Gibbons Law Alert
Gibbons is pleased to announce that the Honorable Edwin H. Stern (ret.) will present a brief keynote address where he will provide an insider’s view of some e-discovery concerns facing the courts today at the Gibbons Fifth Annual E-Discovery Conference, which will be held at the Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel & Conference Center in East Rutherford, NJ.
The Gibbons E-Discovery Task Force will host its fifth annual full day E-Discovery Conference for corporate counsel and information technology professionals on November 3, 2011, in the firm’s Newark, NJ office. Devoted to the latest developments in electronic discovery and corporate information management, this program will include speakers who are among the most respected names in the e-discovery field, including former United States Magistrate Judge John Hughes, e-discovery authority Michael Arkfeld, and representatives of leading corporations and e-discovery service providers. Among the Gibbons attorneys who will present and moderate panels are Task Force Chair, Mark S. Sidoti and Task Force members, Paul E. Asfendis, Melissa DeHonney, Luis J. Diaz, Phillip J. Duffy, Scott J. Etish, Jennifer A. Hradil, Jeffrey L. Nagel, and Mara E. Zazzali-Hogan.
Next time you consider posting something on the Internet, think again as your identity could be revealed! Under the presumed cloak of anonymity, individuals often throw caution to the wind and voice controversial and unfiltered views on the Internet. Based upon a recent ruling by an Indiana State Court in a defamation case, however, the rules of engagement on the Internet may have changed.
Please join the Gibbons E-Discovery Task Force and the NJ Chapter of Women in E-Discovery in its presentation of “The Internet and Social Media in the Courtroom,” hosted at Gibbons on Tuesday, June 21, 2011, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. CLE credit is available for NJ and NY, and pending for PA. Jennifer A. Hradil will moderate a panel featuring Mara E. Zazzali-Hogan, Jennifer Marino Thibodaux, and Suzanne Herrmann Brock, regarding the use of social media in litigation and the courtroom.
Will developments in technology make lawyers more efficient or will they become extinct? A March 2011 article in The New York Times, entitled “Armies of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced by Cheaper Software,” discussed the significant efficiency and accuracy of e-discovery software in document review over that of human review. Although technology has enabled computers to imitate humans’ ability to reason at even higher levels, rest assured that Armageddon is not looming on the legal profession’s horizon.
In October 2010, Facebook announced a new Download Your Information (“DYI”) feature, billed as “an easy way to quickly download to your computer everything you’ve ever posted on Facebook and all your correspondences with friends: your messages, wall posts, photos, status updates and profile information.” The Facebook announcement included a short video detailing how to use the feature. Cnet TV has a more in-depth video. Craig Ball also wrote an article about this feature in the February 23, 2011 issue of Law Technology News.
In early 2011, the Federal Communications Commission will launch a new, updated website and become the first major federal agency to utilize cloud computing technology to completely support its principal web presence. By moving to cloud technology, the FCC hopes to give a boost to this increasingly popular technology and to improve the FCC’s technology platform. In announcing its move to cloud computing, the FCC’s Managing Director stated, “given that we oversee an industry that should lead this country in innovation, we want to lead the government in the things we do every day as well.” Terremark will manage the FCC’s transition to cloud computing.
Cloud computing is revolutionizing the IT marketplace. With the economy still suffering aftershocks from the Great Recession, companies of all sizes are being pressured to consider cost-cutting strategies. One such strategy is migration to cloud computing services. The “cloud” provides a reasonable solution to reduce cost while at the same time, increasing efficiency and innovation in IT operations. On Thursday, October 28, 2010, Gibbons P.C. held its Fourth Annual E-Discovery Conference, assembling a panel of experts for a roundtable discussion concerning (i) what constitutes “cloud computing,” (ii) how cloud migration can be achieved, and (iii) what risks are posed by “cloud computing” and how to mitigate those risks.
A Michigan court dismissed a juror who during the trial posted on Facebook, “gonna be fun to tell defendant they’re guilty.” A New Jersey Appellate Court holds it is alright to google jurors’ names during jury selection. Carino v. Muenzen, App. Div. August 30, 2010. The upshot is that the internet is moving into the jury box. In Carino, the plaintiff’s attorney used the court’s wi-fi to access the internet on his laptop. The court, ever hip, asked if he was googling the potential jurors. The trial court told him to put away the computer because he gave no notice he intended to google the jurors.