INFORMATION MANAGEMENT IN THE DISCOVERY PHASE A.HOW TO HANDLE INFORMATION GAINED THROUGH INFORMAL DISCOVERY What is informal discovery and what are the advantages Admissible? Is it admissible as evidence? When can information be gathered? Will people be willing to talk? Why collect it early? Who do you want to depose?      

1. Client Interviews Should the paralegal participate in the client interview? Should the paralegal request key documents? What is the paralegal’s role in the interview? What kind of information should be collected in the interview?    

2. Third Party Witness Interviews Who can you talk to? What do you need to tell the witness when you contact them? What is the paralegal’s role in the interview? What kind of information should be collected in the interview?    

3. Surfing The Net What is the golden rule about the internet? Which sites are the most credible? How are results listed? What kind of information can you collect?    

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT IN THE DISCOVERY PHASE B. FORMAL DISCOVERY - REQUEST FOR DISCLOSURES AND PRODUCTION What are the definitions? What information can be gathered? How will the information be used?   

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT IN THE DISCOVERY PHASE C. FORMAL DISCOVERY - INTERROGATORIES AND REQUEST FOR ADMISSIONS What are the definitions? What information can be gathered? How will the information be used? What are the limits? What is considered private? What is privileged information?      

1. New terms relating to e-discovery.

2. Spoliation Are there procedures in place to enforce a litigation hold? Can you collect the documents without destroying the metadata? How can you maintain the chain of custody for the documents?   

3. Identifying The Data Universe What types of documents are relevant to the issues? What documents are relevant to the issues? How are the documents physically stored?   

4. Information About Personnel Is there an organization chart? What IT resources are available?  

5. Computer Hardware What device types are used to store their information? Where are the devices located?  

6. Overall System Are there document retention procedures? Are the retention procedures enforced? Is there a backup system?   

7. Telephony

8. Other Sources Of Electronic Evidence Are hand held devices discoverable? Are removable storage devices discoverable?  

DOCUMENT CONTROL AND LITIGATION SUPPORT D.DEPOSITION PREPARATION, ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT What do you need to review to prepare for depositions? Why do you care how many parties are there? Do you have co-counsel? Who arranges for the court reporter? Should you arrange for a video deposition? Has your witness been deposed before? Will the court reporter give you hard copies or a CD with exhibits?       

1. Web Repositories Why use a web repository? 

2. CD Review What do you need to conduct a CD review? What information should be on the CD?  

3. Organizing The Paper Should you pre-number deposition exhibits? How many copies will you need? How does your attorney want the paper organized?   

DOCUMENT CONTROL AND LITIGATION SUPPORT A.DEVELOPING DATABASES THAT CONSIDER WHAT INFORMATION WILL BE ACQUIRED AND HOW IT WILL BE USED What is a database? When should you use a data base? What format is your data in? Should privilege documents be in your discovery document database? How many people need access to the data base? Where are those people located? How will documents be reviewed?       

1. Documents What kind of information should be collected? What subjective fields should you have? Should documents be OCR’d?   

2. Abstract - Interview - Chronology What is wrong with keeping interview notes in word processing format? How should notes of your interviews be structured? How does this make your life easier?   

3. Deposition List What is wrong with keeping deposition data in word processing format? What fields do you need? How does this make your life easier?   

4. Deposition Exhibits What is wrong with keeping deposition exhibits indexes in word processing format? What fields do you need for the deposition exhibits? How does this make your life easier?   

5. Pleading Index What is wrong with keeping interview notes in word processing format? 

6. File Index What is wrong with keeping interview notes in word processing format? 

7. Privilege Log What is wrong with keeping privilege indexes in word processing format? What fields do you need for the privilege indexes ?  

8. Witness Table What is wrong with keeping privilege indexes in word processing format? What fields do you need for the witness table? How does this make your life easier?   

DOCUMENT CONTROL AND LITIGATION SUPPORT B.SELECTING AND USING DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES What are document management services? What is E-Discovery? What does an E-Discovery Vendor do? How do you chose a vendor?    

1. Determine The Need What have you requested from opposing counsel? What has opposing counsel requested from you? How is information/documents to be produced?   

2. Compile A List Of Vendors Where do find vendors? 

3. Familiarize And Understand The Technology Do you understand the basics of EDD? Do you know a technologically savvy paralegal?  

4. Create A RFI

5. Get References And Check Them Did you check out the vendor’s web site? Did the vendor provide customer references?  

6. Get Resumes of Staff Are any of the staff certified? Has the person doing the forensic work defended his work in a deposition setting? Has the person doing the forensic work defended his work at trial?   

7. What Is The Companies Turnover Rate?

8. Request A Presentation Of The Services

9. Facilities Where will the work on your documents take place? Should you take a tour of the facilities?  

10. Capacity Does the vendor have enough resources to complete your project within your time table? 

11. Security What are the vendor’s security procedures? Who will have access to your documents and data? Does the vendor have confidentiality agreements? Is there a chain of custody procedure?    

DOCUMENT CONTROL AND LITIGATION SUPPORT C.HOW AUTOMATED DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS CAN BE USED EFFECTIVELY What system do you use to manage your cases now? What problems or frustrations have you encountered with this system?  

1. Organize Document And Case Management Information Where is the relevant case information stored? Does more than one person need access to the data? If more than one person needs access, where are these people located? Can your storage system produce custom reports?    

2. Build On Previous Cases How can you incorporate pervious experience in to new cases? How easy is it to move people between cases?  

DOCUMENT CONTROL AND LITIGATION SUPPORT D.COMPUTER IMAGING AND SCANNING Why go to the expenses of imaging? At what volume should I scan and image? Should I do it in-house or use an outside vendor? What information do I have to provide to the scanning vendor? What should I get back from the vendor?     

1. Paper Documents What is a DPI and why do I care? What is the condition and make-up of my documents? Electric or manual labeling?   

2. Electronic Documents Native or TIFF’s? What application created the documents? What is metadata? If I cannot label native files, how do I control them? How do I redact native files?     

3. Benefits How does imaging help me control my documents? When do the benefits out weight the cost?  

DOCUMENT CONTROL AND LITIGATION SUPPORT E.ASSEMBLING DOCUMENTS AND COPIES FOR OTHER PARTIES Does anyone still produce hard copies of documents? What are the changes from the traditional document production of hard copies?  

1. Imaging v. Native What is a native production? How does e-discovery software help you produce documents?  

2. Meta Data How is Meta Data produced? 

3. CD v. Online What is online review? Why would you use online review? Why would you use CDs?   

DOCUMENT CONTROL AND LITIGATION SUPPORT F.NOTEBOOKS – THE WHAT, WHEN AND HOW

DOCUMENT CONTROL AND LITIGATION SUPPORT G.SPECIAL ISSUES RELATING TO DOCUMENT INTENSIVE CASES Has e-discovery increased the number of document intensive cases? Are you spending more time discussing non-paper evidence and how to collect it? Is the cost to respond to the discovery request becoming a significant issue? Are you seeing the method of collecting the responses to discovery request being impacted by the volume of the production?    

1. Consistency Why should you care about consistency? 

2. Duplicate Evidence How do you de-duping? 

3. Volume What are practical ways to reduce the volume? 

4. Everything Else You Forgot To Ask

HOW EXPERIENCED PARALEGALS USE CASE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO PREPARE FOR TRIAL D.Advance Planning With the Clerk and Other Court Staff

1. Schedule Meeting With Clerk And/Or Bailiff Ascertain whether the laptop presentations accommodate the program packages in existence - PowerPoint, Socrates, et What if the power goes out during a presentation or a trial -- what are the backups and alternatives? What if opposing parties have the same equipment needs?   

2. Control Of The Presentation Should the presenting attorney run the electronics show or should the assistant/paralegal perform the role of responding to verbal or scripted cues from the presenting attorney? What controls are in place that prevent exhibits that have not been admitted or stipulated from being presented to the jury without causing evidence problems? If the paralegal/assistant is running the laptop, what controls prevent unadmitted data from being inadvertently presented?   

3. Preferences For Computer Presentation At what point does electronic presentation result in overwhelming a jury or even the Court (Microsoft, et al).? Should you have a dry run? What are the courtroom’s preferences?   

4. Determine Best Areas For Computer Set Up And Screens Should the paralegal coordinate with counsel to arrange a scenario of courtroom presentation? How would the paralegal make those determinations?  