Crane on Law by James Crane

I know that many of you are already part of the ABA’s Corporate Counsel Committee. I encourage present and future members to join us for the 27 th annual ABA Section of Litigation Committee on Corporate Counsel CLE Seminar in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 14-17, 2008. It will likely be warmer than where you live, there is championship golf, and it's a great opportunity to learn about and discuss a variety of topics important to corporate counsel.

The topics will include Enforcing Intellectual Property in China, Crisis Management, and Building the In-House E-Discovery Program. There will be many outstanding speakers from some of the nation’s most prominent legal departments and law firms. I will be there and it would be great to meet you in person.

For more information and to download the brochure, go to www.abanet.org/litigation/committees/corporate.

If you have not joined the Corporate Counsel Committee, I encourage you to do so. I joined because I share the Committee’s focus on solutions to corporate law and practice issues working with both inside and outside counsel. The Committee has enjoyed great success on developing methods to control the cost of corporate litigation through innovative billing and budgeting techniques, imaginative litigation management methods, and corporate compliance and preventative law. For more information, feel free to contact me or you simply click “Join this Committee” at www.abanet.org/litigation/committees/corporate/home.html.

Hope to see you in Arizona.

When you go into battle, you want to trust the person next to you. High-stakes litigation is a lot like war, and if the vendor you take with you into the foxhole doesn’t have the right weapons, you will regret it. I’ve seen the fallout from this situation, and it is not pretty.

Unfortunately, many of the decision makers at law departments and firms don’t have the time to properly screen and interview all of the possible litigation support candidates. As a result, they wind up with a host of problems. Furthermore, the press of litigation and its surprises, deadlines, and assorted emergencies doesn’t lend itself to a lengthy RFP and RFI process.

The best approach is to follow a model that begins with pre-litigation preparedness and prophylactic measures so that you are well-equipped to handle the inevitability of investigations and lawsuits. Many of these measures can be implemented whether there is pending litigation or not. For instance, we always recommend that our clients identify key personnel and form a discovery rapid response team. We also assist our clients in creating a data map to reduce the anxiety associated with the meet and confer requirements of the Amended Federal Rules.

This summer, the Sedona Conference released their Working Group Series Best Practices for the Selection of Electronic Discovery Vendors: Navigating the Vendor Proposal Process, which can be found here: http://www.thesedonaconference.org/dltForm?did=RFP_Paper.pdf. It provides a useful overview of what litigators should look for in a supporting partner, and how to find the right match for your litigation challenges.

At the end of the day, our advice to our partners is to stay ready so you don’t have to scramble to get ready. Know your document retention policies (and if you don't have any, develop them!), identify and assign trusted personnel to respond if needed, and have a plan in place. Feel free to call or write me if you want to hear more ~ creating a defensible litigation climate is what we do.