An award-winning attorney, expert witness, and consultant, co-founder of EDRM, and now Senior Vice President of Brand Awareness at Reveal, I have worked with corporate, law firm, governmental, and service and software provider clients on e-discovery and litigation support challenges and opportunities for over three decades.
As a practicing lawyer at one large and one medium law firm for 16 years, an independent consultant for over 13 years, and at a large service provider for nearly four years, I have worked on just about every aspect of e-discovery. I have directed activities from early identification of potentially pertinent ESI through analyses of produced materials; designed and supervised implementation of TAR protocols using as few as two members of the core investigative team to review documents; presented content at depositions, hearings, arbitrations, and trials; and testified on issues ranging from spoliation to pricing to state of the practice.
From 2003 to 2009, Tom Gelbmann and I conducted the Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey. In 2005, Tom and I founded EDRM, which creates practical global resources to improve e-discovery, privacy, security, and information governance.
For many years my guiding philosophy has been to “give 15 minutes back” – to draw on the capabilities offered by effective deployment of legal technology to help make the legal process a bit more efficient and a bit more effective, ultimately improving the administration of justice for all.
Awards
Ranked Individual, Nationwide eDiscovery Rankings – Chambers and Partners (2022)
Ranked Individual, Nationwide eDiscovery Rankings – Chambers and Partners (2021)
Leading Litigation Professionals, eDiscovery – Chambers and Partners (2020)
#1 in eDiscovery, 2020 Readers Choice Awards – JD Supra (2020)
MVP “Mike Becker” Award for Outstanding Contribution and Leadership, BDO Leadership Institute 2020 (2020)
100 Leading Legal Consultants and Strategists of 2018 – Lawdragon (2019)
Ranked Lawyer, Professional Advisors: Litigation Support – Chambers and Partners (2018)
E-Discovery Trailblazer; Top 50 Big Law Innovators of the Last 50 Years – The American Lawyer (2013)
Betsy Ann Reynolds Award for Excellence in Litigation Support – Litigation Support Today (2009)
Top Technology Innovators and Influencers of 2008 – InformationWeek (2009)
Boards
Founder-Advisor Member, EDRM Global Advisory Council
Member, ACEDS Global Advisory Board
Co-President, ACEDS Twin Cities Chapter
Member, CIGO Association Board of Governors
Education
J.D., Cornell Law School (1987)
B.A., University of Wisconsin, Madison (1979)
CEDS, Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (2020)