Getting a Jump on E-Discovery Program

Friday, January 19, 2024 | 9 am

Law School Complex

Are you going to a firm or government agency that does complex litigation, major investigations, compliance, and due diligence for deals?

Each of these practices requires knowing about e-discovery. Wishing you had a little more background on e-discovery so you can hit the ground running. If so, the Law School is sponsoring a special one-day program on which you will learn the basics of the mechanics of electronic discovery that will give you a head start on an increasingly essential aspect of today’s practice of law. Knowing the mechanics of e-discovery will make you indispensable to your case or deal team and this program will give you a leg up.

This no-cost, not-for-credit day is the first of its kind at any law school. You will learn how e-discovery is conducted—including actual demonstrations of how it works—from:

Lawyers who represent both plaintiffs and defendants in major cases
A vendor who provides services used to retrieve, sort, and review these records
A GW Law adjunct professor who will set the legal framework
A federal judge who has years of experience in managing e-discovery disputes.

Details of the program will be available in mid-December. Space is limited and preference will be given to 2Ls, 3Ls, & 4Ls. There are no course prerequisites.

Students who attend will receive a certificate attesting to their participation.

Agenda

Registration & Continental Breakfast | 8:30 am | Kelly Lounge

First Module | 9 am | Jacob Burns Moot Court Room

First Module Details

Litigation and E-Discovery Background

Lifecycle of a Litigation
What is Discovery
Zooming in on Discovery
Zooming in on Data Gathering

The FRCP and Discovery Rules

Rule 26(b)(1) – relevance & proportionality
Rules 26(f) & 16(b) – the requirement of cooperation
Rule 34 – the challenges of preservation & formatting
Rule 30(b)(6) – finding the right person to depose

Data Storage, Organization, and Deletion

Corporate data
Data deletion & restoration
Preservation and spoliation

Non-Litigation Uses of Document Review

Short Break

Second Module | 10:45 am | Jacob Burns Moot Court Room

Second Module Details

The Mechanics of Document Review

Identification & collection of documents
What is document review
Importance of document review
Uses of documents & data in litigation
Discovery on Discovery

The Document Review Process

How to review a document
What to look for in document review
Methodological options

Demonstration of Relativity Software Actual document production

Lunch | 12:30 pm | Tasher Great Room

Third Module | 1:15 pm | Jacob Burns Moot Court Room

Third Module Details

New Tools & Trends in E-Discovery Basics of technology-assisted review (TAR) TAR in practice

Maximizing the Effectiveness of TAR
Creating a “quality” sample
Training & validating

The Judge’s Perspective

Short Break

Fourth Module | 3 pm | Jacob Burns Moot Court Room

Fourth Module Details

Why All This Matters

Importance & Limits of the Law
What E-Discovery vendors do now & in the future
Differing perspectives of plaintiffs & defendants
Further thoughts from the bench

Open Discussion

Speakers

Steven Berrent has more than two decades of experience as an attorney and technologist. With expertise in legal practice, analytics, and AI, Steven has played a pivotal role in improving how attorneys deliver legal services through technical innovation and increasing operational efficiency. He is a former IT Director and Litigator, worked in AmLaw 20 law firms, as CEO and as an advisor on technology to senior attorneys and elected officials. His strategic leadership and insights have shaped the landscape of legal services and earned him commendations, including being recognized as a “Legal Rebel” by the ABA Journal for his ability to forecast the direction of litigation and technology, and conceptualize results for clients. Steven graduated from Emory University and Cornell Law School and is admitted to practice in New York State, the Southern District of New York, and the District of Columbia.

Paul W. Grimm is the David F. Levi Professor of the Practice of Law and Director of the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law School. From December 2012 until his retirement in December 2022, he served as a district judge in the District of Maryland. From 1997 to 2012, he was a magistrate judge in the same court. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and has served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Baltimore and University of Maryland schools of law, where he taught courses on evidence and discovery. He also has written extensively and taught courses for lawyers and judges relating to e-discovery, technology and law, and evidence. Judge Grimm served on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure from 2009 to 2015 and chaired its discovery subcommittee. He graduated from the University of California–Davis and received his JD from the University of New Mexico and an LLM from Duke University.

Theodore C. (Ted) Hirt is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at The George Washington University Law School, where he teaches Electronic Discovery and Evidence. From August 1979 to March 2016, he was an attorney in the US Department of Justice’s Civil Division, where he litigated cases in its Federal Programs Branch and its Office of Immigration Litigation. Among his responsibilities (2001-2016) was serving as an advisor to the Assistant Attorneys General for the Civil Division, who serve ex officio on the Civil Rules Advisory Committee. He has written numerous articles on constitutional and administrative law, the Federal Civil Rules, and electronic discovery. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and Brown University.

Alan B. Morrison is the Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest & Public Service at The George Washington University Law School where he also teaches civil procedure and constitutional law. And serves as the co-director of the James F. Humphreys Center for Complex Litigation. For most of his career, he worked for the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which he co-founded with Ralph Nader in 1972 and directed for over 25 years. His work there involved a wide range of subjects in law reform litigation, including improving access to justice and making legal services more available and affordable for everyone. He has also taught, mainly on a part-time basis, at Harvard, NYU, Stanford, Hawaii, & American University law schools. He is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, served as a commissioned officer in the US Navy, and was an Assistant United States Attorney in New York.

Michael G. Scavelli is a partner at Steptoe LLP. He is an experienced trial lawyer who works passionately for clients in high-stakes situations. His practice includes complex commercial litigation, internal/government investigations, and white-collar criminal defense matters. Mike has significant experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts around the country. Mike has tried or prepared for trial numerous high-stakes criminal and civil matters involving securities fraud, derivative/corporate governance claims, insurance coverage, and contractual disputes. Mike also has significant experience counseling clients facing concurrent criminal, regulatory, and/or civil proceedings. Mike serves as the Chair of Steptoe’s Professional Training Committee and devotes substantial time to Steptoe’s pro bono program, investing his time and talent to important matters like voting rights, policing reform, and wrongful convictions.

Suzanne Smith is an attorney at Porter Malouf, PA in Ridgeland Mississippi. Suzanne was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania just outside of Pittsburgh, where she currently resides. She graduated from American University and Santa Clara University School of Law. Before coming to Porter Malouf, Suzanne was the founder and CEO of Illocution Inc., an e-discovery consulting firm specializing in forensic linguistics and investigation of very large document collections. While Porter Malouf exclusively represents injury victims of all sorts, Suzanne concentrates her practice on the representation of individuals harmed by pharmaceutical products and medical devices, primarily in mass tort settings such as Paragard, Onglyza, Risperdal, Invega, Avandia, Fosamax, Dexcom CGM, metal-on-metal hip implants, and hernia mesh.

Cassie has over 15 years of e-Discovery experience spanning the EDRM as an attorney with leadership roles in Review, Project Management, and Consulting. She has extensive experience supporting global providers of technology, health care, pharmaceutical, and financial services with workflow consultation and review management, including early case assessment, complex data repository management, multi-district litigations, and second requests. In her current role, Cassie oversees a team of consultants who advise on complex workflows and implement tech-enabled review, leveraging a combination of best practices, leading technologies, and Lighthouse offerings to reduce cost and streamline review. Cassie also advises on and develops process standards and best practices, along with steering new product development and implementation. Cassie received her JD from Saint Louis University School of Law and is licensed to practice in Missouri.

Getting a Jump on E-Discovery Program