A group of vendors, attorneys and other electronic-discovery services "consumers" hopes to use public input to develop a reference model that would help set e-discovery standards and guidelines.

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Chris Getner of Aaxis Technologies answers some key e-discovery partnering and solution-seeking questions.

Even the most seasoned litigator may be puzzled by such arcane terminology as deduplication, metatags, blowbacks and concept querying. To make sense of the electronic-data discovery (EDD) process in general, and to further ensure that the litigator is adept in using the selected litigation review and production tools, selecting a trainer with the appropriate skills and pedagogical technique, combined with "real world" experience in setting up review workflows and meeting production deadlines, is nothing short of critical.

Electronic discovery in today's quickly changing litigation environment presents many new demands and dangers for counsel and risk management executives. Dire warnings are being issued about the consequences of e-discovery, and with good reason. In cases such as <i>Zubulake</i>, companies have been punished for failing, in the court's eyes, to preserve electronic evidence properly. The penalties range from the severe ' attorneys' fees ' to the extreme ' the entry of default judgment. <br>There are, however, steps you can take now ' before a lawsuit is filed ' that may improve your company's ability to preserve electronic evidence without unduly burdening day-to-day operations.

Training large document-review teams to consistently apply specified review criteria to millions of pages of often mind-numbingly dull documents has long been a challenge for counsel. The time- and cost-savings offered by online review tools, along with the enhanced automated quality control features of such tools, have made electronic review an increasingly compelling option for large-scale, time-pressured document reviews. While electronic-document review projects have become more common in the last few years, setting up the project and training attorneys in preparation for review remains challenging.

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Imagine a very successful equipment leasing company that showed little or no profit for the last 4 years, and so, paid little or no federal taxes. This year, that same company could show a $5 million profit and face a federal tax bill that could easily total $2 million.

Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the release of a staff report on June 15th prepared by the Office of the Chief Accountant, the Office of Economic Analysis and the Division of Corporation Finance on off-balance sheet arrangements, special purpose entities and related issues. The report was prepared pursuant to Section 401(c) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. As required by that Act, the report has been submitted to the president, the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives. The staff report includes an analysis of the filings of issuers as well as an analysis of pertinent U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and Commission disclosure rules. The report describes the staff's study, details its findings, and provides recommendations. Notably, the report prominently identifies leasing as a key focus and a high priority for an FASB project.