe different types of litigation so these terms will be familiar to you.
Read moreMay 08, 2013
In last week’s post, we began discussion of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and we covered a common type of ADR – mediation. Another common form of ADR is arbitration.
Read moreMay 01, 2013
In this blog series, we’ve covered the litigation process – from inception, to discovery, trial, and through the post-trial appeals process. Litigation is complex, it can take a long time, and the costs can be staggering. Parties to a dispute do have another option: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). ADR encompasses processes and techniques for parties to resolve conflicts without resorting to litigation.
Read moreApril 24, 2013
In last week’s post we covered appeals: we discussed the points on which an appeal can be based, and we covered preserving errors for appeal during the trial. Now we’ll move on to the appeals process. Like every other aspect of litigation, there are variations from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Here’s an overview of the approach in federal courts.
Read moreApril 17, 2013
After a verdict has been delivered and a judgment has been entered, the losing party can appeal. That is, it can ask a higher court to review and reverse the decision made at the trial. In a civil case, either the plaintiff or the defendant (whichever side loses) can appeal. In a criminal case, the defendant can appeal a verdict of guilty, but the plaintiff (the government) cannot appeal a verdict of innocent (either side, however, can appeal the sentence). Here is more information about appeals.
Read moreApril 10, 2013
During deliberation, a jury attempts to reach a verdict – that is, its decision on the facts in the case and its decision in favor of one of the parties. In Federal cases – both criminal cases and civil cases -- jury verdicts must be unanimous. In state cases, the rules vary a bit. Also, here are several reasons why a trial can be declared as a mistrial.
Read moreApril 03, 2013
After each side in a lawsuit has presented its case – that is, each has called all of its witnesses and presented all its evidence – the trial is nearing an end. The next step is closing arguments. Each side has a last chance to persuade the jury to deliver the verdict it wants.
Read moreMarch 27, 2013
In the last several posts, we’ve discussed presenting a case at trial. We’ve spent a bit of time on testimony -- a key type of evidence. In addition to testimony, attorneys introduce exhibits as evidence. Exhibits are documents or objects that support a party’s position. Here are the types of exhibits most often introduced at trial.
Read moreMarch 21, 2013
Thirty months ago yesterday, eDiscovery Daily was launched. It’s hard to believe that it has been 2 1/2 years since our first three posts that debuted on our first day. 635 posts later, a lot has happened in the industry that we’ve covered. And, yes we’re still crazy after all these years for committing to a daily post each business day, but we still haven’t missed a business day yet. Twice a year, we like to take a look back at some of the important stories and topics during that time. So, here are just a few of the posts over the last six months you may have missed. Enjoy!
Read moreMarch 20, 2013
In last week’s post, we covered the process by which testimony is given at trial, and how objections are made and ruled on. There are two other aspects of testimony that we’ll cover here, hearsay and leading questions.
Read moreMarch 13, 2013
In last week’s post we covered the different types of witnesses that can be called upon to testify at trial. Regardless of what type of witness is brought to the stand, the process for testifying is the same. Here are the steps.
Read moreMarch 05, 2013
After each side makes an opening statement, the main part of the trial begins -- each side presents its side of the case to the jury and/or the judge. The plaintiff goes first, followed by the defendant. Witness testimony is a form of evidence that is usually very significant in most trials. There are a few types of witnesses that might testify in a trial.
Read moreFebruary 27, 2013
The trial starts with opening statements by each party. The plaintiff – which is the party with the burden of proof – goes first. After the plaintiff makes its opening statement, the defendant makes its opening statement. In some courts, the defendant can choose to wait until the plaintiff has presented its case before making its opening statement. And, either party can choose not to present an opening statement at all (that, however, rarely happens). In most cases, both sides present their opening statements before either side presents its case.
Read moreFebruary 25, 2013
Today’s thought leader is George Socha. A litigator for 16 years, George is President of Socha Consulting LLC, offering services as an electronic discovery expert witness, special master and advisor to corporations, law firms and their clients, and legal vertical market software and service providers in the areas of electronic discovery and automated litigation support. George has also been co-author of the leading survey on the electronic discovery market, The Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey; in 2011, he and Tom Gelbmann converted the Survey into Apersee, an online system for selecting eDiscovery providers and their offerings. In 2005, he and Tom Gelbmann launched the Electronic Discovery Reference Model project to establish standards within the eDiscovery industry – today, the EDRM model has become a standard in the industry for the eDiscovery life cycle and there are nine active projects with over 300 members from 81 participating organizations. George has a J.D. for Cornell Law School and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Read moreFebruary 20, 2013
After discovery ends, if a case hasn’t settled, it goes to trial. The court determines whether the parties have the right to a trial by jury, or if the proceeding will be a bench trial. In both cases, a judge or magistrate presides. In a jury trial, the jury makes decisions on questions of fact (for example, what facts it believes, what witnesses it believes, who is liable or guilty, and so on) and makes a judgment. The judge makes decisions on legal questions and what law applies. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and state rules have provisions for when the parties in a lawsuit have a right to a trial by jury. In practice, in most trials in the US (both civil and criminal), the parties have a right to a trial by jury. And, in most cases, the jury consists of 12 jurors.
Read moreFebruary 15, 2013
Today’s thought leader is Tom Gelbmann. Tom is Principal of Gelbmann & Associates, LLC. Since 1993, Gelbmann & Associates, LLC has advised law firms and Corporate Law Departments to realize the full benefit of their investments in Information Technology. Tom has also been co-author of the leading survey on the electronic discovery market, The Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey; in 2011 he and George Socha converted the Survey into Apersee, an online system for selecting eDiscovery providers and their offerings. In 2005, he and George Socha launched the Electronic Discovery Reference Model project to establish standards within the eDiscovery industry – today, the EDRM model has become a standard in the industry for the eDiscovery life cycle.
Read moreFebruary 06, 2013
Parties to a lawsuit can settle the case at any time. They can settle right after the case has been filed and before discovery starts. They can settle during or after discovery, and even during trial. It’s not unusual for a case to settle soon after discovery ends.
Read moreFebruary 04, 2013
In football, each team member has responsibilities. For example, the quarterback throws the football (and sometimes changes the plays at the line of scrimmage), the receivers catch the football, the offensive line blocks and the defense tackles the guy with the ball. Each player has responsibilities that align with their talents. Likewise, the members of a litigation team have responsibilities that align with their talents. Now, the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) has created a new tool to align talents with their associated tasks.
Read moreFebruary 01, 2013
In this blog series, we’ve talked quite a bit about discovery, and we’ve covered the first steps involved in handling documents – steps that lead up to the document review. As a litigation technology professional, you’ve probably assisted litigation teams in the review process. You might have helped to select, set up, and maintain review technology applications, or to supervise document review activities. Your focus has probably been on technology and monitoring project status. It’s important, however, that you don’t lose sight of the objectives of the document review, and that you understand the challenges that come with the territory. Keeping these things in mind will better enable you to make valuable contributions to the document review effort.
Read moreJanuary 23, 2013
In the last couple of posts in this series we covered the first phases of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model – Information Management, Identification and Preservation – and we focused on these tasks from the perspective of the litigators. The next two phases – Collection and Processing – are technical in nature and typically not handled directly by attorneys (attorneys should, however, be involved in making decisions regarding how this work will be done and in monitoring the status of this work).
Read moreJanuary 14, 2013
In last week’s post in this series, we covered the first phase of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model: Information Management. A key part of that for most companies is implementing a document retention and destruction program – that is, a program for routinely assessing and purging documents from an organization’s electronic and paper archives. Parties in a lawsuit, however, are legally bound to preserve documents that might be relevant in the case.
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CloudNine Discovery provides specialized national litigation support services focusing on technology in electronic discovery, computer forensics document imaging and online document review. Our nationwide litigation services company has offices in Houston, Texas.
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Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and in no way indicative of the views held by CloudNine Discovery. No representation is made as to whether the information provided is the most current available. This blog/Web site is made available by the contributors solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. The blog/Web site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.
