Discovery Issues (ESI) in Labor and Employment

Date: Jan 9, 2024 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location: Online

Member Price: $152

Non-Member Price: $190

Section Price: $143

Event Code: I142424

Areas of Law: Labor & Employment

Earn up to 3.3 credits! (More Information)

Faculty

Keynote

Moderator

Ayesha Krishnan Hamilton, Esq.
Hamilton Law Firm PC, Princeton

Presenters

Hon. Ronald J. Hedges (Ret.)
Former USMJ
Principal, Ronald J. Hedges LLC
is Senior Counsel for Dentons in New York City and a member of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group. He has extensive experience in e-discovery and the management of complex civil litigation matters, and has served as a special master, arbitrator and mediator. He also consults on the management and discovery of electronically stored information (ESI).

Admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York, Texas and the District of Columbia, and before several federal courts, Judge Hedges is a former United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1986-2007), where he was the Compliance Judge for the Court Mediation Program, a member of the Lawyers Advisory Committee, and a member of and reporter for the Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Committee. A member of the Advisory Group of Magistrate Judges from 2001-2005, he has also been a member of the American Law Institute, the American and Federal Bar Associations, and the Historical Society and the Lawyers Advisory Committee of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Judge Hedges has served on the Sedona Conference Judicial Advisory Board; the Sedona Conference Working Group on Protective Orders, Confidentiality, and Public Access; and the Sedona Conference Working Group on Best Practices for Electronic Document Retention & Protection. He has also been a member of the Advisory Board of the Advanced E-Discovery Institute of Georgetown University Law Center. He is a former Fellow at the Center for Information Technology of Princeton University and has been a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas.

Judge Hedges has been an adjunct professor at Rutgers School of Law-Newark and is a former adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and Seton Hall University School of Law, where he has taught courses on electronic discovery and evidence and mediation skills. He is the author of “Rule 26(f): The Most Important E-Discovery Rule” (New Jersey Law Journal, 5/18/2009) and has authored, edited and co-edited a number of other publications on ESI topics including Discovery of Electronically Stored Information: Surveying the Legal Landscape (BNA, 2007). He is the principal author of the third edition of the Federal Judicial Center’s Pocket Guide for Judges on Discovery of Electronic Information.

Judge Hedges received his B.A. from the University of Maryland and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
(8/23)
Hon. Douglas H. Hurd, P.J.Cv.
Mercer County Courthouse
Douglas S. Bramley, Esq.
McMoran O'Connor & Bramley PC, Manasquan
Jeffrey S. Brenner, Esq.
Maragell, LLC, Cherry Hill
Sara Perkins Jones, Esq.
Spark EDiscovery

Presented in cooperation with the NJSBA Labor and Employment Law Section

E-discovery is an essential component of most employment-related lawsuits. Modern technology and communication tools have substantially increased the volume of electronically stored information (ESI) in the workplace. Effective use of ESI can sometimes strengthen an employer’s case or defenses. This program will discuss many things detailed in the agenda below. Don’t miss the opportunity to catch up to speed on all labor and employment related ESI issues.

Program Agenda:

  • Introduction to the topic
    • Sedona Conference Principles - Foundation for ESI analysis
    • RPCs and our obligation to know this stuff
    • Discussion of New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Generative AI - NJSBA involvement
  • Case Law Update
    • Court Rules - Federal and State
    • New Case Review
  • The Federal bench perspective
    • What should be raised at the Rule 16 Conference
    • Obligation to meet and confer
    • When meet and confer fails
    • How involved does the Court get?
    • When is it time for sanctions?
    • What is the Court’s expectation of the level of expertise a practitioner should have with ESI issues?
    • Generative AI/Hallucinations -briefs/plagiarism
    • How the Court will handle these issues
      - Pro Se Context
      - Practitioners
    • Causes of action - Generative AI
    • Civil and criminal litigation
  • The State bench perspective 
    • Use of ESI protocols in state court cases
    • Educating the bar and the bench about ESI issues
    • How do you handle it when the meet and confer fails
    • What if the parties do not have an ESI protocol
  • Practice tips:
    • Drafting and negotiating ESI Discovery Protocols in every case
      • Parts of a discovery protocol
      • When to get E Discovery Guidance if you are out of your depth
      • What to watch for
        - Discovery games: production of all types of ESI communication
        - Format for production to you
        - Cost sharing/proportionality
  • Nuts and bolts of ESI discovery - Sara Perkins Jones, Esq.
    • Collection of data - where are the documents
    • Making doc review more efficient and targeted
      - Drafting the request
      - Processing the responses
      - Tagging the production
      - Organizing the production
    • Different types of software to evaluate the discovery responses
    • What is ECA (early case analysis)
    • Explain how it works (tagging, timelines, relevant, creator, dates, topics)
    • AI/computer assisted discovery review
  • ESI expert witnesses
    • How to use an expert witness
    • What to do with forensic experts - analysis
    • Types of cases: Defend Trade Secrets, violation of confidentiality
    • Types of data/devices involved
    • Tracking the data and devices
    • Expert witness analysis from company and employee perspectives

CLE Credits
NJ CLE:NJ CLE information: This program has been approved by the Board on Continuing Legal Education of the Supreme Court of New Jersey for 3.3 hours of total CLE credit (Full Credits Available: NJ Civil Trial Attorney Credit: 3.3, NJ General: 3.3).
NY CLE (t&nt):NY Professional Practice Non-Transitional: 3.0
PA CLE:PA Substantive Credit: 2.5
New: No PACLE fee is required for this program. To earn PA CLE credits, a valid PA Bar ID number must be entered into the CLE form provided after attending the program.

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