<html><body><span style="font-family:Arial; color:#000000; font-size:12pt;"><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">Fellow Members: I recently read in an ACEDS article about the following: Did you know that there is a law firm in California that is now being sued for malpractice due to an E-Discovery screw up? <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; " mce_style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; display: inline !important; float: none; ">The case involves allegations that J-M Manufacturing Co., of Los Angeles, through its former lawyers at McDermott Will & Emery and e-discovery service providers, Navigant and Stratify, repeatedly disclosed nearly 4,000 privileged documents to adversaries and the US government in a federal False Claims Act lawsuit. </span>Who thinks that under 502 these inadvertant disclosures will be recovered by the Clawback Rule? <span mce_style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; display: inline !important; float: none; " style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; "> </span><b mce_style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; " style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: both; "><u>Judge Wu issued an opinion which is attached.</u></b><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; clear: both; " mce_style="color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; display: inline !important; float: none; "> </span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin: 15pt 0in 12pt; font-size: 16px; line-height: 12pt; clear: both; " mce_style=" margin:0in; margin-bottom:0px; font-size:16px; font-family:Times New Roman,serif; margin-top:15.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom: 12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:12.0pt"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: black; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in; font-size: 16px; " mce_style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: black; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in; font-size: 16px; "><b><u>This case led me to thinking about Florida's new E-Discovery Rules:</u></b></span></div><div style="margin: 15pt 0in 12pt; font-size: 16px; line-height: 12pt; clear: both; " mce_style=" margin:0in; margin-bottom:0px; font-size:16px; font-family:Times New Roman,serif; margin-top:15.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom: 12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:12.0pt"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">Florida's new E-Discovery Rules take effect on September 1, 2012. I know of several larger law firms that have already assembled their E-Discovery Committees, developed internal practices and procedures, created E-Discovery Compliance Checklists, E-discovery litigation forms for use in litigation, fine tuned their litigation hold letters; and they have already retained or interviewed third party vendors. In the case of the smaller firms, such as my solo law practice, I have also convened an E-Discovery Committee, but mine is a committee of 1 (me). </span></div><div style="margin: 15pt 0in 12pt; font-size: 16px; line-height: 12pt; clear: both; " mce_style=" margin:0in; margin-bottom:0px; font-size:16px; font-family:Times New Roman,serif; margin-top:15.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom: 12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:12.0pt"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">I am sure there are a number of CLC Members who have a similarly sized law firm. I met with myself and voted unanimously to create internal practices and procedures to comply with the new E-Discovery Rules, create compliance checklists and E-Discovery litigation forms, etc. However, I would welcome and <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; clear: both; " mce_style="color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; display: inline !important; float: none; ">appreciate the benefit of any firm that has prepared any documentation related to E-Discovery that they might be willing to share with our committee. For example: </span></span></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">1. Litigation hold letter forms (to our own clients and a different form to the opposing party).</span></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">2. E-Discovery compliance Checklist</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">3. E-Discovery Compliance Forms such as:</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; "> A. a new form for a Request for Production of Documents that specifically addresses the following:</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; "><br></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">(a) emails</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">(b) duplication</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">(c) de-duplication</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">(d) Twitter</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">(e) Facebook</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">(f) PDA's , I-Phones, I-Pads, Cell-Phones, Blackberry's; PDA's (federal and state courts have already ruled these are all fair game);</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">(g) production format? with or without source and header information? metadata, etc.</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">(h) Text Messages</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">(i) Etc.</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; "><br></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; ">Because emails and text messages are so easy to use and expedite communications, people tend to be less formal about what they say in an email or a text. If you think discovery concerning this type of communication is not crucial, just ask any one of the 85,000 people employed worldwide at the prestigious accounting firm of Arthur Andersen! OOOps. You can't ask them! They all lost their jobs! As discussed in a recent Florida Bar Journal article: "T<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 12pt; ">he classic example is Arthur Andersen's shredding of Enron-related documents. Several e-mails by Andersen's employees candidly remarked and joked about the shredding of thousands of crucial auditing materials. The result: Those e-mails surfaced, and today Andersen no longer exists".</span></div><div></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; "><br></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; "> Thanks in advance to anyone who contributes!. Michael Romm</div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; "><br></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; "><br></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; "><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Michael Romm</span></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; "><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Michael R. Romm, P.A.</span></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; "><span style="font-size: 10pt;">1213 S. 30th Avenue, Suite 2, Hollywood, FL 33020</span></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Phone: (954) 557-8002</span></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; "><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fax: (954) 208-0022</span></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; "><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><a href="mailto:mromm@rommlaw.com">mromm@rommlaw.com</a></span></div><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; "> </div></span></body></html>