PRACTICE AREAS

Hughes Hubbard’s eDiscovery Group assists clients in a variety of contexts with issues arising from today’s complicated storage, management, and use of electronically stored information.

Representative Experience

• Handling some of the largest document cases in the country, from pharmaceutical MDLs through trial to the largest and most complex bankruptcy proceeding in history.
• Arguing and briefing discovery motions, conducting discovery conferences and handling the various eDiscovery issues that arise in the courtroom.
• Preparing for and defending depositions of employees in information and technology.
• Handling negotiations and producing electronic information to Congress, the Department of Justice, the SEC and other regulatory authorities.
• Representing third parties responding to subpoenas, while making every effort to keep costs to a minimum.
• Organizing and advising clients on both simple and multi-tiered document reviews, whether at off-site facilities, in-house at the client, or in our own dedicated review space. We have extensive experience screening, training and supervising contract attorneys, and we also make cost-efficient use of our own staff attorneys and eDiscovery counsel.
• Supervising and conducting large-scale document collections, using various tools and techniques, with and without vendors. Our experience includes everything from the latest search utilities to the best ways of conducting custodial interviews.
• Supervising and conducting the processing of both hard copy and electronically stored information, including: review and production of databases and other “non-document” data; scanning and unitizing of hard copy documents; de-duplication; privilege screens; creation and application of search terms and search term logic to reduce the volume of ESI; and other techniques designed to reduce the volume of data while complying with legal requirements.
• Working cooperatively with in-house counsel, IT professionals, third-party vendors and other law firms to ensure an integrated litigation strategy that manages risk and helps win cases without undue business interruption.
• Advising clients on data management and document retention policies and procedures from both legal and technological perspectives.
• Advising and handling document discovery for multinational corporations who must navigate between home country data protection and privacy laws and United States discovery rules.
• Reviewing and advising clients on changes to IT processes for legal and discovery issues (including moving to backup systems with increased accessibility, VoIP phones, unified messaging, digital voicemail, and others); working with vendors to improve existing software packages and create more effective databases and programs in order to manage eDiscovery tasks more efficiently.
• Managing and supervising vendors to improve efficiency and responsiveness and to ensure compliance with litigation deadlines and other legal requirements.
• In appropriate cases and investigations our in-house Practice Support department can eliminate or reduce reliance on third-party vendors by handling all aspects of eDiscovery from our own facility.
  

Hughes Hubbard’s eDiscovery Approach

Seamless Integration

• In the context of new or ongoing litigation, the eDiscovery Group works seamlessly with the litigation team to integrate the discovery strategy with the litigation strategy. We actively manage priorities and workloads against the real deadlines of the litigation. Because eDiscovery issues can arise in both offensive and defensive contexts, the eDiscovery Group helps to exploit affirmative opportunities and to manage defensive challenges effectively and efficiently.

Trial Lawyers and Discovery Specialists

• We bring extensive training and experience as trial lawyers to eDiscovery issues, keeping a view toward the ultimate outcome of the case and how to get there. The eDiscovery Group is often called upon to argue the motions, write the briefs, and to help try the case.

Individualized Approach

• The eDiscovery Group has worked on some of the largest, most eDiscovery-intensive litigation in the nation as well as on numerous matters of every size. We provide individualized advice to our clients rather than trying to force every situation into a “one size fits all” approach.

Minimal Disruption

• Effective e-management requires the cooperation and active participation of our clients. We are sensitive to the toll this can take on ongoing business activities and we have developed techniques and procedures to minimize business disruption.

Strategic Counseling

• The eDiscovery Group’s counseling practice advises clients whether they are in litigation currently or not. The eDiscovery Group has helped clients with a full range of services. Some of these include reviewing data storage systems in preparation for any litigation, drafting information management policies, advising clients on the litigation consequences of implementing new technologies, and helping clients develop their own litigation management systems. When litigation is anticipated, the eDiscovery Group assists with litigation holds and other evidence preservation issues.