The theme for this issue of Discussions is technology and its implications for all of us. Our lead piece is an article published by Investor's Business Daily on the changing nature of business communications and how legal teams can take advantage. It features a "Hall of Shame" of email messages whose authors probably wish, in retrospect, that they had kept quiet. These are messages that were captured by Cataphora.
We follow this with a retrospective on how technology continued to advance last year as perceived by the legal profession. Finally, on a lighter note, we offer a description of how much more convenient it is to be indicted by cell phone. We can hardly wait!
By J. Bonasia
The rapid growth of e-mail is pushing many companies toward a new legal frontier: electronic discovery.
In the past, corporate lawyers exchanged reams of paper documents during the discovery process — the period before a case goes to court when litigants share evidence. Now, as e-mail and other electronic records take precedence, companies are scrambling to launch e-teams, says Bob Owen, a partner with the law firm Fulbright & Jaworski.
The full article is published on the Investor's Business Daily website at http://cataphora.com/out.php?go=6xy79
By Henry Gottlieb
If personal injury lawyer Raymond Gill Jr. gave colleagues his own day-in-the-life video, they would suffer the shock of recognition.
Like many of them, this 21st century litigator starts out daily at Woodbridge, N.J.'s Gill & Chamas by checking e-mails and voice mails. Then he might leave a message on his expert's cell phone to arrange a videotaped deposition, insurance against missing a "best practice" deadline.
Will all this technology help him win a trial?
Read the rest of the article on the Legal Technology website at http://www.law.com/jsp/ltn/pubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1135850707867
The Associated Press
South Korea will begin sending legal notices - including indictments - to people through mobile phones instead of ordinary mail next year to save time and enhance privacy, an official said.
"We will send legal notices through text and voice messages on a trial basis beginning in January," Jun Dae-jin, an official at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, told The Associated Press. "Full service will begin within the first half of next year."
More details at http://www.law.com/jsp/ltn/pubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1135764310868
This newsletter is also available online at http://www.cataphora.com/newsletter/20060210/index.html
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