Electronic Discovery 2013


Course Date: February 7, 2013

Welcome and Introduction

An Overview of the eDiscovery Process

  • what is eDiscovery
  • what is ESI + nature of ESI
  • what are the basic steps in the process—the EDRM

Michael Conde — National Director of Litigation Support, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver

Rules/Principles/Guidelines/Case Law Pertaining to eDiscovery

  • Sedona Canada principles
  • BC Rules and electronic evidence practice direction
  • overview of case law in Canada

Graham J. Underwood — Ministry of Justice, Victoria

Technology Options to Assist With eDiscovery: Panel Discussion

  • the benefits of using technology at each stage of eDiscovery
  • examples of in-house and hosted solutions that are available for use by firms of any size—economical to expensive
  • options for non-litigation specific software solutions

Moderator: Michael D. Conde — National Director of Litigation Support, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver
Cheryl Curran — Manager, Litigation Support Services, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Ottawa
Colin Lydell — Manager, Litigation Support (BC), McCarthy Tetrault LLP, Vancouver
Xavier Williams — Litigation Document Specialist, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Vancouver

Networking Break

Ethics of eDiscovery

  • overview of the contents of the Cloud Computing Working Group Report
  • overview of the Cloud Computing Working Group Report Checklist

Gavin H.G. Hume, QC — Harris & Company LLP, Vancouver

Importance of a Collaborative Approach

  • meet early and meet often—the benefits of meeting with opposing counsel early in the process: save time, more efficient review, save money
  • what to discuss and why—define requirements and process at a high level

Mark E. Fancourt-Smith — Lawson Lundell LLP, Vancouver

What Clients Look For From Counsel

  • understanding the different roles played by in-house counsel and external counsel
  • building the team and maintaining the client relationship
  • use of consultants and vendors
  • managing costs

Kristian J. Littmann — Corporate Counsel, Best Buy Canada Ltd., Burnaby

Lunch (on your own)

Collecting Electronic Documents

A. What to Ask the Client For

  • what to ask your clients for and how you can help them understand what steps to take (including search tools your clients could use to self-collect)
  • practical tips for identifying only relevant ESI—and excluding the rest
  • what to do and what not to do—best practices and worst practices

B. Where to Find Electronic Documents and How to Collect Them

  • custodian interviews and data mapping (including working with your client’s IT)
  • chain of custody
  • types of social media and how to collect it
  • challenges of collecting data—best and worst practices

C. Culling—Reducing The Amount of Data by Removing Duplicates and Non-relevant Documents

  • DeNist, de-duplicate, and decrease
  • tools for culling data
  • best and worst practices

Cheryl Curran — Manager, Litigation Support Services, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Ottawa
Graham J. Underwood — Legal Services, Ministry of Justice, Victoria

D. Dealing With an eDiscovery Vendor

  • what services can vendors provide
  • insource or outsource?
  • what instructions do you provide to a vendor
  • best and worst practices when dealing with an eDiscovery vendor
  • non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements

Cheryl Curran — Manager, Litigation Support Services, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Ottawa 

Networking Break

Costs: How and Why Costs Can Escalate

  • how and why costs can escalate
  • how to minimize costs
  • how to estimate costs
  • cost recovery

Kimberly-Anne Kuntz — Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP, Vancouver

Review and Analysis

  • best and worst practice review advice
  • how to approach the review of voluminous documents
  • a review of the trends for reviewing electronic documents

Ann Halkett — Litigation Support Coordinator, Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP, Vancouver

Electronic Trials

  • the electronic capacity of BC courtrooms today and in the near future
  • the importance of planning: Rule No.1—expect and prepare for the unexpected
  • striking the balance between the Cadillac toolbox and the Volkswagen toolbox—what do you really need?
  • emerging trends in evidence management platforms—how this impacts the courtroom when parties are using different softwares

Tracy Ayling — Litigation Support Consultant (Independent), Vancouver

Pulling It All Together Wrap-up—Resources and Checklists Related to eDiscovery

Michael D. Conde — National Director of Litigation Support, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver
Ann Halkett — Litigation Support Coordinator, Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP, Vancouver