As a lawyer technologists, with over 25 years experience as a litigator and expert in computers and digital data issues, my services to lawyers include the following:
• Electronic Discovery consulting services to law firms, corporate legal departments and government agencies.
• Drafting discovery motions, e-discovery production protocols and protective orders for the delivery and exchange of electronic files from computer hard drives, backup tapes and other storage media.
• Assisting in the implementation, strategy and monitoring of discovery of the technical people: asking the right questions, getting the responsive answers.
• Devising strategies to organize, index, store, annotate and analyze paper and electronic evidence efficiently.
• Digital data monitoring and audits of a litigant’s production(s) of e-data made pursuant to discovery requests; compliance with the newly amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure regarding electronically stored information; Rule 26(g) certifications of completeness and accuracy of e-discovery responses
• Working with court and counsel on Rule 26 disclosures and Rule 16 discovery plans.
• Working as Special Master or court-appointed officer of the court to to identify and sample only the most likely relevant electronically stored information. Using best practices and in conformance with the amended federal rules regarding e-discovery, we also work with all counsel to devise a fair Discovery Plan as envisioned in Rules 16 and 27. We help you devise electronic discovery protocols; recommend search criteria and perform searches; provide advice on technology implementation choices (e.g., data sampling; native file format production; rolling productions; imaging protocols); establish criteria for a Web-hosted document repository for court and counsel; propose rulings or advise the court on electronic discovery motions and cost-sharing issues; and assist in the selection of qualified third-party vendors as needed.
As a trial lawyer, I understand the litigation process. In a recent article entitled "E-Discovery Attorneys: Hot or Not?" that appeared in findlaw.com and published by Law Firm Inc., Seth Davis, an attorney and recruiter for Major, Lindsey & Africa, considered Tom Howe to be among "capable e-discovery attorneys" that number only "around 200 worldwide."