Technology Impacting Employer-Employee Relationships

How the use of new technologies (like social networking communications, GPS tracking devices, using personal devices like iPads and tablets to connect to company systems, using company-owned PDA’s to “work” off-hours) are impacting employer-employee relationships, and what legal issues need to be considered before adopting such applications.

Washington DC – August 5, 2011 – Anne Kershaw, President and Co-Founder of the Electronic Discovery Institute (“EDI”), announced today that Paul Weiner, National e-Discovery Counsel for Littler Mendelson P.C. will be leading a panel on technology issues in the employment context at the 2011 Legal Technology Leadership Summit. Kershaw noted that “Employment relationships have not been immune to changes brought about by technological developments. Organizations of all sizes and types have been impacted and will continue to be impacted; this is sure to be one of the most popular sessions at the Summit.”

Paul Weiner expanded on that comment, “No one single group has been impacted more by e-Discovery than employers operating in today’s digital world. Indeed, labor and employment lawsuits comprised more than 10% of all lawsuits filed in federal court last year. The significant impact that technology has on worldwide employers is expected to continue as data volumes expand exponentially, businesses and individuals alike move to digital platforms, and new sources of technology emerge.”

Weiner further noted, “Technology affects all aspects of the global workplace. From decisions about whether a new application is beneficial from a business standpoint, to analyzing the risks associated with adopting it, to proactively implementing policies, procedures and practices to address privacy and records management concerns, to preserving and producing data from new applications in litigation.” This session is for anyone whose job entails touching data in the workplace, from HR, to compliance, to legal to IT. In addition to Weiner, the panelists are comprised of thought-leaders from major U.S. corporations, including: Daniel Kulakofsky, Managing Counsel and Director of Electronic Discovery, The Travelers Companies; and Ronald Peppe, Vice President, Legal Services and Human Resources, and Secretary, Canam USA. ”

About Littler Mendelson, P.C.
Littler Mendelson is the largest U.S.-based law firm exclusively devoted to representing management in employment and labor law matters worldwide. It’s employment litigation practice is the largest in the nation, and Littler regularly defends many of the world’s leading corporations. Littler’s preventative programs, such as class action audits, address problems before they develop into costly lawsuits. Littler also pioneered the practice of hiring attorneys at the shareholder level to focus exclusively on e-Discovery, and is still one of the few law firms (and the first labor and employment firm) in the country with a team of attorneys dedicated exclusively to managing e-Discovery nationwide.

About the 2011 Legal Technology Leadership Summit
The Summit is co-presented by Above the Law, the American Society of Digital Forensics and eDiscovery, and the eDiscovery Institute. Summit information is available at: www.legaltechnology2011.com. Sponsors include:

1. Applied Discovery
2. Autonomy
3. Clearwell Systems
4. Datacert
5. Ernst & Young LLP
6. Falcon Technologies
7. FTI Technology
8. Guidance Software
9. Mitratech
10. Nextpoint
11. Nuix
12. Pangea3
13. Planet Data
14. Prosearch
15. QuisLex
16. Recommind
17. Robert Haff
18. TCDI
19. Thomson Reuters
20. Valora Technologies

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About the Electronic Discovery Institute
The Electronic Discovery Institute (www.ediscoveryinstitute.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization that identifies and promote technologies and processes that can lower the cost or improve the quality of handling electronic discovery. The EDI website, has reports and articles available at no cost relating to its prior work in evaluating document categorization and conducting industry surveys on duplicate consolidation, email threading, and predictive coding. Its Judges Guide to Cost-Effective E-Discovery has been very well received.

About Above the Law
Above the Law is a prominent source for original legal news, counting among its readers everyone from general counsels and senior partners at the nation’s biggest firms to the ranks of first-year law students. Written by lawyers for lawyers, Above the Law’s staff blankets institutions like the Supreme Court, law schools, life at firms both big and small, and the impact technology has on the practice of law. It’s the first with salary and bonus information and is a hub of professional advice for legal professionals at all career stages.

About the American Society of Digital Forensics and eDiscovery
The American Society of Digital Forensics and eDiscovery (www.asdfed.com) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit association serving attorneys, compliance professionals, digital forensics examiners, litigation support professionals, paralegals and technologists.

Contact Info:
Summit information is available at: www.legaltechnology2011.com

Joe Howie: Joe@eDiscoveryInsitute.org