TERIS Senior Forensic Consultant Tim Weaver, attended the Saratoga High School Career Day on April 1st. Tim presented to two groups of 25 students. Throughout the day, the students heard presentations from a variety of guest speakers covering various careers. Tim provided a discussion on the career "Computer Forensic Scientist/Crime Lab.”
Tim talked about his experience at Career Day and advice he has for young people thinking about a career in legal technology.
1) What were the 3 best questions students asked?
How does someone get started in this job field? What is a typical workday like for a Private Industry Forensic Consultant? Does someone have to start by working for the government to do this type of work?
2) What did YOU learn from the presentations?
I was reminded of the difficulty I had trying to decide what I wanted to do when I was in High School. I learned that this is still a difficult situation for graduating high school students. It was encouraging to see that counselors are helping students by putting this type of event together to help give students more information from people working in various fields.
3) How/why were you invited to speak to this group?
I was asked to participate by the Quality Manager at the local FBI Regional Computer Forensic Lab. She has done this presentation in past years, but was unavailable this year. I used to be the Operations Manager at that lab and they thought I had interesting career experience and that I would be a good resource for the students. I received an invitation from Carolyn Doles, Parent Coordinator for the Saratoga High School College & Career Center.
4) Based on this experience, do you want to do more presentations?
Yes. I used to work as a Newark (CA) Police Officer. I was a Crime Prevention Officer for several years. I routinely made public presentations for Neighborhood Watch, Personal Safety and Fraud Business Crime Prevention. I enjoy doing public presentations.
5) What advice do you have for young people thinking about a career in legal tech?
This is an exciting career field. There is challenging work and there are a growing number of job opportunities.
Tim has more than 20 years experience as a computer forensic examiner and investigator, with primary expertise in collecting and analyzing digital evidence in a forensically appropriate manner and explaining the significance of forensic findings. Prior to joining TERIS, Weaver was operations manager and deputy lab director at the Silicon Valley Computer Forensic Laboratory for six years. He also served as district attorney senior investigator in Santa Clara County for eight years and as a police officer and detective at Newark PD for 20 years.
If you are interested in learning more about careers at TERIS, you can visit our website.
TERIS was one of a select group of applicants invited to present at the State Bar of California Solo & Small Firm Summit on June 20, 2013 in Long Beach, CA. TERIS Director of Business Development Alex Lubarsky, LL.M., Esq., will be delivering his renowned ‘How to Beat the Big Guys In The Discovery Game by Leveraging Technology' CLE. 
The Summit is the Event of the Year for California’s solo and small firm practitioners. Participants can earn up to 10 hours of MCLE credit. The Summit will feature power networking events, legal education classes, business management courses, and more -- all designed to promote a thriving law practice.
This will be the third TERIS major speaking engagement this Spring 2013. The Cal Appellate Court Retreat and the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) seminar will take place in May 2013. The event will be held at the Renaissance Long Beach Hotel. See below for a schedule of the day’s events or visit the Solo Summit website for more information.
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State Bar of California
2013 California Solo and Small Firm Summit
Thursday, June 20, 2013 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
(1) Opening Genreal Session and Lunch
Thursday, June 20, 2013 1:15 p.m.-2:15 p.m.
(2) Planning for the Death or Disability of the Solo Practitioner
(3) Transitioning From Government Offices or Law Firms To Your Own Small or Solo Practice
(4) How to Beat the Big Guy by Leveraging Technology
Thursday, June 20, 2013 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
(5) Avoiding the State Bar Disciplinary System
(6) Accounting 101 for Attorneys + In-Depth Study of Attorney E&O Policies
(7) Relief Practitioner: How to Plan for the 9th Inning of Your Legal Career
Thursday, June 20, 2013 3:45 p.m.-4:45 p.m.
(8) Client Trust Accounting Fundamentals
(9) ADA and Accessibility Risk Management for Law Firms
(10) When and How to Use a Mediation Consultant
Thursday, June 20, 2013 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
(11) General Session and Wrap Up
Social media is now part of our cultural fabric - and very much plays a huge role in legal issues today. With more than 1 billion users, Facebook is larger than every country in the world and its impact is felt daily. It, along with other networks such as Twitter and LinkedIn are now central in key litigation. We've now entered the new world of "Social Media Discovery" and if you are a law firm or corporation, you need to be prepared to address this rapidly changing environment.
TERIS has invested heavily in both talent and technology to address this growing demand for clients. We've hired leading eDiscovery technologists and attorneys to help consult with companies - as well as implement key strategies to help them find the information they need to win their cases.
I've seen numerous changes in the industry since launching our company in 1996, but I can't think of a time of so much ongoing technological change - and I think it's only going to speed up in the future.
We're committed to helping share our internal knowledge and expertise with the legal industry and launched a white paper program in 2012 to do just that. You can access our library of white papers here. Please let us know if there is a topic you would like us address in the future - or if we can be of service to your firm or company.
Here's to an exciting, productive and profitable 2013 to you.
TERIS Director Alexander Lubarsky was invited to speak at the upcoming California Judicial Attorneys Conference in May. This is the annual retreat that District Court and Supreme Court Justices attend along with their research attorneys. Alex's topic will be "Electronic Evidence:The Wave Is Coming—Ride It Or Wipe Out."
The course will cover an introduction to issues in the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI) in civil litigation under California’s Electronic Discovery Act (Code Civ. Proc. Sec. 1985.8) and the admissibility of electronic evidence in civil and criminal cases.
TERIS was the only ESI vendor selected to present to the Appellate and Supreme Courts in California.
Predictive Coding (aka, Predictive Ranking, Computer Assisted Review or Black Magic) has been much talked about and even hyped as of late - yet it is rarely truly understood and remains an 
enigma in the ever dynamic world of ESI management and litigation support. So, what exactly is Predictive Coding? Is Predictive Coding a true 'game changer'? Is it cost effective? Which courts praise it and which courts curse it? Is it reliable? Which types of documents do and do not lend themselves well to this technology? How does it really work? How does the average litigator go about obtain- ing and applying this technology? How do the new California ESI mandates and statutory amendments interplay with Predictive Coding? What on earth is a 'seed set'? Alex Lubarsky, Esq. who has lectured and written about new litigation support technologies for the past fifteen years will attempt to demystify Predictive Coding at an invitation-only complimentary luncheon hosted by TERIS in Palo Alto on April 4, 2013.
About the speaker
Alexander H. Lubarsky, LL.M., Esq., is a practicing litigator and a legal technology enthusiast. Since graduating from law school, Alex has maintained an active law license and co-chairs a committee for the Aids Legal Referral Panel in San Francisco. He has litigated hundreds of trials throughout his career, and has consistently been active in legal technology. In 2003, Alex was elected to the California State Bar Law Technology Executive Committee and has since been reelected to the committee on multiple occasions. He is a regular speaker on the topics of litigation support systems, electronic discovery and computer forensics. He has also presented at multiple legal technology conferences and State Bar events throughout the nation and has authored various articles for legal technology publications. Alex lives in Burlingame, California, with his wife Sharon and their four children.
Date: Thursday, April 4, 2013
Time: 12:15 pm
Location: 2455 Faber Place, Suite 200, Palo Alto, California
LUNCH: Provided
REGISTER: Online at www.TERIS-April 4-CLE.eventbrite.com
CLE Credits: General 1/Ethics .25
For additional information contact Julia Romero Peter at jromeropeter@teris.com or 1-888-99.TERIS
TERIS announced today that it has entered into new National Services Agreements with a major national healthcare firm.
Through the agreement, TERIS will provide end-to-end litigation support services to the firm’s corporate legal department. Primary service offerings will include: Data Forensics, eDiscovery Processing, Data Hosting, and Professional Project Management and consulting, as well as other related services.
“The healthcare industry continues to face significant eDiscovery challenges with a rapidly changing landscape,” said Kip Hauser, TERIS’ Chief Operating Officer. “We’ve built our Managed Services team to address key legal issues, such as those facing major healthcare-related companies. This shows that our managed services approach resonates with major corporations and their unique needs.”
With recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, eDiscovery is fast becoming an important factor in how healthcare organizations manage their electronic records – especially in terms of how both physicians and attorneys must manage and protect patient information (while also guarding against medical malpractice and liability litigation).
TERIS serves the healthcare profession by assisting firms with their eDiscovery process; helps physicians adhere to privacy and security regulations with respect to the protection of confidential patient information; and paves the way for electronic healthcare records to fulfill their promise of revolutionizing medicine and health care by increasing efficiency, and reducing errors.
TERIS’ healthcare clients are located throughout the United States, and the company is in the process of signing similar agreements with additional healthcare organizations and Fortune 500 companies. Additional announcements regarding these developments will be made in the near future.
Download our FREE whitepaper!
TERIS and its sister company Aptus Court Reporting are proud to announce their co-sponsorship of the 79th Annual Conference of Legal Secretaries Incorporated, “LSI Through the Years.” The conference will be held on May 16-19, 2013 at the San Jose Marriott in San Jose, CA. TERIS will also hold an exhibit at the prestigous conference.
Established in 1934, Legal Secretaries, Incorporated, (LSI) is a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation organized for the purpose of providing educational, professional, and personal development programs to its members. In partnerships with TERIS and Aptus, the conference will provide continuing legal education seminars and workshops, as well as networking opportunities to professionals engaged or interested in any phase of legal work.
The workshops are free to members of the Legal Specialization Sections, and a nominal fee is charged to non-members. Updated materials are provided for each workshop. Attendees gain MCLE credits for each workshop they attend.
To register, fill out the forms below:
Conference Registration Form:
http://www.sccolpa.org/drupal/pdf/Conference_Registration_May2013.PDF
Hotel Registration Form:
http://www.sccolpa.org/drupal/pdf/Hotel_Registration_May2013.PDF
For more information about the Santa Clara County Legal Professional Association (“SCCoLPA”), visit
http://www.sccolpa.org/drupal/Events
Guest post
By Andrew Bayer, CEDS
Director of Business Development, TERIS San Diego
ABayer@TERIS.com
To insource or to outsource, that is the question.
Over the past few years, law firms and corporations alike have faced this crucial decision about handling their respective organization’s eDiscovery matters. The debate seems to be gaining even further traction, with several articles published recently by respected experts in the field of eDiscovery which utilize a combination of statistics and opinion to defend and validate both points of view.
As proponents from either side continue to defend their decisions, TERIS has remained a steadfastly neutral organization – a Switzerland of eDiscovery management, if you will. In our eyes, the value propositions remain the same: to ensure that our wide array of services and solutions are implemented appropriately in a case-specific, consultative, and defensible manner.
In his “Five Reasons to Outsource Litigation Support,” Ralph Losey, National eDiscovery Counsel for Jackson Lewis, presents the steps he and his firm took during a nine-month investigatory process to determine whether their firm should rely on outside support for eDiscovery or bring all matters in-house. Eventually, it was decided that an outsourced approach was the best fit for Jackson Lewis and, most importantly, their clients. Losey’s list of “five reasons your firm should consider outsourcing” include:
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A belief that the core competencies of a law firm should remain focused on giving legal advice and not providing eDiscovery services;
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Non-legal eDiscovery services are highly complex to perform correctly;
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The costs involved with establishing and maintaining a litigation support department can be extensive;
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Liability and risk issues are a concern should errors occur from services conducted internally; and finally,
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There are ethical implications with a law firm providing “law-related” services as opposed to legal advice.
Although Losey’s statements were directed toward law firms, the same concepts he presented could indeed apply to corporations as well.
Ultimately, Jackson Lewis decided to select one organization that could provide an all-encompassing eDiscovery managed services program for the firm’s needs. Similar to this arrangement, TERIS has been engaged and has subsequently established itself as the sole or preferred provider for various law firms and corporations throughout the United States. TERIS’s primary focus, when implementing a managed services program, is on project management and transparency. It behooves the clients of TERIS to have an in-depth understanding as to what might be going on behind the scenes while maintaining open lines of communications between all parties - be they in-house legal or outside counsel.
In stark contrast to Ralph Losey’s article, Bryan Bratcher (Senior Manager of Litigation Support) and Tom Baldwin (Chief Knowledge Officer) of the law firm Reed Smith, published an article which questions the utility of a firm or organization outsourcing everything. In their “6 Reasons to Insource Litigation Support,” Bratcher and Baldwin do credit Losey and his firm for certain “valid arguments as to why some firms might outsource these [eDiscovery] services,” but argue that the alternative approach, i.e., insourcing, is a better fit for their firm and potentially for many others.
Noting that eDiscovery-related expenses can constitute upwards of 18% of an organization’s total expenditures, Bratcher and Baldwin point out the following:
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Insourcing can provide cost savings to the firm’s clients through their leveraging of technology to reduce review times (they cite the RAND report which states that approximately 73% of litigation-related expenses revolve around the review process);
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The expertise of the individuals that comprise the litigation support team is generally a hybrid of people with eDiscovery experience both in the law firm and/or service provider setting;
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The institutional knowledge afforded the in-house team as they work side-by-side with the attorneys;
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The trust that is built by attorneys working next to the same analysts that are supporting them;
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The fact that internal teams take more accountability for their work product; and finally,
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The ability to more thoroughly manage any vendors that may be utilized for specialized or overflow-related projects.
Once again, the theories and opinions expressed by Baldwin and Bratcher can also apply to those corporations that might be considering the idea of insourced eDiscovery services.
When it comes to insourcing, TERIS adds value by acting as a heavily relied upon extension of the internal litigation support teams. As Bratcher and Baldwin mentioned, there will always be a need to rely upon outside service providers under the appropriate circumstances.
TERIS is often called upon to aide in situations that organizations may not be equipped to handle. These situations might be as a result of timing, i.e., the deadline is too tight and they must rely on an operation with more throughput. Further, a need may exist for a specialized service or solution that the organization has not yet internalized. Lastly, and likely the most predominant situation, is when volume exceeds their internal capabilities. Often, firms and corporations will establish internal thresholds and anything that exceeds that will be outsourced.
In the eDiscovery industry, the insourcing vs. outsourcing question will likely continue to be debated for many years to come. What is clear is that there is no definitive answer one way or another; finding a definitive solution truly takes a long-term analysis, firm-by-firm, corporation-by-corporation, with an extensive vetting period. However, regardless of the ultimate decision, TERIS offers in-depth, experience-based managed services approaches which fit both models – a true Switzerland of eDiscovery.
All three California TERIS offices will offer unique cost benefits to Section members in need of litigation support services.
TERIS and The State Bar of California’s Law Practice Management and Technology (LPMT) Section as well as the Solo and Small Firm Section have announced an alliance in which all three California TERIS offices will offer unique cost benefits to Section members in need of litigation support services. The alliance will include, but not be limited to: document review processing and hosting, document scanning/photocopying and forensic collection and analysis.
“The Committee is constantly on the lookout for exclusive offers that we feel will be of value to our membership, and on behalf of LPMT, I’d like to personally thank TERIS for bringing this new benefit to us,” said Perry Segal, Chair of the State Bar's LPMT Section Executive Committee.
TERIS, a leading provider of eDiscovery and related litigation support and information governance solutions to corporations and law firms across the U.S. and internationally, will be working closely with the LPMT and the Solo and Small Firm Sections. The additional benefit of TERIS’ services will further bolster the value of membership in these State Bar sections.
Kevin Brooks, President, TERIS Washington/California noted, "This strategic partnership is a win-win for TERIS and the Section members of the State Bar of California. TERIS has had a long history of partnering with local bar associations, such as the San Diego County Bar Association, and we are thrilled to take that to the next level by offering those benefits to members of select California State Bar Sections."
For more information about the new TERIS-State Bar Sections alignment, please contact State Bar Section Committee member and TERIS Director, Alex Lubarsky, Esq. at 415-828-8752 or email him at alubarsky@teris.com.
A recent survey from Symantec Corporation reports that the majority of organizations just aren’t prepared for comprehensive e-discovery requests. The underlying problem? Although intentions are good, the implementation part of the process is lacking. 
Information Management
These days, most companies have data retention policies all outlined and ready to go. In fact, Symantec’s survey reports that the percentage of organizations who did not have a plan was cut in half from the preceding year. Increased efforts are being made toward that end; only seven percent of surveyed organizations still report zero plans for data retention, down from 14 percent.
However, the number of those respondents who report that those plans are implemented and operational is not encouraging: just a third of those same companies have effectively put data retention policies into daily practice in such a way that would help facilitate any e-discovery requests. When asked for their reasons, most respondents report that costs are prohibitive to adopting the new strategies.
Discovery Response
On average, the surveyed participants received 17 ESI requests from various sources. Failure to retrieve and deliver the data occurred 31 percent of the time, an increase in 20 percent from the previous year. This number correlates with the disconnect between theory and practice when looking at retention policies, many of which have been adopted in an effort to meet either internal or external compliance regulations.
As regulations continue tightening, more organizations will become responsible for producing increasingly obscure data, shifting the parameters of data retention procedures yet again. Changing methods to meet new compliance standards will quickly become a cost that companies can no longer afford to ignore.
Effective Solutions
The price of e-discovery efforts alone may account for over 50 percent of total litigation costs during a major case. Regardless of the high price tag associated with new data retention policies, that investment will save companies tremendously over the long haul, especially if faced with discovery requests.
Solution providers like TERIS can help companies be prepared, bridging the gap between theoretical plans for data retention and actual follow-through. Choosing a company that already has a vast understanding of insider knowledge when it comes to litigation helps reduce the types of vulnerabilities that may arise when following a strictly IT protocol toward data retention instead. By taking a proactive approach toward the possibility of e-discovery, TERIS helps companies lay the groundwork for a more effective data retention strategy, resulting in more effective and less costly litigation.
