Legal Commentary

Warm thanks to the wonderful audiences last week in San Francisco, where I spoke to the Women in eDiscovery's new Bay Area chapter, (left, hosted by Bingham McCutchen) and at the Estrin Paralegal SuperConference.

One of the themes I'm particularly fixated on right now is the impact of EDD costs on litigants. I was blown away by my colleague Julie Triedman's article, "Buried Alive,"  in The American Lawyer's special Litigation 2007 issue, focusing on Corporate Fraud. (Free, but reg req'd).

I think everybody's been so exhilarated by all the potential EDD revenues, that they haven't thought about who exactly pays for all these explorations -- and who's paying the price. it's a chilling article.

Hopefully, as EDD settles in, and the FRCP rules get oiled through real life use, and Sedona and EDRM models/guidelines get nuanced, there will emerge some realistic standards. If not, the resolution of cases may too often be determined by ability-to-pay, not justice. We should know by now that is not a formula that ends up with good results.

Photo above by Russ Curtis.