Extract from Sam Bock’s article “Closing Out 2023 with the e-Discovery State of the Union”
If you missed Relativity Fest 2023, you missed a lot. A fan-favorite session each year is our “e-Discovery State of the Union,” in which a panel of industry voices helps distill the current goings-on of our space into fun, tangible insights and lessons learned.
This year’s panel featured a blend of familiar and newer faces:
- David Horrigan, Discovery Counsel & Legal Education Director, Relativity (moderator)
- Ryan O’Leary, Research Director, Data Privacy and Legal Technologies, IDC
- Isha Marathe, technology reporter, Legaltech News, ALM
- Stephanie Wilkins, Editor-in-Chief, Legaltech News, ALM
- Joe Patrice, Senior Editor, Above the Law
- Bob Ambrogi, Publisher, LawSites/LawNext
- Greg Buckles, Analyst-Consultant, eDiscovery Journal
- Joy Heath Rush, CEO, ILTA
As in past years, the group used buzzers to respond to David’s questions and liven up the discussion. But this time, they each got two buzzers—allowing for yes/no responses to group prompts before diving into the details.
Now that we’re wrapping up 2023, let’s take a look at what is top-of-mind for experts across the legal technology world today. (And yes, we’re going to talk a lot about AI—but there’s more nuance to it than just that, I promise!)
Collaborative Data and its Many Challenges
“One of the largest issues I see, and it comes up in most inquiries with corporate clients: the sudden boom of collaborative spaces when we went remote. Team growth, workspace growth, Zoom meetings—we suddenly jumped into collaborative content and context, and discovery is trailing, as usual,” Greg Buckles told Fest attendees, when asked about the biggest issues facing the e-discovery world this year. “A particularly big question coming up is: What’s a custodian anymore? A person who created something from a template? Is it the administrator, or even a site or channel? Is it the ‘Last modified by’ user? Who is the owner—or are they all the owners?”
