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The Best of Relativity Fest: Our Favorite Quotes from the Speakers

David Horrigan

Relativity Fest 2016 drew to a close yesterday, and it was packed with memorable moments. To highlight them, we continue the tradition we started with Legaltech New York and ILTACON and bring you some of our favorite quotes.

With more than 1,800 attendees attending hundreds of educational sessions, it’s difficult to include every great quote from the annual conference.

However, here are a few of the notable ones.

meribeth_banaschik.pngMeribeth Banaschik

US attorney/UK soliticitor, Noerr LLP Duesseldorf (and native Texan), on international privacy sentiments:

Europeans’ feelings about data privacy rights are similar to Americans’ feelings about gun rights.”

To which a fellow panelist responded …

patrick-burke_120x120.pngPatrick Burke

Senior counsel, Seyfarth Shaw LLP (and native New Yorker)

“… in Texas.”

 

monica-bay_100x100.pngMonica Bay

Fellow, Stanford Law Codex, to lawyers:

“Technology is inevitable—I don’t care how much you don’t like it.”

and at the Women’s e-Discovery Luncheon:

“Going to law school was the best decision I’ve ever made—besides not marrying my fiancé.”

blair-barclay_100x100.pngBarclay Blair

Executive director and founder, Information Governance Initiative (IGI), on today’s economic landscape:

“Data is the new oil.”

110615_bennett-borden_120x120.pngBennett Borden

Chief data scientist and chair of Information Governance Group, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, on privacy:

“There’s no such thing as privacy—that war has been lost.”

bryon_bratcher.pngBryon Bratcher

Director of practice support, Reed Smith LLP, winner of a 2016 Relativity Innovation Award, on the platform:

“Relativity is like a Swiss Army knife—you can use it to do many different things.”

chris-dale_100x100.pngChris Dale

Founder, eDisclosure Information Project, discussing Brexit:

“There’s a Frank Underwood quotation that applies to Brexit: ‘It’s one thing to go down with the ship; it is quite another to insist the Titanic is a submarine and that everything will be fine.’”

OC_racers.pngExasperated Relativity Fest Obstacle Course Race (OCR) Challenge Participant

When asked to name what the two stages of Relativity Processing were:

“Um … before and after.”

judge_nora_barry_fischer.pngJudge Nora Barry Fischer

U.S. District Judge, (W.D. Pa.), when I asked her what she would do if a litigant such as the one in Arrowhead v. Seven Arts blamed his deficient e-discovery production on the “girls” in his office:

This girl would have a dialogue with that attorney—and then some.”

karyn_harty.pngKaryn Harty

Partner, McCann FitzGerald, on her work on Ireland’s landmark Quinn technology-assisted review (TAR) case:

“I had to put my neck on the block to get TAR approved, but that's how you make new law.”

ed-mcandrew.pngEd McAndrew

Partner at Ballard Spahr LLP and former U.S. Department of Justice Cybercrime Coordinator, discussing internet safety:

“From a cybersecurity and public health perspective, it’s important to stay away from adult entertainment sites—your computer may get diseases.”

and on controversies on the scope of government data demands:

“The U.S. government would say it’s a targeted collection—it just happens to be targeting all the data.”

judge-peck.pngJudge Andrew Peck

U.S. District Judge (S.D.N.Y.), on the Ask the Judges program for the Annual Judicial Panel:

“I think it’s a great idea; we should discuss topics people want to hear—instead of what we think they should hear.”

 

daniel_pink.pngDaniel Pink

Guest keynote speaker and best-selling author, on life choices:

“Going to law school was a decision that increased my income—because I met my wife there.” 

judge_xavier_rodriguez.pngJudge Xavier Rodriguez

U.S. District Judge (W.D. Tex.) on funding and resources for the courts:

“We won World War II in four years, but it takes us 13 years to get a courthouse built.”

edward_spencer.pngEd Spencer and Daniel Wyattdaniel_wyatt.png

Associate, Taylor Wessing, and associate, Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC), on the effect of TAR on their litigation in the U.K.’s landmark Pyrrho case:

Before implementing TAR, we were fighting over keywords, and writing six-page letters; now we’re here speaking together.

andrew_sieja.pngAndrew Sieja

Founder and CEO, kCura, on the company’s new vision statement:

“The vision is just a statement—it’s about how we execute the vision.

jude-selby_100x100.pngJudy Selby

Technology advisory services leader, BDO USA LLP, discussing compliance:

Compliance does not equal ethical, and analytics does not mean objective.”

judge_david_waxse.pngJudge David Waxse

U.S. Magistrate Judge (D. Kans.), on constitutionally sound government search:

“The basic principle of the Exclusionary Rule is: if you don’t follow the Constitution in obtaining evidence, you don’t get to use it ... The government needs particularity in what it searches—you can’t simply start looking at everything.”


David Horrigan is Relativity’s discovery counsel and legal education director. An attorney, award-winning journalist, law school guest lecturer, and former e-discovery industry analyst, David has served as counsel at the Entertainment Software Association, reporter and assistant editor at The National Law Journal, and analyst and counsel at 451 Research. The author and co-author of law review articles as well as the annual Data Discovery Legal Year in Review, David is a frequent contributor to Legaltech News, and he was First Runner-Up for Best Legal Analysis in the LexBlog Excellence Awards. His articles have appeared also in The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, The New York Law Journal, Texas Lawyer, The Washington Examiner, and others, and he has been cited by media, including American Public Media’s Marketplace, TechRepublic, and The Wall Street Journal. David serves on the Global Advisory Board of ACEDS, the Planning Committee of the University of Florida E-Discovery Conference, and the Resource Board of the National Association of Women Judges. David is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, and he is an IAPP Certified Information Privacy Professional/US.

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