eDiscovery and Electronic Evidence 2020


Course Date: March 13, 2020

Full Course Materials
Total: 5h 18min
Total Ethics: 1h

Welcome and Land Acknowledgement

Graham J. Underwood — Legal Services Branch, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria

The Principles of eDiscovery Practice

  • Sedona Canada
  • BC Electronic Evidence Directive
  • Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure for eDiscovery
  • Uniform Law Conference of Canada

Crystal O’Donnell — CEO and Senior Counsel, Heuristica Discovery Counsel LLP, Toronto

Rule 7-1 Disclosure (The Legal Side)

  • the scope of the obligation to disclose
  • the Rule
  • proportionality with electronically stored documents
  • what is sufficient?
  • legal obligations—and professional ethics aspect

Jonathan G. Penner — Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria

BREAK

Disclosure and Production of Electronic Documents (The Operational Side)

  • sources and where to look
  • defensible collection
  • preserving the integrity of data
  • reviewing e-docs for relevance and privilege
  • precautions/litigation holds
  • a defensible system of disclosure—documenting what's been done

Crystal O’Donnell — CEO and Senior Counsel, Heuristica Discovery Counsel LLP, Toronto
Brian Pel — COO and Senior Counsel, Heuristica Discovery Counsel LLP, Toronto

Using Electronic Documents at Trial

  • pre-trial authentication of Electronically Stored Information (ESI)
  • fundamental concepts of admissibility
  • ESI and real evidence
  • ESI as documentary evidence
  • ESI as demonstrative evidence
  • practical aspects

Graham J. Underwood — Legal Services Branch, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria

NETWORKING LUNCH (provided)

Ethical Issues with Respect to Electronic Evidence

  • role of counsel—legal advice in context of disclosure obligations/privilege
  • properly advising the client with respect to disclosure
  • ethical issues—preserving privilege while using outside vendors

Crystal O’Donnell — CEO and Senior Counsel, Heuristica Discovery Counsel LLP, Toronto

Challenging eDiscovery and Electronic Evidence

  • applications to compel disclosure of ESI—social media and other sources of ESI
  • requesting and disclosing metadata, ESI in native form
  • preserving ESI for use as evidence
  • challenging the admissibility of electronic evidence
  • authenticity vs. reliability concerns
  • admissibility vs. weight

Komal Jatoi — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver
David Wotherspoon — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver

BREAK

Digital Forensics

  • forensics: acquiring data, preserving data
  • digital forensics in criminal law—from child pornography to digital fraud

Ken Lew — Manager, IT Forensics and Litigation Support, MNP, Vancouver

Expert Evidence in the Use of Electronic Evidence

  • meeting the legal requirements for admissibility
  • when you need to call in an expert
  • proving authenticity/reliability—expert evidence needed?
  • integrity—Canada Evidence Act

Moderator: Graham J. Underwood — Legal Services Branch, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria
Jonathan G. Penner — Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria
David Wotherspoon — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver

Closing Remarks

Graham J. Underwood — Legal Services Branch, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria