I've Moved! Goto www.GabesGuide.com.

I am now at GabesGuide.com. No more blogspot. This is why.

Bored Contract Attorney writes blog...little less bored now

I have been following this blog called Freeloader Attorney for a while now. The author is a contract attorney who is writing about his experiences doc reviewing. I find it to actually be rather interesting. I highly recommend it to anyone, especially contract attorneys.

The Subprime Storm is coming

From Reuters:

WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will make public as early as June several enforcement cases involving subprime mortgage-related investigations, two sources familiar with the probes told Reuters on Wednesday.
The SEC last year formed an internal task force to investigate various areas of the subprime mortgage market including sales practices, accounting, the role of credit rating firms and securitization of packaged mortgages.
Many market participants, including credit rating agencies, Wall Street firms and mortgage brokers and lenders, have been criticized for fueling the U.S. housing market, perhaps without disclosing certain risks.
The SEC, which aims to maintain market confidence, is focused on proper disclosure and potential fraudulent activities to investors.
"I think we'll have a few subprime-related cases relatively soon ... within weeks," one source said.

It's another GabesGuide.com Unscientific-Scientific Poll: Today's Topic, Outsourcing.

Since it seems like it is Outsourcing Day here at GabesGuide.com, I figured this poll would be relevant.

My opinion of outsourcing legal document review work to non American attorneys is the following: (Answer up to three)
	I believe it is condoning the practice of law without a license
	I believe it could jeopardize client confidentiality
	To be honest I just don't want my job taken away
	I do not consider document review as the practice of law
	I am ok with outsourcing as long as the proper supervision is in place
	Other: I will post my answer in the comments below
Free polls from Pollhost.com

You have 4 days to send Sarah Sellers to college

Read here, and watch the video, then read here, and then Vote Here, and remember to confirm your vote in your email or it won't count. It literally takes two seconds, and believe me this is a good thing. The voting has become much closer as of late. She is still in the lead but at last check only by about 170 votes. I don't ask for much, but please if you can spare a moment, vote.

It's GabesGuide.com 2nd Monthsary!

Wow, so it has been officially two months since I started this blog. Two months! That is almost like 7 weeks or something. I usually can't keep my attention on something for two days much less two months.

In all honesty, this blog has been such a joy to do. So far I have over 2000 unique visitors in 40 different countries. Someone has even looked at my blog in Saudi Arabia! I really appreciate all of you who have visited, and I hope that I have been able to make a small contribution to your knowledge of e-Discovery, as well as kept you entertained with my numerous off topic posts.

Again thanks.

Outsourcing: This is why my Lazy Sunday Links should stop being so lazy

The outsourcing story I reported about on Lazy Sunday Links is really starting to pick up steam. First reported in the Blog of the Legal Times, it has now been picked up by the ABA Journal, JD Wired, and now this blog:

"Does the monitoring of cross-border communications by the United States government under the Patriot Act and the Wiretapping Act and the lack of US constitutional protection in foreign countries violate an attorney’s duty to keep client matters confidential?

Does outsourcing act as a waiver of the attorney-client privilege or otherwise permanently affect a client’s legal rights?

One law firm is concerned that the answer is ‘yes’ — and has sued the Bush administration for declaratory judgment and asked the District of Columbia and Maryland bars for ethics opinions on the matter. According to Newman McIntosh & Hennessey, US government interception of attorney-client communications is highly probable because the National Security Agency (NSA) is free to spy on foreign companies. The Newman firm filed the complaint and ethics opinion requests seeking guidance on whether outsourcing of legal services compromises constitutional rights — and wants the court to order law firms to disclose their use of outsourcing and foreign legal support to clients, and to order the US government to establish protocols to shield attorney-client information from US government surveillance.

The complaint and legal inquiry arose out of a solicitation to the Newman firm by Acumen Legal Services (India) Pvt., Ltd./Acumen Solutions, LLC (TX) to provide the law firm with outsourced litigation support. Hennessey, a named partner for the firm, is concerned that information from his personal injury and medical malpractice practice could fall into the hands of competitors who employ outsourced services, through the electronic discovery process. According to Hennessey:

It’s not paranoia. It’s just fact . . . . [N]ow that we’re outsourcing services, we have given no consideration to the ongoing practice of the government harvesting information out there.

Hennessey openly wonders whether explicit client consent should be required before any data is sent abroad.

Legal outsourcing has grown dramatically in the last decade as bandwidth has improved to easily handle large amounts of imaged data, facilitating remote document scanning and low-cost document review, primarily in India.

Here’s why this is a particularly interesting story to watch: A. large law firms are now relying heavily on the practice of outsourcing their legal document imaging and legal document review work to maintain their profit margins. B. The regulation of attorneys is almost entirely a matter of state law. I’m not aware of any federal controls over the attorney-client relationship or attorney-client privilege (except with regard to the recent encroachment on attorney-client communications in the representation of enemy combatants in connection with Guantanamo and Bush administration military tribunals).

The case has been assigned to District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA)."

Looks like this story is gaining some legs. This is definitely an angle I had never considered.

Off Topic: What a historic decision!

I just found out that the Red State Update has confirmed me as a friend on Facebook. I am their 675th friend! I feel so honored. Due to this momentous occasion, I am going to repost the first video I receieved about them.

Because America stinks at lending money, India is the hottest place on earth to practice law, well American law at least

From The Economic Times:

"NEW DELHI: A slowdown in the US is giving a push to the Indian legal process outsourcing (LPO) sector. Indian LPO firms are reporting a rise of over 200% in revenues in the past 12 months as they see a dramatic rise in litigation, intellectual property infringement work and bankruptcy-related document drafting. The rise in new business from litigation is due to a crash in the stock markets post the subprime crisis, which led many stockholders to sue companies.

“We have seen a dramatic rise in business from the litigation and IP infringement verticals in the past three months as organisations look to make money form brand or IP infringements due to a slowdown in consumer spending in the US.

We have ramped up our headcount correspondingly by almost 50% and plan to scale up more in the coming months,” says Sanjay Kamlani, CEO of Mumbai-based Pangea3.

US companies are also looking to cut costs and offshore legal work to India as lawyers are one of the highest paid professions in the US. “A junior lawyer on the US east coast (where the major stock exchanges are located) makes about $1,65,000-$2,00,000 per year.

The same work can be done at one-tenth the cost in India. As companies look to cut costs we see a rise in our toplines,” says Matthew Banks, senior vice-president, Legal Services, Integreon.

Mumbai-based Integreon has about 420 associates in the LPO business and has seen an over 200% rise in revenues in the past 12 months."

So what country will be outsourced to next, once India becomes the most vibrant economy in the world

From Sepia Mutiny:

"Outsourcing to India is nearly limitless in potential, both boosters and opponents alike claim. As evidence, they point to the proliferation of services that are currently being performed in India. No longer limited to programmers and call centers, outsourcing has grown to encompass BPO, medical transcription, tax return preparation, and concierge services. The latest frontier is the legal profession

In the past three years, the legal outsourcing industry here has grown about 60 percent annually. According to a report by research firm ValueNotes, the industry will employ about 24,000 people and earn revenue of $640 million by 2010. Indian workers who once helped with legal transcription now offer services that include research, litigation support, document discovery and review, drafting of contracts and patent writing. The industry offers an attractive career path for many of the 300,000 Indians who enroll in law schools every year. [Link]"

You have 5 days to send Sarah Sellers to college

Read here, and watch the video, then read here, and then Vote Here, and remember to confirm your vote in your email or it won't count. It literally takes two seconds, and believe me this is a good thing. At last check, her closest comeptitor is 340 votes behind, but she needs to make a strong showing before Sunday. Please take two seconds and vote.

Outsourcing Company still trying to discern difference between DC, Chicago

I received in my email today in regards to a patent paralegal ad:

** CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY --- AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping** More Info: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

Hello,

I saw your post on craigslist. I run a paralegal firm with experts in US law, JDs and LLMs from Top-tier US Law schools, Litigation and IPR experts with 20+ years of experience. We have an established team of IPR experts. Our team consists of prior art researchers, WIPO-certified patent draftees with over 20 years experience in USPTO and International patent work. We also offer best quality paralegal services in litigation, and we have experience in both Federal and State litigation, trials and appeals.

All this is provided at a very low price, because our work-office is in India.

You have posted a recruitment notice for the post of an Patent Paralegal. If telecommuting is permitted, we can save thousands of dollars for your firm and provide a much higher quality of service, because people who will oversee your work are US-educated lawyers and not secretaries or paralegals.

A lot of Chicago firms and corporations use our services and save money thereby. If you are similarly interested, please get back to us from a valid email ID and we willl provide you with website and contact information.

Sincerely

Sayak
On behalf of and in Asst. to CEO.

UK Lawyers scurriliously read through new white paper, still looking for protagonist, plot.

EnCase softwore has released a white paper concerning e-discovery with major corporations in UK Courts. The link to the white paper is here.

"This is one of a series of white papers written by Chris Dale of the UK-based e-Disclosure Information Project. Its purpose is to further understanding of the issues arising from electronic disclosure in the UK and the part which EnCase® eDiscovery from Guidance Software and similar data image collections applications can play in addressing those issues for large corporations."

For those of you who do not know what a white paper is click here.

Slightly Off Topic: Winston & Strawn to now just go by the name "Win"

From the Houston Chronicle:

"To Cher, Madonna, Oprah and Prince add Howrey, Skadden, Sutherland and Winstead.
It’s part of a new branding trend for law firms — to go by only one name.

When a law firm brands itself, it’s generally fantastic for the person answering the phone, hard on the tech team and really rough on the legacy of the usually-dead partners whose names go out of use.

As law firms get more comfortable with the idea that lawyers can be professionals and still run their firms like businesses, the idea of creating a marketplace persona for the firm is increasingly popular. This results in modernized Web sites, shiny new often-arty brochures and fewer names on the stationery."

You have 6 Days left to send Sarah Sellers to College

Read here, then here, and then Vote Here, and remember to confirm your vote in your email or it won't count. It literally takes two seconds, and believe me this is a good thing.

Reason #11 Why DC Rules: Rolling Thunder

In honor of Memorial Day:
"Rolling Thunder Inc., established in 1987, is a veterans advocacy organization that works for the return of prisoners of war and missing in action from all of the conflicts of the United States. The organization does not require that its members be veterans;^[1] and estimates that 40% to 45% of its members are non-veterans.^[2]

Because many group members ride motorcycles and many group events are motorcycle-oriented, Rolling Thunder is sometimes referred to as a motorcycle club or "biker group." However, riding or owning a motorcycle is not a requirement, and the group's primary focus is on veterans' advocacy.

The President of the organization is Artie Muller. Muller has worked closely with exiled Prince Nguyen Phuc Buu Chanh of Vietnam with the stated goal of helping to bring closure to the U.S. families of unaccounted-for MIAs and POWs from the Vietnam War.

Rolling Thunder is noted for its annual gathering of members and supporters at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia every Memorial Day weekend."

The video below is entitled Rolling Thunder Ride to the Wall. I like it. Watch it when you get a chance.

Featured Review Tool: Kroll OnTrack

From their website:

"In today's digital world, attorneys frequently review massive amounts of computerized text and data to locate, analyze and organize key evidence in preparation for client cases.

Kroll Ontrack, the technology services group of Kroll, helps attorneys and litigators at corporations, law firms and government agencies gather and filter electronic documents for use in legal proceedings, regulatory matters and investigations. Kroll Ontrack also recovers, restores and protects electronic data that has been erased, reformatted or lost, and investigates the causes of technology and data tampering.

With the technology strength of Kroll Ontrack and the risk consulting expertise of Kroll's other businesses, Kroll can provide full scale solutions for investigations, corporate restructuring and security matters.

Our Services

Electronic Discovery
Increasing quantities of electronic data and documents often require attorneys to spend excessive amounts of time trying to identify discoverable electronic evidence. Kroll Ontrack's electronic discovery specialists provide a range of time-efficient and cost-effective services that help gather, analyze, organize and prepare data for review in litigation matters and regulatory proceedings.

Computer Forensics
Kroll Ontrack specializes in developing effective strategies for locating and retrieving electronic data from computer hard drives and technology systems. Kroll Ontrack's computer forensics engineers are trained to identify where exactly on computer networks key evidence is likely to be found-even if that evidence appears at first to have been erased or lost. Kroll Ontrack also can create a comprehensive chronology of computer usage and determine whether computer evidence was altered, damaged or removed.

Data Recovery
Kroll Ontrack uses proprietary recovery and analysis tools and techniques to locate, recover and analyze active, deleted or damaged electronic data. Whether working along side clients to recover data or providing the same services from remote locations, Kroll Ontrack customizes real-time data-recovery solutions that are fast, convenient and cost-efficient, retrieving electronic documents from virtually all computer storage and operating systems."

Breaking News: Lawyers to benefit from misdeeds of corporate executives, public officials

Here is a small but rather interesting article concerning white collar crime from Crain's Detroit Business:
"Criminal defense lawyers, even those representing white-collar defendants, once were mostly trial specialists and usually practiced solo or in small firms.

Their reputations earned them major clients and cases, often referred from large firms that wanted to keep the stigma of criminal litigation away from their business clients.
But times have changed.

Stakes are higher as federal investigations increasingly target companies and top corporate officials. And such cases generate major revenue."

Lazy Sunday Links: I say YahGooHoogle, you say MicroHoogle, would you just make a decision?

• The MicroHoogle drama still is playing out. Reuters give a recap.
• World’s richest man says banks are to blame for this whole sub prime thing.
• Small Bethesda sues US government and legal outsourcing vendor trying to protect this little known detail in the world of legal ethics called “client confidentiality.”
• Off topic: Don’t forget to vote for Sarah Sellers, your next West Virginia Idol. And if you want to know more about Sarah Sellers, click here.

YaGooHoogle?

Still no word on a deal between Yahoo and Google. I was hoping to hear by now.

I am off to Six Flags America, so by Murphy's law I am certain will go down while I am there, and not watching the news. Oh well, pretty sure I can live with that. Lazy Sunday Links will post tonight. I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend.