eDiscovery Daily Blog

Modern Data Discussions by Leading Experts at The Master’s Conference in DC

Last week, CloudNine Senior Director Rick Clark, VP Rob Lekowski and industry thought leaders convened in Washington, DC for The Master’s Conference first in-person event since early 2020. The two-day event tackled the latest challenges in eDiscovery, cybersecurity, and information governance. Managing modern data was the most popular recurrent topic with four distinct panels on the subject.

Smartphones, collaboration apps, and social media platforms all store a plethora of relevant information and is where today’s most important evidence resides. By avoiding or mismanaging this evidence, lawyers miss out on critical insights. So, how should legal teams incorporate modern data into investigations? Rick Clark addressed this question and more during the panel titled “Telling The Full Story: Leveraging the Data Between the Documents” with panelists Dave Rogers, Kroll; Kevin Albert, PAE; and Sonya Judkins, T-Mobile.

Here are three key takeaways from the panel discussion:

Modern data types can no longer be ignored – Emails and traditional documents are always going to be a part of discovery and investigations, but key data has moved away from these platforms. Conversations in Slack, MS Teams, device chat applications and text messages are additional communications needed to follow the conversation. Nowadays, modern data expands above communications into geolocation, social media posts, user activities and offer the largest insights. Recent case decisions have proven that judges are open to admitting modern data so long as the evidence is relevant and properly authenticated.

 Data shouldn’t be treated like documents – One reason why legal teams avoid modern data is linear document review. Imaging and exporting modern data leads to issues like missing metadata, families, threads, and file types. This method also requires legal teams to review evidence without any threading, deduplication, or link-analysis tools. Instead, large volumes of data are analyzed document by document. Linear document review is tedious, inefficient, and time-consuming but most important is legal teams who use linear document review also run the risk of overlooking important details. By opting for link analysis, litigants can connect various data points together to find relevant information faster.

“There just isn’t a good solution out there” – NOT TRUE – Four panels at the Master’s Conference discussed the challenges of modern data, but only Rick Clark’s panel offered a solution. CloudNine ESI Analyst is the only software that renders modern data in a near-native state. The platform uniquely offers users the ability to ingest and investigate multiple data sources within a single platform. Attendees of the CloudNine breakout session were given a full demonstration of ESI Analyst’s capabilities. Through timelines and 24-hour threads, ESI Analyst enables native analysis of communications, transactions, and computer activities.

Missed the Washington, DC event? Join us May 18th, 2022 for the next Master’s Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

Click here to learn more about how CloudNine ESI Analyst can help you manage your modern data.

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