A Sample of Effective <i>Voir Dire</i>
March 31, 2004
In Parts One and Two of this article, we discussed the strategies involved in deciding when to question the opposing party's expert; during preliminary <i>voir dire</i> or during cross examination. We noted that, in a jury trial, it is usually prudent to wait until cross-examination to attack the expert, so that the jury can see where the holes in the witness's qualifications and conclusions are. But sometimes, questioning during <i>voir dire</i> is preferable, especially when the result is likely to be the witness disqualification to testify as an expert.
Best Practices for E-Mail Filtering
March 30, 2004
Particularly during the past 2 years, the onerous task of filtering e-mail messages has grown to become a business and operational necessity - largely because of the influx of spam, as well as regulations and legislation that mandate the retention of e-communications such as e-mail and, increasingly, instant messages. Coupled with the traditional reasons for filtering ' malicious code attached to or embedded within the message, and inappropriate or sensitive message content ' filtering technologies and the market are undergoing radical change. This makes purchasing and implementation decisions difficult. Best practices for effective e-mail filtering can ease the decision-making process.
Practice Tip: <B>Protecting Against Digital Spies</b>
March 30, 2004
As the legal industry leverages IT to deliver enhanced services and improve overall business operations, Internet threats are increasing. According to the latest Symantec Internet Security Threat Report, one of the most significant threats today is malicious code that exposes confidential data such as passwords, decryption keys, keystrokes and more. Moreover, this malicious code is entering businesses from a widening array of sources. One of the most common delivery vehicles is spyware. According to security experts, millions of PCs in homes and businesses across the world are already infested with spyware. Yet, for all its ubiquity, it remains a relatively misunderstood threat.
The Era of Mega-Case Litigation
March 30, 2004
The era of mega-case litigation has arrived. In the last 2 years, mega-cases ' those with more than 500,000 pages for review ' have become commonplace according to leading law firms and litigation support vendors. Indeed, in high profile cases today, document collections can easily run over 50 million pages ' roughly a terabyte of data, or the equivalent of about 20,000 Banker boxes. The rapid growth of electronic documents presents significant challenges for corporations and law firms involved in litigation. Dealing with the challenges of document reviews across multiple, related cases is also becoming increasingly important for many corporations.
INNOVA: An Innovation in the Document Creation Process
March 30, 2004
Like it or not, in order to produce and collaborate on documents, the legal community is dependent on more and more software products which are increasingly sophisticated and interdependent. To maximize the financial investment in these products, it's optimal to leverage the integration opportunities that they offer. Firms have the option to take on custom development to achieve this goal, or to invest in a third-party product where the software vendor is responsible for keeping their product updated to integrate with new versions of other programs on the desktop. Innova, developed by SoftWise Corporation, is an example of a comprehensive, feature-rich, template program that standardizes and simplifies the document creation process. It integrates with a variety of contact management, document management and fax server programs typically found on a legal desktop.
Designing a Medical Device Surveillance Network
March 03, 2004
In last month's newsletter, we looked at some helpful Web sites for those who need to track the efficacy and safety of medical devices. Following are more useful Web sites for these purposes.
Digital Stealth Secrets and the Act
March 02, 2004
Corporate accountability (Section 302, 404 and 409 of SOA) has moved to priority status for most businesses. This article has as its core just one premise: understanding the risks associated with digital stealth fraud in the workplace, and what it can do to your company.
The Keys to Keyword Advertising
March 01, 2004
Until recently, courts have had relatively little to say about the practice of keyword advertising — <i>ie</i>, triggering Internet advertisements to appear when users search for a keyword identical to a competitor's trademark. Practitioners could look only to a single decision denying Playboy Enterprises, Inc.'s ("PEI") motion for a preliminary injunction against Netscape Communications Corp. ("Netscape") and Excite, Inc. ("Excite"). Now, four courts have recently issued decisions reaching starkly different results on keyword advertising practices, including a Ninth Circuit decision reversing summary judgment that had been entered against PEI in its litigation with Netscape and Excite. While much remains to be resolved, certain factors have been particularly influential.
Federal Circuit Looks Back to the Future to Construe Terms
March 01, 2004
A standard plot element of time-travel science fiction is that those journeying to the past must first be sternly warned that anything they do to change the past — stop the car before it plunges over the cliff, warn the wagon train of the bandits lurking ahead, select paper instead of plastic at the checkout line — has unforeseeable consequences that could render the future (and hence, the present) completely unrecognizable. The idea, of course, is that what happens in the past affects the future.
