E-Discovery

Farella Braun + Martel's e-Discovery practice provides our clients with twenty-one years of experience at the forefront of litigation discovery.  Client's frequently request our services as their litigation support vendor even in cases where Farella Braun + Martel does not serve as primary outside counsel.  Our team provides document review and production support, as well as counseling on document retention policies in connection with litigation and more generally for corporations that want to institute a company-wide document retention policy.  We are fully versed in the forthcoming e-discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and are assisting our clients preparing to comply with the amendments when they take affect in December 2006.

Cost-Effective Solutions

The best solution to e-discovery issues and forensic evidence management is to tackle them at the earliest stage of litigation.  We regularly assist clients develop discovery plans when a case is filed and, often times, prior to filing in order to best position the client to address discovery issues when they arise.  From document retention planning and collections to privilege review, defining the parameters for every stage of discovery early in the litigation process avoids costly surprises, and can be a foundation for scheduling and negotiating settlement.

Our in-house litigation support skills save our clients tens of thousands of dollars each year in managing electronic discovery costs.  We are capable of converting almost all email in house.  Our litigators and paralegals are trained to reduce email production costs through targeted review, using state-of-the-art search logic and artificial intelligence tools.

Technology and Human Capital as Differentiators

Farella Braun + Martel has long believed in using the most prudent, sound and sophisticated technology applications.  In every aspect of our work - case management, litigation support, client access to instant information - the firm has dedicated substantial human and computer resources to develop a technological edge that allows us to respond flexibly and creatively to both litigation and business matters. Regardless of the size of the case or the complexity of a matter, Farella Braun + Martel is committed to effective litigation discovery.

Our litigation support department has operated longer than most vendors in the industry.  During that time we have developed procedures to create and maintain the highest-quality discovery databases.  Most of our large litigation matters use automated imaging, numbering and printing, which is more efficient and less expensive than the traditional Bates-numbering and photocopying process.

Industry Leadership

Our experience is regularly requested at conferences throughout the United States.  Our e-Discovery team authors articles, quotes in industry publications and trains our clients on cutting-edge legal issues concerning discovery of electronic information.  Everyday new issues surface, and we are first-to-market in notifying our clients of key issues concerning their current litigation and corporate policies.

Real World Experience

Our lawyers and litigation support staff are on the front lines of e-discovery issues.  In a pending trade secret matter in which the firm represents a high-profile pharmaceutical company, Farella Braun + Martel developed strategic approaches to a number of electronic discovery issues.  In the process of managing the production of approximately 3 million pages of documents in electronic form, the firm navigated disputes about the appropriate distribution of costs for producing documents in an electronically-searchable format, about requirements for the production of documents in native format or with associated metadata, and about the discoverability of databases resources created and used for litigation purposes.