American Bar Association Publishes Next Generation Book on Electronic Discovery

MIAMI, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Akerman Senterfitt, today announced that the American Bar Association has published and released Introduction to E-Discovery: New Cases, Ideas, and Techniques, authored by Akerman attorney Ralph Losey. This marks the second book on e-discovery to be authored by Mr. Losey in the past 13 months.

Mr. Losey, a leading authority on e-discovery, has more than 30 years of experience in computer technology; with 28 years of experience in associated commercial litigation leading more than 70 published legal opinions. He has authored numerous law review articles, including reviews of the mathematics underlying e-discovery and the "ethics" of e-discovery. In addition to these articles, Mr. Losey's first book E-Discovery: Current Trends and Cases is one of the ABA's bestsellers and has already been cited by several judges and commentators. Both books are based on Losey's popular weekly blog, "e-discovery Team" (www.ralphlosey.wordpress.com).

"In this economic environment, e-discovery has become recognized as an important part of any responsible corporate strategy to reduce costs," commented Michael McMahon, Chair of Akerman's Litigation Practice Group. "There is a universal need for people to understand the e-discovery process, and we are pleased to have an Akerman attorney leading the discussion of opinion in this space."

Mr. Losey's book explains, in easy to read language, the complex legal and technology issues involved in electronic discovery. Similar to his first effort, this book helps lawyers and IT experts better understand the latest thinking and techniques for transferring critical information from the computer to the courtroom. It includes examinations of new case law and opinions of jurists and experts in the field, and provides a diverse number of views on the subject, including the two most popular e-discovery guides used by judges. Furthermore, the book outlines the interdisciplinary team approach to solving the unique problems of e-discovery and also covers:

• Self-organization and development of evidence preservation protocols
• New articles of interest on e-discovery teams
• The future of e-discovery suggested by a recent litigation survey
• How negligent e-records management is creating stunning business risks
• E-discovery at the Harvard Club in New York City
• New California proposals for e-discovery laws
• The conflict between our rules of discovery and the privacy laws of the rest of the world
• The limitations of checklists and how to work best using them

Akerman Senterfitt's e-Discovery team, led by Ralph Losey and Akerman Shareholder Michael Simon, is comprised of attorneys and IT professionals throughout the firm's offices in Florida, New York, Washington, D.C., Denver, and Los Angeles, and represent a variety of practice areas, including trial law and intellectual property. They represent and consult with corporate clients, governments, and other law firms concerning a variety of technology law issues, ranging from litigation defense to prevention.

The team routinely handles the e-discovery aspects of major litigation and serves as "national e-counsel" to coordinate the discovery work of local counsel. They are also pioneering a new type of legal service where they assist clients to prepare for litigation by helping them to organize and operate their own internal e-discovery teams. The new "team-related" services include advice on: initial organization and budgeting of the e-discovery team; records retention policies, litigation hold procedures; ESI identification, retrieval, search and analysis; information management; software; hardware; and vendor selection.

About Akerman Senterfitt

Akerman is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States by The National Law Journal NLJ 250 (2008) in number of lawyers and is one of the largest firms in Florida. With more than 500 lawyers and governmental affairs professionals, the firm serves clients in major business centers throughout the United States, including Miami, New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. For additional information, please visit the firm's Web site at www.akerman.com.

    Contact:
   Pat Tucker
   RF|Binder Partners, Inc.
   (212) 994-7561
   patrick.Tucker@rfbinder.com

   Walter Fowler
   RF|Binder Partners, Inc.
   (212) 994-7512
   walter.fowler@rfbinder.com