Link to news article posted on OUT-LAW News, January 16, 2008:  Irish courts can order companies to undertake expensive data mining under electronic discovery rules, according to a ruling from the Irish Supreme Court. The ruling expands what is possible there under electronic discovery rules.

The ruling brings Ireland into line with the position across the UK, according to a legal expert.

In a telecoms industry dispute former state monopoly carrier Eircom was asked to produce a report based on information in its databases. The company refused, claiming that e-discovery did not cover the creation of new reports.

Though the Supreme Court said that it would be disproportionate to demand the report in this specific case, it did say that the Court had the right to ask for such reports….

Link to news posted on U.S. Courts Federal Rulemaking website:

On December 11, 2007, Senator Patrick Leahy, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced S. 2450, a bill adding new Evidence Rule 502 to the Federal Rules of Evidence. The legislation addresses waiver of the attorney-client privilege and work product protection and is identical to proposed Evidence Rule 502, which was approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States and transmitted to Congress for its consideration in September 2007.

Unlike other amendments to the federal rules of practice and procedure that take effect unless Congress acts affirmatively to modify, defer, or reject it, “[a]ny such rule creating, abolishing, or modifying an evidentiary privilege shall have no force or effect unless approved by Act of Congress.” See 28 U.S.C. § 2074(b).

Link to news article by Jennifer Schiff posted on Enterprise Storage Forum.com, December 20, 2007:

When Rick Chin, senior vice president of IT at Pinnacle Financial, went in search of a new e-mail archiving solution in the summer of 2006, he wasn’t thinking about compliance, even though amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) were set to take effect just a few months later (see Rules About to Change in e-Discovery Game).

Chin and his team were simply in search of a product that would make Pinnacle’s Microsoft Exchange server operate more efficiently. It was only after he met with vendors and spoke with colleagues at other companies that he learned about the potential e-discovery benefits….

Mentions:

• Clearwell Systems - web site | Socha Consulting listing
• Mimosa Systems, Inc. - web site | Socha Consulting listing
• Stratify, Inc. - web site | Socha Consulting listing

Link to news article by Joe Vanden Plas posted on Wisconsin Technology Network, December 19, 2007:

Madison, Wis. - Erik Phelps doesn’t particularly like being the bearer of bad news, but as a business attorney for Michael Best & Friedrich, he often sounds like the old commercial slogan: “You can pay me now or pay me later.”

And with the number of e-discovery cases picking up dramatically - a recent monthly Lexis Nexis report included nearly 25 e-discovery cases - the longer you wait to craft sound policies and processes, and effectively communicate them, the more you will eventually pay….

Link to news article by Beth Pariseau posted on SearchStorage.com, December 19, 2007:

A year ago, changes to the rules which federal courts use to prosecute civil cases went into effect. Those changes have since resulted in a wave of marketing hype from technology vendors, but only dim awareness among data managers about how the amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures (FRCP) affect them.

In a recent survey of 500 IT managers and a dozen in-house legal managers, conducted by backup and archiving vendor CommVault Systems Inc., half the respondents said they had been tasked with at least one e-discovery request in the last year. But only 20% were aware of the changes to the FRCP, and 82% responded that their organization had not yet started to address the challenges introduced by the amendments to the rules….

Link to news article by Dave Raffo posted on SearchStorage.com, November 17, 2007:

Index Engines Inc. is rolling out a data extraction feature that customers and analysts said makes it easier to find files on tape and comply with the year-old Federal Rules for Civil Procedures (FRCP).

One of the changes to the FRCP that went into effect last Dec. 1 mandates that corporations are able to produce relevant electronic documents in the case of litigation and should have that capability in place before receiving a request for specific information. That sent corporations scrambling to put such capabilities in place, especially for email records stored on tape, which is more difficult to search and retrieve information from than disk….

Mentions: Index Engines Inc. - web site | Socha Consulting listing

Link to news article posted on Business Standard, December 12, 2007:

While cyber-crime is increasing in India rapidly, there is an acute shortage of trained professionals. At the current rate India needs about 20,000 trained professionals to solve crime related to the Internet and mobile phones.

To address this shortage, Agape India - providing services in cyber forensic law, biometrics solutions and storage consultant - today announced the launch of National Institute of e-Forensics (NIeF). A unit of E-forensic, with an aim to provide advanced specialised computer and mobile forensic training programs. The company also announced a toll-free number as an extension to circumvent e-crimes….

Link to news article posted on SDA Asia, December 6, 2007:

Kroll Ontrack , a provider of data recovery products and services has extended its operations with the opening of a Singapore office this week.

Headquartered in Minneapolis,Minnesota, Kroll Ontrack said its decision to open a Singapore branch was a direct result of its acquisition of Ibas Holdings, a Norway-based provider of data recovery, data erasure and computer forensics services….

Mentions: Kroll Ontrack - web site | Socha Consulting listing

Link to news article by John R. Wilke posted on The Wall Street Journal Online, November 28, 2007:

WASHINGTON — The head of the federal agency investigating Karl Rove’s White House political operation is facing allegations that he improperly deleted computer files during another probe, using a private computer-help company, Geeks on Call….

News article by Martha McKay posted on NorthJersey.com, November 8, 2007:

Here’s a fact to consider: As much as 70 percent of all electronic documents your business generates will never be printed on paper.

So what, you say? Isn’t the paperless office a good thing?

Well, it depends.

If your business gets sued, it’s no longer a matter of leafing through boxes for letters, files or other papers that lawyers typically request during the initial discovery phase of a lawsuit. These days, a suit against a company, or any other organization, is likely to trigger a new kind of cyber-scrambling….