Government agencies, in particular, are handcuffed with miniscule budgets for e-discovery tools, the judges noted. Said Rodriguez, "The trickle-down is years away," saying the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security, and state and local police simply don't have enough money to properly adopt e-discovery protocols. But, said Scheindlin, the exception that proves the rule is the Securities & Exchange Commission. "The SEC has got the message," she said, praising its use of e-discovery protocols. (LTN board member Patrick Oot is the SEC's special counsel for e-discovery.)
Audience members were enthusiastic about the panel. Said Mark Michels, a director at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services: "It was the usual, thoughtful commentary by our leading jurists, with a discussion that focused on increased judicial activism."
"First of all, this demonstrates the power of the Georgetown conference to have the leading jurists all here on one stage," said Paul Weiner, a shareholder and national e-discovery counsel at Littler Mendelson. "From a case law perspective, we are continuing to get discussions on all aspects of e-discovery, whether it be production, proportionality, document review, or predictive coding."
The judicial activism will coax practitioners into adopting e-discovery, observed Russell Miller, senior manager of Ernst & Young, based in Washington, D.C.
Monica Bay is editor-in-chief of Law Technology News and a member of the California bar. Email: mbay@alm.com. Twitter: @lawtechnews @LTNMonicaBay
Subscribe to Law Technology News
