By Sheila A. Grela and June Hunter
For the second year, SDCBA Law + Technology Summit has provided stellar speakers addressing a wide-range of legal technologies. The summit provided details regarding necessary tools, skills and knowledge to help legal professionals from sole practitioners to those working in big law, to effectively incorporate legal technology into their workflow. Adriana Linares, Member Technology Officer for SDCB
A and Allan Mackenzie provided insight and tips into using Microsoft’s Office 365 as well as the other essential applications that accompany this software.
The presentations provided a clear understanding of important concepts, accompanied by essential practical tips for attendees. Eddy Borysewicz of Invendica and Tom O’Connor of Gulf Coast Legal Tech Center answered the question “To Convert or Not to Convert.” The choice of whether to use “Native” productions in litigation is a common question. The essential step that cannot be missed is that of determining the “exchange protocol” during the litigation process. According to Mr. O’Connor, this step is paramount and the process is more important than technology. All legal professionals must adjust to the new paradigm of working in the digital world. The lower costs and the faster processing time are the main reasons that the use of native productions protocols have substantially increased in popularity in the legal community. Native productions are the simplest method to avoid poorly imaged spreadsheets and to obtain the metadata normally associated with each document.
The presentation by eDiscovery Special Master Craig Ball was a timely and lively discussion regarding using keyword searching. Mr. Ball used detailed explanations and humor to teach the pitfalls of this commonly used practice and his recommendation for alternatives. Additionally, Mr. Ball participated in the Law + Tech – The Ethical Wrap-Up Panel that explained, among other things, the importance of understanding metadata and other security issues such as passwords and encryption. Mr. Ball also generously provided a copy of Competency and Strategy in Electronic Discovery 2019 to the participants.
The eDiscovery portion of this summit was useful to all practitioners regardless of their technology background. Eddy Borysewicz, Tom O’Connor and Craig Ball did an outstanding job of presenting eDiscovery tips and protocol that were easily understandable by all. The Summit should be on everyone’s MCLE attend list each year. The presentations are on point and provide invaluable information for those in the legal field needing help understanding the ever-changing world of technology, discovery and efficiencies in the practice of law.
We are already looking forward to next year’s summit as it is a great use of time and money not only for attorneys, but for all legal professionals. This experience provided us with an opportunity to meet some of the experts in the field and network with others all while earning valuable MCLE’s. Until next year’s event, all of us will have to be satisfied with SDCBA’s Tech Tuesday postings and the many other valuable technology resources available at SDCBA’s Law + Tech Community (https://www.sdcba.org/index.cfm?pg=Tech-Center).
Sheila A. Grela is a Paralegal for Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP and June Hunter is a Paralegal for Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson LLP.