What We Do

Success story: Ulmer’s eDiscovery capabilities add value in complex disputes. Click here to read more.

Well before the terms “eDiscovery” and “ESI” were in common use in litigation, the attorneys and paralegal staff at Ulmer were experienced in processing and producing electronically stored information. This type of evidence is nothing new. It has been encountered and managed by our attorneys for years during the discovery phase in virtually all complex litigations.

However, the complexity of what has come to be termed eDiscovery has grown tremendously in recent years. The volumes of data involved in litigations both large and small have become enormous. We have moved, in only a few years, from speaking in terms of megabytes of data to gigabytes to terabytes, and even petabytes.

Email has become the standard source of records showing how a business is conducted, day-to-day. Its retrieval and review are a major part of cases large and small. The in-house business systems used by our clients are more complex than ever, and are often multi-dimensional. One cannot, for instance, simply print out a relational database and produce it to the other side in a lawsuit.

Finally, the tools available to law firms to process and review their clients’ data for relevance and possible production in the discovery phase of litigation have become very sophisticated. Analytics software tools, some of which employ forms of artificial intelligence, are being used to deal with data volumes too large for traditional human review.

In this rapidly changing environment, there are Ulmer attorneys who have a breadth of experience in eDiscovery practice that places them at the cutting edge of this technology area. They know how to handle the problems that arise in dealing with electronically stored information. Their effective management of the eDiscovery aspects of cases large and small reflects an expertise that fits well with the concept of a law firm practice group. Ulmer’s eDiscovery practice group is a subset of the firm’s litigation practice. Our attorneys have managed cases using several review platforms, but have the greatest experience and success with Relativity, which is a preferred platform at Ulmer.

The firm’s eDiscovery attorneys have comprehensive experience in the space, including client counseling concerning data retention policies; pre-litigation planning; litigation hold practices; Rule 26 disclosure and ESI/eDiscovery protocol planning and preparation; ESI order negotiations; intake and processing workflows; selection of analytical techniques such as deduplication strategies, file type culling, key word culling (including key word development, negotiation and iterative testing evaluation), technology assisted review, email threading, and concept clustering. They have experience creating coding layouts for responsiveness and privilege; experience with the selection and training of reviewers; and experience with quality control of deliverables all the way through production.

In addition to expertise with the mechanics of eDiscovery, Ulmer’s eDiscovery attorneys are accomplished litigators. They have considerable experience in state and federal courts, appearing when disputes touching upon eDiscovery arise. They are experienced in arguing before judges, magistrates and special masters to protect Ulmer’s clients’ interests. In addition, Ulmer’s eDiscovery attorneys help prepare corporate witnesses and defend specific “eDiscovery” depositions where opposing counsel delve into a client’s data handling practices, the computer/network infrastructure, and its software systems.

As part and parcel of this entire process, Ulmer’s attorneys often become fluent in their clients’ data processing systems and storage practices. This depth of knowledge brings invaluable continuity to their work in processing and reviewing the clients’ data for potential production during litigation. It also enhances their work in finding among all of these materials the evidence that will advance their client’s case.