Webcast Discussing Judge Scheindlin's Recent NDLON Ruling on ESI Productions and Metadata Now Available Online

    MCLEAN, VA, May 11, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- ZyLAB, a leading eDiscovery and information management technology company, today announced that the popular webcast titled "Contemporary Productions and Metadata for 21st Century Disclosures" is now available on demand from the company's website. The lively and informative 80-minute webcast addresses the controversy surrounding the recent ruling in the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) v. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) case involving ESI productions and metadata.

NDLON plaintiff counsel, Anthony Diana, of Mayer Brown LLP, kicks off the session with an introduction to the case, clarification of the technical and procedural challenges with the productions, and a summary of the resulting motions, opinions, and memoranda from the court.

"In this context, my view is that the government seems to be where many corporate defendants were 5 to 10 years ago in terms of the ability to produce electronic documents, and Judge Scheindlin, I think, has expressed that at various hearings," said Anthony Diana during the webcast. "I think the Court was shocked at the state of their ability to collect and produce electronic documents in the way that Judge Scheindlin perhaps believes should be done in at least civil litigation. I think the question is whether the government has to do it in FOIA as well."

Craig Ball, a renowned expert in forensic technology and electronic discovery, discusses the specific metadata fields addressed in Judge Scheindlin's opinion and how NDLON breaks new ground despite FOIA being regarded as different from eDiscovery. "All of this raises a new and interesting question," said Craig Ball during the webcast. "Do the rules establish a standard of care and conduct in counsel that must inform their behavior whenever they engage to produce information--not just in civil litigation under the rules of procedure?" Ball goes on to suggest that competent counsel in FOIA disputes should shoulder similar expectations of communication and cooperation as demanded of counsel in eDiscovery.

"There's also huge collaboration that goes on between legal and IT. For organizations that aren't quite litigation ready, sometimes the first encounter under this kind of strain produces extraordinarily odd results," said Mary Mack, Esq., enterprise technology counsel for ZyLAB, during the session. "If you are in an organization that has all of these FOIA requests, it might be a good time to consider normalizing how those productions will go out--especially with more and more sophisticated requestors of data."

Mack goes on to discuss the ways in which the proper use of technology and process will reduce the burden of metadata productions for FOIA and eDiscovery. Specific examples of metadata collection, automatic redaction, exemption codes and privilege codes, and load files are addressed.

To access the recording and listen to the session in its entirety, please visit http://www.zylab.com/Resources/RecordedWebcasts/ContemporaryProductionsandMetadata.aspx, or call 1-866-995-2262 ext. 827 for more information. Additional metadata resources for litigators are available from www.craigball.com. This event was originally hosted by The Organization for Legal Professionals on Tuesday, May 3, 2011.

ZyLAB's products and services are used on an enterprise level by corporations, government agencies, courts, and law firms, as well as on specific matters for legal services, auditing, and accounting providers. For more information, please call 1-866-995-2262.

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