Cost-Shifting in E-Discovery: Who Should Pay?

A CD of a Live 90-Minute Telephone Conference with an Interactive Q&A Session Conducted on Thursday, March 23, 2006

With the increase in electronic communication and documentation, the costs of recovering relevant data is skyrocketing -- in one recent case, costs were estimated at $9.75 million.

New technology and associated expenses have the legal system re-evaluating the traditional American Rule under which each party bears its own litigation costs. Cost-sharing and cost-shifting offer parties some relief in the discovery phase.

The Federal Rules amendments on electronic discovery are before the Supreme Court now. Against this evolving e-discovery landscape, questions abound concerning when, where, and how cost-shifting is appropriate.

Listen from your office phone as our authoritative panelists guide you through the maze of issues surrounding e-discovery cost-shifting and offer strategies for managing costs in this evolving environment.

Robert Brownstone Esq., Practice Technology Manager, Fenwick & West, Silicon Valley. He serves a traffic cop for the firm's Practice Support Team, which just received the ALM/LTN Award for Most Innovative Use of Technology for its unique "FIND" approach to eDiscovery. A member of the Information Systems Auditing and Control Association, he is a nationwide speaker and writer on law and technology issues arising from EDiscovery, Information Security and Compliance.

Jason B. Fliegel, Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, Chicago, specializes in legal issues related to the management of electronic information, including the production and retention of electronic documents in litigation and the defense of corporate e-discovery procedures in contested proceedings.

M. Sean Royall, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Washington DC and Dallas, co-chairs the firm's Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice Group and recently served as Deputy Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. He has substantial experience assisting large corporations with legal compliance and records management issues.

The panelists address these and other key issues:

• Under what circumstances are parties seeking, and courts approving, shifting and sharing of discovery costs?
• What are the standards for analyzing cost-shifting -- under the Rules and according to court decisions?
• What are some effective strategies to minimize the costs associated with e-discovery?

*******************************************************************************

TELECONFERENCE CD
Purchase a CD-ROM of the full conference proceedings (available three weeks after the program).