Email: The Smoking Gun in Discovery

The proliferation of electronic communication creates significant challenges for attorneys to meet discovery obligations and to ferret out key evidence from other parties. Email evidence can literally be the difference between victory and defeat in litigation.

Email is off-the-cuff and informal -- and devastating as evidence. Emails exposed shredding of documents at Arthur Andersen and Merrill Lynch analysts' true opinion of stocks they were touting. Forensic experts explain that deleted email never dies and can almost always be recovered.

One study estimates that over seven trillion emails were exchanged by office workers in 2003 and that some 70% of documents exist only electronically. In response, e-discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, now approved by the Supreme Court, are expected to go into effect this year.

Listen as our authoritative panelists help corporate counsel and legal advisors develop effective information management and discovery strategies tailored to electronic communications.

Stephanie L. Mendelsohn, Partner, Reed Smith, Oakland, is a member of the firm’s Record Management and E-Discovery team. She counsels companies on developing e-discovery strategies and record management programs to reduce costs and legal risks.

Patrick E. Premo, Partner, Litigation Group, Fenwick & West, Silicon Valley, has extensive civil litigation experience, as well as expertise in copyright, trade secrets, unfair competition, and complex commercial litigation.

Hugh J. Totten, Partner, Perkins Coie, Chicago specializes in complex commercial litigation and antitrust matters. He is co-chair of the firm's construction and design practice and counsels clients on appraisal and valuation disputes, among others.

The panelists address these and other key questions:

• How do the final amendments to the Federal Rules address electronic communications as evidence?
• Who should pay for email-related discovery -- what are the trends in cost-shifting and sharing?
• What are an attorney's obligations to prevent spoliation of email evidence?
• What are the best practices for corporations to train staff on the proper use and management of email?

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