Vorys’ E-Discovery Practice Featured in Columbus C.E.O.
Doug Matthews and Gary Saalman, partners in the litigation group in the Vorys Columbus office, and Julie Brown, the firm’s litigation technology executive manager, were quoted throughout a Columbus C.E.O. article titled “E-Data Explosion in Business Law.” The article, which appeared in the June 2014 edition of the magazine, highlighted the changes that law firms and business have had to make to deal with the expansion of electronic information.
The story states:
“Because the ‘volume of information just exploded,’ lawyers had to develop new ways to manage the influx of documents, states Doug Matthews, partner with the Columbus litigation group at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP. He remarks e-discovery “has become a specialty” and lawyers must have ‘an interest and ability to understand technology,’ which is different than being a traditional litigator. This transformation was largely affected by new federal legal rules adopted in 2006, says Gary Saalman, also a partner with the Columbus litigation group at Vorys. There now exists greater cooperation among parties, transparency and desire for proportionality; the latter meaning ‘efforts to preserve, collect, and produce have to be proportional to the merits of the case,’ Saalman comments.
Prior to 2006, ‘there was no best practice, there was no process [and] we didn't have good tools to deal with this,’ reflects Julie Brown, the litigation technology executive manager at Vorys. Businesses ‘can’t keep everything [because] storage costs go out of control,’ says Brown.”
The story also highlighted policies that can be implemented to help manage electronic information, stating:
“It is essential that legal, business, and IT professionals are ‘speaking the same language,’ Brown emphasizes.
Businesses should also centralize their information. Data should be saved on the company’s server, not employee hard drives, adds Saalman. Business information should not be conveyed via instant messenger or through home e-mail accounts.
Matthews warns further, ‘the more dispersed the control over the information, the higher costs are going to be.’ In the age of personal smartphones and tablets, companies should institute a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy, he suggests. An effective policy ensures sensitive data like customer information is protected and eliminates the commingling of personal and business data, which reduces the discoverable electronic universe.”
To read the entire story, visit the Columbus C.E.O. website.
