Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50894
"The principles are very simple. They fit on one sheet." — GLENN SMITH, LENCZNER SLAGHT ROYCE SMITH GRIFFIN LLP suit. "The in-house and outside counsel knew they had to do something with their electronic data to make sure they preserved their back-up tapes and server data," says Felsky. "After discus- sions with the vice president of IT in the U.S., it looked like we have two terabytes of backup data, plus active server data." (A terabyte is one trillion bytes and, in terms of text, can fill a stack of paper almost 50 km high.) Felsky says Commonwealth Legal would use the Sedona Canada Principles to help determine a plan of action for the case. The principles allow for a document-searching technique known as sampling, which Felsky used to cull some nine mil- lion documents down to 11,000 before handing it over to the lawyers, who were then able to winnow it down to 1,100 in no time. Robert Castonguay echoes this sentiment. Having spent 20 years with the computer forensics unit of the RCMP in Quebec City, he learned about electronic documents before the term "e- discovery" had been coined. In 2003, he left the RCMP and is now vice president of KPMG Forensic and head of infrastructure and production for e-dis- covery services in Montreal. He and his team recently completed a client project, paring down 1.5 terabytes of information to 500 gigabytes for the legal team to review. He shares Jaar's view that being without an e-discovery plan "is a risk-management disas- ter waiting to happen." Castonguay says that in-house counsel play an important role in the company when it comes to electronic information. "They're the ones who are involved first," he says. Sought out by the directors, these are the people who need to understand electronic information and how to handle it. As far as the costs associated with implementing policies and edu- cating employees, he is convinced any class action or complex litigation case will undoubtedly exceed them and that it's best to be proactive. The Sedona Canada Principles, Castonguay says, are a great place to start. He concludes that "…you simply can't say, 'I'll write up an e-discovery plan' when you're faced with a litigation hold-letter." IH Struggling with Electronic Discovery? Wondering how to whittle down the haystack? With eDiscovery on the rise and the Sedona Canada Principles finalized, your ability to efficiently preserve, collect, review and produce electronically stored information is more critical than ever. KPMG Forensic is a leading provider of eDiscovery services, with experienced professionals across Canada. KPMG works with you to manage the timeframes, risks and costs associated with eDiscovery. We assist you in leveraging the appropriate resources for your eDiscovery needs, including people, processes and technology. KPMG Forensic – your single strategic source for eDiscovery services –We make finding a needle in a haystack look easy. For more information about our eDiscovery services, please contact: Lloyd Rosler, Vice President Telephone: 416-777-3401 email: lrosler@kpmg.ca www.kpmg.ca Untitled-2 1 C ANADIAN Lawyer INHOUSE JUNE 2008 29 5/5/08 2:44:16 PM