In July 2009, LexisNexis sponsored the first conference ever held in Hong Kong bringing together a panel of leading international experts and prominent local practitioners to share their knowledge and experience on key issues concerning e-discovery and digital forensics, with special focus on the legal aspects. 

Among the presenters were:

* Scott Nonaka of O’Melveny & Myers whose presentation titled “Using Digital Forensic Evidence in Commercial Litigation” focused on:

• Benefits of using digital forensics in commercial litigation cases
• Identifying and applying relevant evidence
• The power of digital forensic evidence
• Potential violation of regulations in other jurisdictions
• Case study

*  Scott Nonaka, partner with O’Melveny & Myers, whose presentation titled “Using Digital Forensic Evidence in Commercial Litigation” focused on:

*  Menachem Hasofer, partner with Mayer Brown, whose presentation ”E-discovery and the Civil Justice Reform (CJR): What can we learn from other jurisdictions?” included information on:

• Outlining the underlying objectives and the new rules of the recent CJR and its impact on civil proceedings
• The significance of digital forensics and e-discovery for proper case management under the CJR
• Rules and guidelines for e-discovery in Commonwealth jurisdictions that may be followed in Hong Kong
• What can we learn from the Sedona Principles and the USA Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

*  Browning Marean, senior counsel with DLA Piper, who spoke on the rising need for digital forensics and e-discovery in today’s world.

For a full description of what the conference covered, and the list of speakers, click here.  

For an excellent review of the conference from Seamus Byrne who served as Chairperson click here.

We have launched the Asia-Pacific Posse List which will include our Asia job listserv (to get on the Asian-Pacific job list click here) and this page.   Our focus will be the legal markets in Australia, China, Hong Kong,  Japan and Singapore but we will include other Asian locations as they develop.

This page is sponsored by our strategic partner in Asia, CCH Workflow Solutions.  You can learn more about CCH Workflow Solutions in some articles we have linked at the top of this column as well as by clicking their logo in the upper right hand corner of this page.

We hope this page will be a storehouse of information on Asian-Pacific e-discovery, legal news affecting the contract attorney market, and other items of interest to this area.

As we have indicated in previous posts (click here) e-discovery work, computer forensics and contract attorney work is growing significantly in Asia, along the same lines as we have seen in Europe (click here).

A few basics on projects in the Asia-Pacific area:

1. There is a small but growing contract attorney community in Asia in several countries and we have been placing Posse List members on projects in Australia (the Rio Tinto/BHP merger project for instance), China (mostly IP work) and Japan (a mix of work)
2. Projects can be for U.S., European or Asian entities, both law firms and corporations.
3. A law degree will be required in almost all cases.  However, normally there is no restriction on where the degree is from (U.S., Europe, Asia) and in most cases bar admission is not a requirement.
4. But there is also a growing need for expert translators who need not have legal training.
5. Every project will require fluency in at least one Asian language and a good knowledge of English.
6. In many cases these are not your normal document reviews so pay rates vary.  One imminent project (within the next 2 weeks) will be based in China and they will need contract patent attorneys with contract drafting skills in Chinese and a conversational level of English.   Another project, in Singapore, will also be an IP project but with multi-tasks such as document review, drafting, interpretation, etc.   A third project, in Japan, will be closer to a straight document review for a U.S. law firm.
7. As many U.S. and EU EDD vendors move into the Asia-Pacific area, there is a growing need for
8. In some cases the client will want Asian-Pacific based attorneys, and in others cases there will be the opportunity to go to Asia, work there for awhile, and then finish the project in Europe or the U.S.
9. Per diems and travel expenses will vary per project depending on demand and need, and whether locally based attorneys are required.

If Asian projects are of interest, register on the Asia list (click here) and if you have friends/colleagues in Asia who might want to know about this work, please forward a link to this page and have them register and spread the word.

If you have any questions, please email us at: manager@theposselist.com

CCH is one of the leading global providers of information services, software and workflow tools for tax, accounting, HR, employment, safety, legal and business professionals. At CCH, our business is driven by one goal: to be “The Professional’s First Choice”.  This goal remains at the forefront of all our business operations and decisions.

Corporate

CCH Workflow Solutions proactively work with corporations to effectively manage data that could be relevant to future litigation, reducing both the time and money associated with eDiscovery from a data management perspective.

For corporations dealing with compliance issues from a data management perspective CCH Workflow solutions focus on the capture, storage and retrieval of hard copy and electronic documents. We enable organisations to minimise information management risk by accurately tracking and validating documents and data against specific business rules and regulatory compliance requirements.

We also provide virtual deal rooms for the facilitation of trade sales, liquidations and equity fund raising.

Law firms

CCH Workflow Solutions provide law firms with cost-effective solutions to high-document and data processing requirements. Our flexible suite of services cover all aspects of commercial and legal copying, case preparation services, case management software and eDiscovery services.

CCH Workflow Solutions is a leading supplier of end-to-end litigation support solutions, ranging from pre-discovery through to appeal. We manage the complete life cycle of any litigation project, ensuring total security, compliance and quality is enforced at each stage of service delivery.

Backed by CCH Workflow Solutions secure, in-house processing centres – delivering 24/7 copying, printing, document imaging, document coding and eDiscovery – combined with specialised software, expert consulting and training – CCH Workflow Solutions offer an extensive range of services designed to meet your information management challenge.

Government

CCH Workflow Solutions specialises in assisting government agencies with their information management challenges. From evidence management services and software to unique imaging projects for schools and universities, we have you covered.

CCH Workflow Solutions is a leading supplier of end-to-end evidence management and litigation support solutions, ranging from pre-discovery through to appeal. We manage the complete life cycle of any litigation project, ensuring total security, compliance and quality is enforced at each stage of service delivery.

CCH Workflow Solutions provide government agencies with cost-effective solutions to high-document and data processing requirements. Our flexible suite of services cover all aspects of commercial and legal copying, case preparation services, case management software and eDiscovery services.

For departments dealing with compliance issues from data management perspective CCH Workflow solutions focus on the capture, storage and retrieval of hard copy and electronic documents. We enable agencies to minimise information management risk by accurately tracking and validating documents and data against specific business rules and regulatory compliance requirements.

Partners

Working with leading specialist technology vendors and business partners, CCH Workflow Solutions uses best-in-class products to design solutions that add value to business. Solutions to streamline your workflow processes – from case preparation to matter management we work with partners to design a solution that’s right for you.

If you are interested in working with CCH Workflow Solutions please Contact Us for more information about our partner program.

White papers

CCH Workflow Solutions white papers  are written by industry experts in the fields of Litigation Support, eDiscovery (EDD) and Document Management .  They cover such topics as the right road to take when producing electronically stored information and best practices for eDiscovery management.  The whitepapers are constantly updated.

Podcasts

V-Seminars provide a new way to keep up to date on the latest trends and developments in legal information management technologies. Listen and/or view these informative and thought provoking seminars on your computer or download them to your MP3 player or iPod. These podcasts will provide valuable insights from both CCH Workflow Solutions experts and leading industry experts.

To access all the whitepapers and podcast information click here.

China was miffed by the outcome of what we last year called the corporate “deal of the century.” But shareholder interests prevailed. How often will that be said in the future?  Politics, that ugly dynamic when mixed with business, was already back in play last week as Rio Tinto, an Australian mining giant at the heart of the controversy, saw four of its Chinese executives arrested in Shanghai on spying charges.

China says the busts are not retribution for the cancelled deal between Rio and a state-owned company, which received angry press in China. Instead, the arrests supposedly arise from skullduggery by Rio officials during fraught annual ore-price negotiations with mainland steelmakers. But the distinction may be irrelevant. Ore has become a major neuralgic concern for China. It sees its dependence on imported supply as strategically risky. It fears that its massive attempts to “stimulate” domestic job growth are being drained off as fatter profits for Australian mining companies.

For the full article from the Wall Street Journal click here.

E-Discovery and Digital Forensics, are powerful and valuable tools to discover and process electronic evidence necessary for litigation. It is becoming increasingly essential for practitioners in Asia to gain crucial awareness and understanding of e-discovery and digital forensics tools for litigation cases.  LexisNexis is sponsoring the first conference ever held in Hong Kong to bring together a panel of leading international experts and prominent local practitioners to share their knowledge and experience on key issues concerning e-discovery and digital forensics, with special focus on the legal aspects.

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
* Gain the essentials and value of e-discovery and digital forensics to increase litigation readiness
* Recognise the impacts of new Civil Justice Reform on digital investigation and discovery
* Acquire the skills in handling digital evidence in civil, criminal and commercial litigation cases
* Prepare your company for e-discovery
* Link e-discovery and digital investigation with Personal Data Privacy Ordinance and other related laws
* Identify the legal implications in managing digital forensics and discovery for crossborder litigations

To obtain more information and to register click here.

With class actions on the rise in Australia, it is important for potential applicants and respondents to be familiar with the procedure underpinning these claims.

The increasing incidence of class actions in Australia has occurred in a range of different contexts, such as:

• shareholder class actions (for example the Multiplex, Centro and Aristocrat actions);
• cartel class actions (for example the Air Cargo and “Vitamins” actions);
• product liability class actions (for example Vioxx and diet drugs); and
• financial services and planners class actions (for example the Westpoint cases).

For the full article click here.

Google AdWords, the auction-based program where advertisers bid on search terms to place text ads alongside search results, has been the subject of controversy and litigation around the world. In response, Google, in an attempt to maintain its viable business model and to assist trade mark owners in protecting their registered rights from misuse by competitors, has introduced a new trade mark policy, which came into effect on 4 June 2009. This will offer varying degrees of assistance to trade mark owners according to the country in which the trade mark is registered.

For the full article click here.

The future could see a host of new job titles emerge in law firms, said Matthew Parsons, author and former global director knowledge at Linklaters, as they adapt to a rapidly changing world of knowledge management.

Speaking at the Janders Dean Law Firm Knowledge Management (KM) conference in Sydney on Thursday, Parsons took a crystal ball to the future of KM in law firms and predicted a move to changing partner responsibilities and roles.

Parsons noted that the next 10 years in KM could see as much rapid change as that experienced in the last 10 years.

“PCs on desks only really happened in the early 1990s,” he said. “We only had Google start, start, just before 2000 …. Realistically we can expect that same amount of change in the next 10 years. It’s going to be a very different landscape.”  

That change could also see job titles evolve to take on growing responsibilities as KM continues to progress, he said.

For the full article from Lawyers Weekly  click here.