Blog Entries - February 2008

Large-Scale Litigation is Neither Horseshoes Nor Hand Grenades

james.crane@altep.com — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Getting it exactly right has never been as important as when your client is producing documents in serial litigation. When a corporate defendant is facing similar cases across multiple jurisdictions, each production and privilege log has to be precise and complete. We all know the consequences of “missing” a couple of documents. Its like “missing” a hole-in-one by six strokes. It can be an outcome determinative case-killer. We’ve seen in cases like Zubulake [...]

5 Categories of Information to Retain

james.crane@altep.com — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 02:00:00 +0100

One of the most difficult assignments that corporate counsel face is the proper disposition of company information. In order to better decide what information must be retained and for how long, it helps to categorize it.

The five categories set forth by the Association of Records Managers and Administrators and approved by the American National Standards Institute are as follows:

Operational Value : Records that document the activities of an organization, and [...]

You Don�t Even Speak My Language

james.crane@altep.com — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:00:00 +0100

“Language is the source of misunderstandings.”
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Mr. Saint-Exupery, an avid aviator and author of The Little Prince , had it right. It is hard to get anything done when people are not speaking the same language.

In e-Discovery, the lexicon is extremely important. Attorneys and their legal support staff, IT pros, and any third-party vendors have to understand each other to get the job done rig [...]

Offshore Outsourcing � the Next Big Thing? Or Disaster Waiting to Happen?

james.crane@altep.com — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Just like in the global marketplace in general, many in the legal industry are considering offshore outsourcing, particularly to India, as a means to reduce costs. It is a seductive concept because who can argue that the rate you pay an employee living in India is going to be less than you will pay someone living in New York, Boston, or even our hometown of El Paso, Texas.

If only the comparison were apples to apples. If only there weren’t othe [...]

Legal Tech New York 2008

james.crane@altep.com — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 02:00:00 +0100

I was part of the Altep group that attended the well-hyped and very crowded Legal Tech event in Manhattan last week. With hundreds of vendors hawking their services, it was, at times, a dizzying display of our beloved capitalism at work. Here are a couple of quick observations:

Qualcomm : It seems like each of these events is dominated by the latest big case to be decided. In this instance, the Qualcomm case, which I wrote about last month, was on everyone’s mind [...]

Fight World Hunger in Five Minutes a Day

james.crane@altep.com — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 02:00:00 +0100

As hard-charging legal professionals, we are dedicated to serving our clients nearly every waking hour, and even sometimes, in our dreams. Now, there is a quick and simple way to put those massive vocabularies to work saving the world in just a few spare minutes.

FreeRice.com is a site that allows you to test and build your vocabulary by answering multiple choice questions. The best part is that for every correct answer, Free Rice donates 20 grains o [...]

DOL�s Wage and Hour Division Has a New Administrator

james.crane@altep.com — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 02:00:00 +0100

The Department of Labor announced that Alexander J. Passantino will serve as the acting administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. The W&H Division is responsible for administering such hot-button litigation issues such as the Fair Labor Standards Act and other laws establishing labor standards. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law (go dawgs), and was an associate at King & Ballow (www.kingballow.com) and Hunton & Williams (www.hunton. [...]

Litigators' Latin Lesson

james.crane@altep.com — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Alright, time for your February Latin lesson. This time, I feel compelled to add a bonus term*.

Inspicio* : to inspect; to view.

*Also the name of our best-of-breed online native review platform. Contact me for an in-person or webex demonstration. You can also go to the Inspicio(TM) page: http://www.altep.com/content/category/4/24/82/.

Pro opera et labore : For work and labor.

Rex est legalis et [...]