Tips for Paralegals and Litigation Support Professionals

Sean O’Shea: Tips for Paralegals and Litigation Support Professionals – February 2021

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2/1/2021: Editing ppsx
In Windows 10, if you want to edit a PowerPoint .ppsx file, you can select it in Windows Explorer and click on ‘New’ instead of ‘Show’.

2/2/2021: Relativity Analytics for Small Data Sets
Relativity’s Case Dynamics includes a Timeline Builder

2/3/2021: Monitor Network Activity with TCPView
You can view the address of each TCP endpoint, and see how many bytes it is using.  

2/4/2021: GDPRHub / NOYB
NOYB filed a complaint with France’s Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) which led the commission to issue a 50 million euro fine on Google for failing to gain users’ consent to process data. 

2/5/2021: Teams are the Best
Gartner ranks MS Teams as the best unified messaging system.

2/6/2021: Genetic Data Discovery Online
Sites like Virological can give you insight into the software that is being used to analyze genetic data. Researchers will discuss their use of the software, and post results obtained with it on the forum.

2/7/2021: Texas Court of Appeals Approves Writ of Mandamus to Stop Facebook/Google Fishing Expedition
The three judge panel rejected the Plaintiff’s contention that the doctrine of unclean hands barred the Defendants from petitioning the Court to issue a mandamus order to correct overboard discovery orders.  The Plaintiff argued that because a Defendant had deleted records after a preservation letter was received, and did not respond to other discovery requests, the doctrine of unclean hands should be invoked.

2/8/2021: Save PDFs from Chrome Again
When a PDF file is viewed in Chrome, you should be able to right click on it and save it as a PDF.  If you are prompted to save it as a html file, check the extensions or add-ins installed for Chrome.  If you disable one of them, the problem may disappear.

2/9/2021: .ptxt; .ptif; .ppdf files and Azure Information Protection
You can spot these protected files by the ‘p’ added to the beginning of the file extension.  For example, a protected text file will have the extension, ‘.ptxt’.

2/10/2021: USB Restricted Mode for iPhone
iPhones and iPads have a USB restricted mode which prevents USB accessories plugged in through the lightning port from accessing data on the Apple devices, if they have been locked for longer than 60 minutes.

2/11/2021: .BIN Files
Files with the extension .BIN are binary files that software can write data to.  .BIN files are also often found on optical discs.  These are disk images which are sector by sector copies of source files.  A .BIN file is not simply the files and folder structure copied from the source storage medium, but a binary copy of it.

2/12/2021: NVMe
Non-volatile Memory Express is a protocol for accessing data on PCIe solid state drives (SSDs) – drives which retain memory after being powered down. NVMes can support thousands of command queues whereas a simple SCSI drive that uses a spinning disc can only run one command at a time.

2/13/2021: CCPA Requires Notice of Changed Scope
Under the CCPA consumers must be informed when their data is used for ends that are different than those specified in the original disclosure notice.

2/14/2021: Forensic Imaging Devices – Capture Data from Multiple Drives Simultaneously
When tasked with collecting data from multiple storage drives, keep in mind that devices exist which can image multiple drives simultaneously.  A forensic imaging device can image multiple drives at the same time.

2/15/2021: Forensic Imaging and Write Blocking on NVM Express Drives
Some write blockers may not detect NVMe commands, which are not used for SATA or SCSI drives.  Since NVME attaches to a PCI express bus, a write blocker designed to act as a bridge between devices can’t be used to intercept commands.  Write blocking software may be used to modify the NVMe driver.

2/16/2021: Accellion FTA Breached
The widely used secure file transfer service, Accellion File Transfer Appliance, was compromised by hackers this past December.   Accellion kiteworks was not effected.

2/17/2021: Legal Work is a Test of Your Financial IQ
Retained earnings are the sum of net income minus, dividends and bonus shares.   This can also be referred to as plowback.

2/18/2021: Text Summarization
There are two forms of text summarization.   Extraction-based summarization pulls key terms and phrases from the analyzed text, without actually altering any of the original text.  Abstraction-based summarization re-phrases the source text, and prepares a more concise version, that aims to reflect the main points of the complete source text.

2/19/2021: 255 character limit catcher
Path Length Checker is a free utility, with a very simple purpose:  it helps you find file paths in a directory which exceed the 255-character limit in Windows Explorer.

2/20/2021: Parsing the XML data from RSS Feeds in Excel
This formula will import the RSS data: =WEBSERVICE(“https://www.nasdaq.com/feed/rssoutbound?category=Commodities”)

. . . this formula will parse it: =FILTERXML($A$1,”//item/title”)

2/21/2021: How to Find a Print Area
Don’t miss that if a range of cells has been selected as a Print Area in MS Excel, it will show up in the Name Manager.

2/22/2021: Edit Files Saved to Box Using Local Software
Note that the popular file sharing service, Box, now has an app that will allow you to edit files already uploaded to a Box folder using the software installed on your PC.

2/23/2021: Use Javascript to Get a List of All URLs
The script is entered in the console which is accessed by pressing F12.

2/24/2021: Get a list of the modified date of a folder of files
forfiles /C “cmd /c echo @file @fdate @ftime” >list.txt

2/25/2021: Cyber Crime Chain Production
Webinject kits will add JavaScript into browsers which alters the information shown to a user.   An additional box can be added to an online form that will prompt a user to enter confidential information such as a social security number.

2/26/2021: Find the nth position of a number in an array
Excel has a very simple formula which helps you find which number in a given array comes in a given position when the numbers are reviewed from highest to lowest  The LARGE formula :

=LARGE(A1:F1,2)

2/27/2021: Beyond Attorney-Client Communications and Work Product in Privilege Review
Hearn Doctrine – at issue waiver can take place if a party asserts knowledge or ignorance of an important fact.  So if the privileged communications will determine the outcome of a case, and there is no other source for the relevant information, then privilege can be waived.

2/28/2021: Geek Uninstaller
Third party software can help you fully uninstall programs from Windows.

Sean O'Shea on Email
Sean O'Shea
Litigation Paralegal
Sean O’Shea began working as a litigation support analyst at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP in 1998, near the dawn of the electronic discovery era. From assisting clients with the implementation of information governance policies, to conducting electronic presentations for attorneys at trials, he has been involved in all aspects of litigation support work. Sean is a Relativity Certified Administrator and an ACEDS Certified E-Discovery Specialist. He’s currently employed as a litigation paralegal in New York City, and continues to advise attorneys on legal technology. Look for a new tip on each night on www.litigationsupporttipofthenight.com.

*The views expressed in this blog are those of the owner and do not reflect the views or opinions of the owner’s employer. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. This policy is subject to change at any time. The owner is not an attorney, and nothing posted on this site should be construed as legal advice. Litigation Support Tip of the Night does not provide confirmation that any e-discovery technique or conduct is compliant with legal, regulatory, contractual or ethical requirements.

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