Second Request Alert:MedAssets Acquiring Accuro

"MedAssets Inc. (Nasdaq: MDAS) has agreed to acquire Accuro Healthcare Solutions Inc., a Dallas-based provider of financial and operational solutions for healthcare providers. The deal is valued at approximately $350 million in cash and stock (including assumed debt). Accuro currently is in registration for a $143.75 million IPO, and is controlled by Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (79.94% stake). "

Press Release is here.

Second Request Alert: Microsoft's Attempted Hostile takeover of Yahoo, not so Hostile Afterall

From Reuters:

"Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) has considered earmarking $1.5 billion to retain Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) employees if it acquires the company, according to court documents in a shareholder suit filed against Yahoo.
The $1.5 billion figure was discussed in a communication between the general counsels of Microsoft and Yahoo, and came to light when a lawyer representing Yahoo mentioned the amount in a March 24 hearing in a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court."

Off Topic: After Years of Being Upstaged by Puppies, Kittens Resort to "Cuteness Training"

Two more days until the weekend...Enjoy

Outsourcing: Indian Consulting Company ValueNotes Completes Expensive Study and Discovers What Most People could have told them for free.

From India eNews:

Who will outsource more in 2010 - law firms or corporates?

"The US$146 m (in 2006) legal process outsourcing (LPO) industry in India is on a rapid growth path, and is expected to grow to $640 million by the end of 2010 according to ValueNotes’ estimates. Corporates and law firms are offshoring large volumes and more complex work and have started to take advantage of the labor arbitrage that has been exploited by other industries for well over a decade. Increasing workload and rising costs are forcing legal counsel and law firms to offshore to cost effective service providers.

The difference between legal and other industries is that corporate legal departments, and not law firms, were the early promoters of legal outsourcing. Outsourcing in the legal market has been client driven rather than industry driven. This fact is further validated by a recent survey conducted by ValueNotes to find the willingness of law firms and corporate legal departments to offshore legal services. The survey reveals that corporates will offshore more aggressively by 2010. "

Quote of the Day

Some of you may have seen this in the Express this morning on you way into work.

"When I saw this headline in yesterday's online Post ("Mars Buying Wrigley for $23B"), I thought the planet was buying the stadium.

Which is crazy, I realize. Because everyone knows the Martians are football fans, right? How else do you explain the redesign of Soldier Field?"

Off Topic: Funniest Valedictorian Speech Ever

This is pretty funny stuff. The guy is an amazing public speaker for someone in high school. He is running to be the Valedictorian Speaker for his high school. I think he offends about everyone he can and still gets a standing ovation. It goes about 7 and a half minutes.

Hot Doc reveals Politican's $8.4 Million Dollar Lie

The article below is regarding the lawsuit settlement the Mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick had with two former Detroit police officers. Long story short the Mayor was busted via text message that he was having an affair with his chief of staff and had lied about that affair under oath. The reason I am posting is because this whole thing blew wide open over one document. Had a forensic technician not retrieved this document from the plaintiff's lawyer's computer, most likely, they would never have been caught. When are people gonna realize that if you are going to have an affair, shoot your love notes out on a webmail account like Yahoo or Hotmail. I mean, honestly, the nerve.

For more details on this the Detroit Free Press has all the details you want to know on this here.

From the ABA Journal:

"A critical legal document that led almost instantaneously to an $8.4 million city settlement of two Detroit police whistle-blower cases reportedly has been found on a plaintiffs lawyer's computer and is to be discussed tomorrow in court.
Now at issue in an ongoing controversy over the handling of the settlement, which has put lawyers from all sides on the hot seat, the 18-page legal memorandum by plaintiffs lawyer Mike Stefani triggered an immediate settlement, reports the Detroit Free Press. That's because it contained quotations from several text messages between the city mayor and his former chief of staff that called the truthfulness of court testimony into question (and allegedly revealed that the two may have been having an affair), according to the newspaper.
Stefani reportedly had erased the document, but a forensic technician resurrected it from his computer."

Related Topic: Dollar happy that Oil not at $200 a barrel, yet

From Bloomberg:

Crude oil fell more than $3 a barrel, the biggest decline in four weeks, after BP Plc restarted a North Sea oil pipeline and the dollar strengthened, reducing the appeal of commodities to investors.

Outsourcing: Mindcrest not an Indian Law Firm, Just an Indian Company that hires Lawyers to Do Legal Work, in India

This is a great post from John Bringardner of Legal Blog Watch:

"If it were a law firm, MindCrest would be India's largest, with 459 lawyers. According to Canada's Financial Post, the company's founder (an Indian engineer) partnered with two Chicago-based lawyers to create the legal process outsourcer in 2001. India's LPO industry is booming, and the companies aren't restricted by the rules that limit the size of Indian law firms. These companies take on low-end, data-driven legal work like document review and patent searches, from clients in the U.S. and the U.K. -- including from firms like Clifford Chance and Howrey."

I had also mentioned MindCrest in my Sunday Highlights.

FCPA: Higher Prices for Oil, Food, Mean Big Bucks for the Corrupt, Lawyers

There is a really interesting theory over at the FCPA blog as to why we may be seeing a spike a FCPA actions:

"We've noticed that when prices for energy and other commodities climb, there's more public corruption. Spiking prices, after all, mean fatter margins for producers and proportionately more insecurity for consumers. Meanwhile, middlemen see nothing but opportunities. All these inject an extra dose of fear and greed into the markets -- the perfect fertilizer for public bribery. For us, that means times of economic dislocation are also times of high-alert for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance."

And he lends an example to his findings:

"We were reminded of all this yesterday when we read the following news report: 'Speaking in Detroit at the ninth World Energy Conference, the [U.S.] president said that in the face of clear danger, he was optimistic that oil-producing and consuming nations would cooperate to find a solution, and the United States would reach its goal of energy independence.'

In a gloomy speech to the United Nations General Assembly, meanwhile, the secretary [of state] said the 'early warning signs of a major economic crisis are evident."'Rates of inflation unprecedented in the past quarter century are sweeping developing and developed nations . . . . The world's financial institutions are staggering under the most massive movements of reserves in history. And profound questions have arisen about meeting man's fundamental needs for energy and food.'"

That report, you might have guessed, isn't recent. It appears on page 1085 of the 20th Century Day by Day, and it's dated September 23, 1974. The president in question was Gerald Ford, and his secretary of state was Henry Kissinger.When they issued their warnings in 1974, there was no FCPA. Just two years later, however, in a post-Watergate investigation, the Securities and Exchange Commission found that "over 400 U.S. companies admitted making questionable or illegal payments in excess of $300 million [$2.5 billion in today's dollars] to foreign government officials, politicians, and political parties. The abuses ran the gamut from bribery of high foreign officials to secure some type of favorable action by a foreign government to so-called facilitating payments . . . . Congress enacted the FCPA [in 1977] to bring a halt to the bribery of foreign officials and to restore public confidence in the integrity of the American business system."

The blog also has a link for the Justice Department's "Lay-Person's Guide to the FCPA." You can also access that here.

Related Topic: Indians Lawyers plead with International Community to not to take their jobs

Indian High Court at Mumbai

There is a unique look in the Economist about India possibly opening up their legal market to international competition. While many Americans fear their jobs being outsourced, it is interesting to their fear of being replaced by large international law firms if competition is opened up.

"IF YOU want to find the legal chiefs of big defence companies such as Boeing or BAE Systems, a good place to start looking is the foyer of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi. The in-house legal bosses are in town to appoint law firms to support their push into the Indian market, as the government updates its military equipment. They have to go in person, rather than sending their usual lawyers, because of the 1961 Indian Advocates Act, which prevents foreign firms from practising in the country.

Global law firms see India as one of the last untouched goldmines of the international legal scene. It has a booming economy, a strong legal system and a deep well of talented lawyers. The recent purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover, two luxury car brands, by Tata Group, a giant conglomerate, is the latest sign that Indian companies are ready to do the kind of deals that get international lawyers salivating. For the moment, however, all they can do is crane their necks to get a better look.

But that could change. On April 25th some of India's most distinguished judges were due to hear the final submissions in a High Court case that could be the first step towards opening the country to international competition. The judgment in the dispute between three international law firms and a group of prominent local lawyers will be a deciding factor in how the 47-year-old rule is interpreted."

Buzz Kill of the Day: Buffett says Nation in for Long Recession, Eternal Doom

Ugh:

"Warren Buffett, the world's richest person, said on Monday the U.S. economy is in a recession that will be more severe than most people expect."

Funny he would say that on the day he announced his intention to acquire Wrigley's.

Our First Monthsary, and The State of the Guide

It is hard to believe that I have had this blog for this long already. I remember the beginning as if it were only last month. March 28, 2008 was a sunny, warm spring Friday, and the cherry blossoms were in bloom. However, that did not fully temper the uneasiness people felt about their future in an uncertain economy. (Pretty much the same uneasiness they feel now.)

It was then that I started this blog. I started by writing an epic, in depth thesis on what my takes were with the future of the e-discovery industry and where I wanted to take this blog. Sixty entries later and huge shout out from the mighty Posse List, here we are today—one month later.

In all honesty, I have greatly enjoyed my new experiment. I have had a hand in the e-discovery industry since July of 2003, when I signed on as a contract attorney on my first project. I find e-discovery to be a fascinating field in the law, one that is constantly changing with the times, and I use Gabe’s Guide as a platform to discuss the many different facts of its universe.

In general, I like to adhere to the following order:
First, what is it that generates e-discovery document review projects?
The Guide covers FCPA actions, Second Requests, White Collar Crime, and complex litigation matters.

Second, who are the players on an e-discovery review?
Right now I have only focused on contract attorneys, but I hope to expand this other players as well-The project managers, staff attorneys, paralegals and others who contribute to this process.

Third, what are the tools of e-discovery?
Every now and then I feature a different review tool. So far I have mentioned Catalyst, Attenex, and DocuMatrix, and will continue to mention more.

Fourth, what new trends are on the horizon?
The Guide not only covers new technologies and best practices, but also trends in litigation, such as offshore outsourcing.

Lastly, I want the blog to be fun.
Let’s face it. E-discovery isn’t the sexiest field in the law. It can be rather boring to some. That is why I throw in off topic postings and YouTube videos. I always live by the general rule that you take what you do seriously, but never take yourself too seriously.

By covering all of these areas, we can all get a decent gage as to the future of the market. From what I have seen, it looks like we are all in for a busy summer.

Again, this experiment of mine is still in a work in progress, but it has been a great joy so far.

Oh and for the three of you that actually read this blog, please feel free to comment every now and then so I know you are still out there.

Best as always,
Gabe Acevedo

Second Request Alert: United, US Airways: Screw going steady, let's just get hitched

From the AP:

"United Airlines and US Airways are in very advanced talks and expect to announce within weeks that they are combining, two people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Monday.
Putting the two carriers together would create an airline that would jockey with a combined Delta-Northwest for the title of world's largest airline."

Hat tip again to David. Whatever I am paying him for this service, I am going to double it. By the way that top picture IS NOT doctored.

FCPA: Like many NFL Prospects, DOJ expects this to be a banner year for Corruption

This is an article from Claudius O. Sokenu a partner at Mayer Brown. The article was posted on mondaq.com and you do have to register to read it. He writes about the record pace this year of FCPA enforcment.

"Picking up where they left off last year, when they combined to file a record number of cases, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC" or the "Commission") and the Department of Justice ("Justice Department") have combined to file three new Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") actions in the first three months of 2008. If the Commission and the Justice Department keep up this pace, another record year is in store for FCPA enforcement."

FCPA News: Justice Department scoreboards World Bank Official over kickbacks

"The Justice Department has announced the April 22, 2008 sentencing of former World Bank employee, Ramendra Basu. The Indian national and U.S. permanent resident received 15 months in prison for conspiring to award World Bank contracts to consultants in exchange for kickbacks and for helping a contractor bribe a foreign official in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In addition to the 15- month prison term, Basu was sentenced to two years supervised release and 50 hours of community service. U.S. v. Basu, (Cr. No. 02-475) D.D.C., November 2002."

By the way, if I haven't said it already, I love the FCPA Blog. Check it out when you can.

Second Request Alert: Mars, Billionaire to invest in "Nougat" flavor chewing gum

Once again, the man with his finger on the pulse of business, David Johnstone alerted me to the from page of the Wall Street Journal:

"Mars Inc. announced Monday an agreement to acquire Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. for about $23 billion with financial backing from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in a deal that would remake the global confectionery landscape.

The deal, which comes to $80 a share, would unite two icons of the U.S. candy business: Wrigley, maker of the eponymous chewing gum, and Mars, the closely held company behind Snickers chocolate bars and M&M's."

Oh the summer is looking busier and busier.

Lazy Sunday Links: India's largest law firm, that isn't a law firm, and the British understand the subprime crisis better than the Americans

All these subprime lawsuits means leaves judges yearning for the good old days of the S&L scandals. [Financial Week]

India largest law firm isn’t exactly a law firm. Financial Post

I posted earlier about the subprime primer, which is a booklet of stick figures, now the BBC has put the subprime crisis in flow charts, because stick figure are much to beneath the British to deal with. BBC News.

Speaking of the British and subprime news, there is a very funny video detailing how the subprime crisis came about in the first place. Really it is pretty funny. YouTube
Switzerland's banking sector, once synonymous with stability and secrecy, not sure anymore if they want to be so secretive, due to stability. AFP

E-Discovery is not just a concept, it is a challenge, a challenge that we have yet to conceptualize. Matt Winstanley

Off Topic: Redskins Purposely Trade Lower to Draft Receiver Who should Have Been Taken Higher

For those of you that don't know already by now, I am a die hard Redskin fan. It was great watching them pick up Devin Thomas from Michigan State in second round. Mel Kiper had predicted initially that he would go at 11, and the Redskins could use another break out receiver. I can't wait to go through their other picks as well. Big drafts are new for the Redskins. They don't tend to be very active in drafts, opting to use their time trading in free agency, and in this draft they have over 9 picks. This is a great chance to build the team from the bottom up.

Subprime News: Countrywide Co-Founder Having to Scrape by with a Meager $132 Million in earnings

And now for your heartwarming, good guy story of the day. From the Guardian:

"A key figure behind the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, Angelo Mozilo, made $132m (£61m) last year despite huge losses on unsustainable home loans at his Countrywide Financial empire.
Mozilo, 70, Countrywide's co-founder and chief executive, saw his pay and bonus fall 79% to $10.8m. But he made $121.5m by cashing in stock and share options - transactions that are under investigation by the securities and exchange commission. Before the sub-prime crisis erupted, Countrywide was the top US mortgage lender with 9m loans worth $1.5tn. But as clients failed to keep up repayments, the Californian firm lost $704m and laid off 11,000 staff. Amid rumours of bankruptcy, Countrywide agreed to a takeover by Bank of America in January. BoA plans to scrap the Countrywide name."

South Pole Reindeer can Circle the Globe at a fraction of the price of North Pole Reindeer

I posted earlier about outsourcing news from India. I happened to come across this other law blog, which was mentioning much of what I had mentioned before but with other items that I had not seen. I know some of the blog's post is stuff that I had covered before, but there are some other interesting items. The blogger doesn't cite to where he received the other information so I am sure it's ok if I just lift the information he has already lifted. No copyright violation there right?

"Changes in litigation procedures are boosting momentum in the LPO trade. Amendments to federal rules require parties to share electronic documents, such as e-mail and Microsoft Office files. That typically means both sides must review thousands of documents to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of confidential information to the other party. The service costs about $1 per page in India but can range from $7 to $10 per page in the U.S. "Some clients don't want to spend that much, especially if they don't even know how much their damages could be," says Conrad Jacoby, owner of efficientEDD, a legal-technology consultancy in Dunn Loring, Va.

TransUnion, in Chicago, has successfully outsourced legal work for four years, according to general counsel John W. Blenke. "Every law firm is really an outsourcer. One lawyer usually can't do it all," he says. Indian attorneys are currently reviewing more than a million litigation e-mails for the company, which costs less than $10 per hr., he says. He would pay $60 to $85 per hr. to a U.S.-based legal-staffing company for the job. Blenke says he's cautious, however, about the work he outsources. "You can only do it with a few things. It has to be an area that you know well, so you can build processes around that," he says.

DuPont saved $500,000 in 2006 by outsourcing paralegal work to Chicago's RR Donnelley, which uses facilities in India and the Philippines to review documents for the chemical giant, says Thomas Sager, DuPont's chief litigation counsel. "There's been some internal resistance, and from the outside too, about working with providers thousands of miles away. But geographic separation is now a fact of life," says Sager."

LA Times Staffer: Weakening Dollar Has done wonders for the Sub Prime Crisis, Other Nation's Currencies

E. Scott Reckard of the L.A. Times writes about how Fed interesting rate cuts have actually managed to keep the subprime mortgage crisis in check:

"The great mortgage reset of 2008 isn't turning out quite as advertised.

Thanks to interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, payments on sub-prime loans with expiring "teaser" rates are going up only modestly when the loans start adjusting -- by just 1% on average last month, one study found. A payment that would have risen by $450 in December is currently going up by no more than $100 and often much less, according to Tom Deutsch, an industry expert who testified recently to a housing panel of Congress."

Off Topic: Another Test I failed miserably

This is something I saw on the YouTube a few minutes ago. Do the test, it takes less than a minute.

Local Third Grader Heralded as Mortage Crisis Expert

This is from Sameer Tyagi's Blog. You have got to click the link and check it out. I thought it was pretty funny.

Second Request Alert: Justice Dept To Merge All Airlines into one Company Called Amerideltinental Airways Before the End of the Bush Administration

I posted earlier about airlines circling the wagons to decide if they were going to merge in the wake of the Delta/Northwest merger. Reuters has even more to add on this.

"Continental is also in advanced talks with United Airlines (UAUA.O) for a full merger, the sources said. Continental will choose either the merger or the alliance, not both, sources said.
Meanwhile, United Airlines is also in serious merger talks with US Airways, and will choose to merge with either Continental or US Airways soon, the people said."

AND check this out further down the article:

"The Justice Department has said it would, if necessary, weigh multiple merger proposals in the airline industry and try to complete any reviews before the Bush administration leaves office."

Again kudos to David Johnstone for bringing this to my attention.

Off Topic: Talking Dogs

I had posted below about the talking cats, I figure now it is the dog's turn. Some of their speech is pretty amazing I would post a link to the talking cats, but unfortunately I cannot do that when posting from YouTube. If anyone has any funny off topic videos to send me to break up the monotony of being on a doc review all day long please send them.

Navigant is Charging Along

I posted yesterday about the study Navigant Consulting had administered about subprime litigation. They must be studying something right, because they posted record first quarter revenues

Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI), a global consulting firm providing dispute, investigative, operational, risk management and financial advisory solutions, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008.

“We are very pleased with the strength of our results in the first quarter, reflecting record quarterly revenues and providing an excellent start to 2008,” stated William M. Goodyear, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We realized continuing strong market demand in a number of our sectors, with particularly favorable impact in the Disputes & Investigations, Healthcare, Financial Services and International Disputes practices. The combination of continued buoyancy in the marketplace, coupled with Navigant’s sharpened operating platform, has enhanced our ability to leverage our business model.”

Patent Attorneys, Hot, and Hotter used in Same Article

IP is really picking up on the patent side.
From the A.E. Feldman Blog:

Patent Attorneys in High Demand

"Intellectual property litigation is hot… and getting hotter. Last year there were an unprecedented number of international patent filings, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). WIPO receives on average more than 400 Patent Cooperation Treaty applications every day, according to Francis Gurry, Deputy Director General. In total, a record 156,100 applications were filed in 2007, representing a 4.7% jump from the year before. The United States led the pack, accounting for 33.5% of all filings. Rounding out the top five is Japan, Germany, Korea and France. And for the fourth year running, WIPO says the most notable growth rates came from countries in Northeast Asia."

Corrupt Companies not to be Out Done by Predecessors: FCPA Actions are Booming

This is an article by Steven Pearlstein in todays Washington Post. This is of course a good sign for contract attorneys everywhere, especially those who know a language or two.

"But these days, FCPA business is booming, a welcome growth area for Washington law offices just as work on mergers and securities offerings has begun to wane. You can't go into a business class lounge at the international terminals at Dulles Airport without running into at least one lawyer headed to Europe or Asia to conduct an internal investigation of a possible bribe or kickback for a corporate audit committee. And law firm Web sites now boast entire practice areas devoted to advising multinational companies on how to design and implement compliance systems meant to deter and ferret out corrupt practices. "

You can also read further commentary on the FCPA Blog.

Death, taxes, or building an IT infrastructure that can handle eDiscovery: Which one would you choose?

This is actually a very good article from Sudhaker Muddu writing for Computer Technology Review:

"A well documented catalyst for the surge around eDiscovery is the amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) made in December of 2006. FRCP has forced the hand of IT staff to be able to prove that data that is germane to a court case is reasonably accessible and, in many cases, to produce that data in as little as 30-45 days. This includes any electronically stored information (ESI) within an enterprise, including data that resides on desktops and laptops, file servers, networked storage systems, email servers and email archives. Reasonably accessible can happen at any time and there are a number of recent cases showing that the courts have no patience for the traditional response of, “We’re not sure where it is, but eventually we will be able to find it.” The future is clear in that there is a need for consistent, repeatable and targeted eDiscovery processes that can also be deployed across a company, creating an “eDiscovery-ready,” proactive environment. "

Full article is here.

Off Topic: Who said the homeless in Dallas don't give back?

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This is a video of an ROTC cadet coming out of a Dallas Greyhound Station. What this video does not show was that the young cadet had given some money to a homeless a few moments earlier.

Later the cadet goes into a seizure. That is where this video picks up. Then that same homeless man actually steals the ROTC cadet's wallet while he is in the middle of the seizure and quietly walks away.

That homeless man, now identifed as Frank White, 33, was later spotted at the same Greyhound station, and arrested, identified as an enemy combatant, and sent to Guantanamo Bay for some "enhanced interrogation" (Ok not the last two things, he was just arrested.

Second Request Alert: Nation in Panic as Future of the Frosty Uncertain

From the AP

Arby's owner buying Wendy's for $2.34 billion stock deal

"After two past rejections, the owner of Arby's shaved roast beef sandwich restaurants is buying Wendy's, the fast-food chain famous for its made-to-order square hamburgers and chocolate Frosty dessert, for around $2 billion"

Hat tip to attorney David Johnstone for sending me that article.

Breaking News: Lawyers to benefit from others stupidity, pain

From the NY Times DealBook:

"Investment bankers may be worried about layoffs, but it looks like an awful lot of lawyers stand to benefit from the subprime mortgage meltdown. Isn’t that always the way?
A study released Wednesday by , found that nearly as many subprime-related federal lawsuits were filed in the first quarter of 2008 as in the last six months of 2007: 170 in the three months ending March 31, compared with 181 in the six months ending Dec. 31. Those numbers may well understate the total, because they do not include claims filed in state courts. "

You can read the study from Navigant consulting here. Hat tip to The Posse List for finding this before me. If you are an attorney anywhere in America, and not signed up with The Posse List, you are missing out on so much valuble information about jobs and the legal market. Besides its free.

Off Topic: Americas Got Talent?

Many people have already seen this viral video, but it always gives me a laugh. This 1993 Miss Douglas County Arizona, Stacy Hedger competing in the talent show for the Arizona State Beauty Pageant.
Her trumpet skills are amazing. She should have given up beauty pageants and taken up music and dance. It definitely seems to be her calling.

Featured Review Software: DocuMatrix

Since I mentioned Epiq's news below, I might as well spotlight their review tool DocuMatrix.

From their website:

"DocuMatrix™ has a user-friendly interface, designed with the input from lawyers across the country, that makes everything easily searchable and accessible. And it’s flexible. Produce data from DocuMatrix™ in Concordance, Summation, Ringtail and other popular formats."

"DocuMatrix™ instantly turns your eDiscovery documents into a working resource. Group the vital documents to your case by topic, pull together important trends and eliminate documents that have no value. With DocuMatrix™, you’ll spend less time trying to manage your documents and more time getting what you want out of them. Some of the world’s largest organizations and law firms rely on DocuMatrix™. When you see it in action, you’ll know why."

Epiq is Rolling

I posted earlier about Epiq Systems acquisition of PinPoint Global. Now it seems that they had a 25% increase in revenue in the first quarter of this year.

"Epiq Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: EPIQ: 16.65, +0.39, +2.39%) today announced results of operations for the first quarter of 2008. Operating revenue (total revenue before operating revenue from reimbursed direct costs) of $43.9 million increased 25% compared to $35.1 million for the same period last year."

"Net income for the first quarter of 2008 was $2.7 million or $0.07 per share compared to net income of $0.2 million or $0.00 per share for the year ago quarter."

Full article is here.

But what they were paying the Indian Attorneys?

Tusker outsources to India; $25 an hour for an attorney

Austin Business Journal - by Jean Kwon Staff Writer
When Austin-based software company Bluecurrent Inc. went up against Dell Inc. in a trade secret lawsuit over a year ago, it had a fighting chance -- thanks to its lawyers in India.

Tusker Group LC, hired by Bluecurrent's attorneys, reviewed over 70 million pages plundered from both companies' computers during the exhaustive discovery phase of litigation. The locally based company employs lawyers in India to perform litigation document review.

As a result, Bluecurrent, which settled with Dell [Nasdaq: Dell] last year for an undisclosed sum, spent five to 10 times less than what it would have cost to use domestic attorneys.

"We needed to be creative to leverage the amount of money the client had to commit to litigation and get the most bang for the buck," says Jay Ellwanger, a partner at boutique firm DiNovo Price Ellwanger LLP who led Bluecurrent's case. "This was one way of doing that."

More on EA and Take Two, and a little on the Second Request process.

On the Newsweek blog LevelUp, Justin Blankenship discusses why he thinks the government will take a hard look at the EA-Take Two merger, but also provides a wonderful synopsis of the second request process.

"A little background on how the merger review process works is helpful here. Under a law called the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR), any merger or tender offer that exceeds a certain monetary threshold is required to file a Notification and Report Form with both the FTC and the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice. The Form includes a description of the deal, the parties to the deal, and attaches certain documents relevant to the deal for government review.

Most importantly, the HSR filing starts a 30-day clock running for the government to review the deal during which it is illegal to consummate the merger. The vast majority of deals go through after this 30-day period, or even earlier if the parties have requested an "early termination" of the waiting period.

A much smaller percentage of deals, however, present some competitive concerns that require that the government investigation extend beyond the 30-day waiting period. Those deals receive what's called a "Second Request"--which is what EA got on April 17th.

A Second Request is basically a large discovery request asking for any and all documents, correspondence, and economic data relating to the deal. Depending on the size of the request and the size of the deal, a response to the Second Request can require producing up to hundreds, or even thousands, of boxes of documents. If, for instance, there are any incriminating intra-company emails discussing the possibility of increased profits from a monopoly in the sports division after the merger, that's where they'll be found."

Slightly Off Topic: The Partners' Partners

Happy Administrative Professionals Day!

Here is a brief article from the Washington Post about a legal secretary at Arnold and Porter LLP.

"When Sharon Munro started as a junior secretary at Arnold & Porter 31 years ago, every lawyer had his own legal secretary. Now she works for four; some administrative assistants assist six lawyers."

Off Topic: The two talking cats

This is great. Watch the top video first and then Talking Cats 2.

Talking Cats 2

K Street readies for Yahoo Struggle

Interesting article in the Politico today over the politics behind the scenes over the Microsoft-Yahoo merger talks with Google fighting against it tooth and nail.

"Lobbyists are salivating over an expected clash between three Internet giants that could move closer to the brink today.

This morning, Yahoo is scheduled to announce its first-quarter earnings, a critical bit of information that will play importantly in negotiations over a proposed Microsoft takeover of Yahoo.

But Google is mobilizing to block any merger that could threaten its own dominance in the search engine market, the most lucrative Internet ad sales venue.

All of the firms are girding for a showdown in Washington, where federal regulators, or Congress, could scuttle any deal. And K Street is lining up to assist any corner for the right price."

Read the full article here.

Practical Guide to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

The DC Bar is having a CLE on the FCPA on May 5th at 6pm. This might be worth the money to sign up for, considering alot of document reviews come from FCPA actions.

"Credits: 3.0 Credit HoursThe Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which is enforced increasingly aggressively by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, impacts virtually every U.S. company that invests in foreign countries, sells goods abroad, or pays foreign taxes, as well as foreign companies registered or doing business in the United States. Our faculty panelists will discuss FCPA issues that you need to know to assist your company or client, including the scope of the FCPA; current hot areas of investigation by enforcement agencies; measures that companies must take to comply; recurring issues that arise under the FCPA; how to conduct internal investigations of possible violations; how to respond to investigations by the Justice Department or SEC; and the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley and the USA PATRIOT Act on the FCPA. This course features senior government officials responsible for enforcing the FCPA and prominent members of the private bar who advise major companies and their officers with respect to the FCPA."