Paralegal Associates

Day Two was, for me, focused on technology. Session one, which was also the Keynote session, was focused on how to properly redact documents.  The second session discussed how to be safe on the Internet. The day ended with the Welcoming Party, but more about that below.

Keynote Speaker: Gavin W. Manes, Ph.D.

Redaction: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

Any Paralegal knows all about Production of Documents. They love the sound of the Bates Stamp! A big part of producing documents is redacting information that is privileged. Every paralegal has gone home with hand covered in sharpie from redacting. Dr. Manes of Avansic gave a great presentation on redacting the correct way.  Here are some highlights:

• Number one litigation problem is preserving and producing digital evidence
• Rules and Regulations are changing the landscape…such as Rule 34
• Paralegals are going to become a little ‘nerdy’ as the industry changes and becomes more electronic.
• 40% of jury members don’t own a computer at home
• You want to think when the fax sends that it is deleted from the memory, but it’s not. it is still in there!
• Metadata: information about a document that you can’t see in the current view

Dr. Manes did a demonstration in a document that had been redacted using Adobe. He showed that even if you use Adobe to “black out” portions of the documents and send them as pdfs, there is a way for the person on the receiving end to highlight the text and see what you blacked out! Wow! I think I’ll stick to using a sharpie and then photocopying and then scanning.

Session 2: Technology with Professor Jack Lerner

“Everything the Legal Professional Always Wanted to Know About the Internet*”

This session covered what “Legal Professionals Should Know” regarding email and how to maintain privacy and security on the internet.  Highlights:

• FRCP 26(a) electronic items are discoverable
• Net Neutrality: The most useful public information network aspires to treat all content, sites and platforms equally
• Email is not secure (surprising since so many law firms send send documents back and for via email)
• If you have a company owned phone, employers can look at your text msgs & IMs
• User-generated content & web 2.0 is changing our lifestyle and our norms…where does the law fit in with this?

Welcoming Party

Ahhhhh…yes, the Welcoming Party.  I had a blast! The DJ was great, the food was wonderful, and so many people were up dancing and having a great time.  We even got a conga line going. All I can say is that the NALS ladies know how to let their hair down and dance it up. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun!