Legal Holds and Trigger Events

Judge Scheindlin - Written Legal Holds: Just Do It!

LegalHoldPro just posted an unofficial transcript of a panel discussion at the Georgetown Law Center's Advanced E-Discovery Intitute with Judges Scheindlin, Rosenthal, Facciola, Rosenbaum, Nolan and Peck.  The panel was moderated by Ken Withers of the Sedona Conference.  Here is the notable quote about issuing written litigation holds:

...I know that a lot of the world is unhappy with me about this litigation hold issue, but I never understood what the big problem is. Write it up, protect yourself, it’s credible, you can defend it, and still… I’m not going to back off!  I would go all over the country saying, “Why not issue a written litigation hold?”  Spell out for your company what they have to do. Instead of fighting with me about it – just do it. Just do it.  You will have a defensible process and people will have guidance about what they have to hold on to. 

Judge Scheindlin (11-18-10)

DRI Offers Detailed Analysis: Pension Committee, Rimkus and Tips on Avoiding "Bad Faith"

Are Written Litigation Holds Required to Avoid Sanctions in Federal Court? is a 90 minute webcast by litigation hold expert John Jablonski  (author of this blog and 7 Steps for Legal Holds of ESI and Other Documents) along with James Lehman (former chair of DRI's E-Discovery Committee).  This is an indepth analysis of the current state of litigation hold law in the United States by attorneys for anyone involved in the litigation hold business process.  Sure you can read Pension Committee and Rimkus on your own (all 228 pages!), but these lawyers will provide practical tips from the court room and IT preservation trenches.  The live webcast was held on April 14, 2010.  We will update this post with a link to purchase the recorded version, as soon as we receive it.

7 Steps Presentation at LegalTech NY

 
Authors of the book 7 Steps for Legal Holds of ESI and Other Documents will be discussing the seven steps, trends and the Pension Committee opinion at LegalTech NY on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 4:14 a.m.  To register or learn more about LegalTech, click here.

ACC's Litigation Master's Series Helps GC's Tackle Litigation Holds

The Association of Corporate Counsel held round two of its Litigation Master's Series on October 9, 2009.  If you missed the presentation or are not a member of the ACC, the presentation slides remain available to view at the ACC's website.

The first part of the program covers internal investigations and the second part covers litigation holds.  The presentation hits the basics and the slides contain some practical tips for General Counsel charged with implementing litigation holds for their organizations.

Here is an excerpt from the program description:

Also, while new technologies assist greatly in sending out a litigation hold, in-house counsel remains responsible for making the call to issue and direct the hold. This panel will provide practical guidance for establishing effective litigation hold procedures.

To see the ACC's post for this program click here.  To download a copy of the Presentation Slides click here.  (Litigation Hold slides start on page 15).

Litigation Hold Round Table Held at ABA TechShow With Patrick Oot and Craig Ball

Here is a great post about the ABA Techshow this past April, 2009.  Verizon lawyer Patrick Ott and e-discovery lawyer and thought leader Craig Ball took litigation hold questions from the audience and invited members of the audience to present specific litigation hold issues to the group for discussion.  The session appears to have been invaluable based on the blog post from ediscoveryinfo.

Some quick highlights:

Patrick Oot explained that Verizon built an internal legal hold solution, mostly because it has programmers on staff and it had simlar notification system in place.

Craig Ball quized the audience about litigation hold headaches.  The chief complaint; lack of complaince and overly broad scope of the materials to be preserved.  Craig then had an insightful comment to close the session:

I consider preservation letters a gift because it gives me insight into the other side’s real intention. If it says “save all the metadata,” then I know they are an ignoramous. But if they are specific in their request, then I know that I have to have my ducks in a row because they know exactly what they’re doing.

To read the original blog post, click here.

Circling the Wagons - How to Implement an Effective Litigation Hold (ACC 2006)

This presenentation to the San Diego Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel in 2006 provides a good overview of the technology hurdles facing effective implementation of legal holds.  It also contains a number of case law examples.

To view this presentation click the image or here: http://tiny.cc/CirclingtheWagons.

Seven Steps For An Effective ESI Litigation Hold by John Jablonski - ESIBytes™

Listen to attorney John J. Jablonski, a partner at the law firm Goldberg Segalla, LLP based in Buffalo, New York, discuss the Steps for an Effective Litigation Hold with ESI.  John concentrates his practice on commercial and business litigation, construction litigation, product liability litigation, and railroad litigation. He is a frequent presenter and author on electronic discovery, electronic evidence investigation and preservation, best practices for corporate legal hold guidelines, and implementation of legal holds. He is publishing a book shortly with ARMA International.

This podcast will cover why litigation holds are such a hot topic, what is a litigation hold, when is the trigger event for a litigation hold - including a brief discussion of the Phillip M. Adams, LLC v. Dell, Inc., 2009 WL 910801 (D.Utah March 30, 2009) decision, is there any proportionality considered before a party starts spending money to implement a litigation hold, tips for implementing a defensible litigation hold, data mapping as a litigation hold tool, and some advice on where to look for more information on litigation holds.

Click here to listen:  http://www.esibytes.com/?p=565

Comprehensive Recorded Webinar (2008)

Litigation Hold Best Practices: How to Implement an Effective Workflow Process, is a very comprehensive 1.5 hour seminar originally provided as a CRM accredited course through ARMA International.  The recorded seminar is available here: http://snipr.com/geaxk or click the image.

New 20 Minute Podcast: Legal Hold - Don’t Destroy Those Documents

  

With so many layoffs and corporate restructuring, companies must be very careful not to blow their existing legal holds when employees leave and their work and computers are reassigned to others.  Monica Bay, Editor-In-Chief of Law Technology News welcomes John J. Jablonski, partner with Goldberg Segalla LLP, to discuss how exiting personnel can compromise legal holds. Jablonski is the author of Law Technology News April cover story, E-DISCOVERY: Watch the Door.

Podcast: Play on page | Play in new window | Download

Legal Hold Workshop