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Where to Find the Federal Judges at Relativity Fest

David Horrigan

The Annual Judicial Panel has become a tradition at Relativity Fest, but it’s not the only session in which you can hear prominent federal judges discuss the law and technology issues of the day.

The judges will appear in four different sessions during this year’s gathering in Chicago October 9-11, and we’d like to give you a roadmap to where they’ll be speaking.

Returning for the third consecutive year are U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer (W.D. Pa.), U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck (S.D.N.Y.), U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez (W.D. Tex.), and U.S. Magistrate Judge David Waxse (D. Kan.), and you can find them in the following sessions at Relativity Fest.

The Annual Judicial Panel

Monday, October 10, 1:30-2:30 p.m. CT

We’ll gather again in the Hilton Chicago’s International Ballroom for a discussion of the latest legal issues affecting technology. I’ll be returning as moderator for the discussion with Judges Fischer, Peck, Rodriguez, and Waxse, but for the 2016 edition of the Judicial Panel, we’ll have some help from the legal technology community with our Ask the Judges feature.

After a contest to become part of the program by submitting questions for the judges, Barbara Bennett of Fiat Chrysler Automotive Group, Sandy Gensmer of Kroll Ontrack, Rolf Kuehne of a financial institution in Europe, and Cristin Traylor of McGuireWoods will each ask questions of the judges.

We’ll also look back at some of the predictions the judges have made at past Relativity Fests on issues ranging from what has happened after last year’s amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to the proper scope of legal holds, to data privacy in the digital age. It promises to be educational and entertaining session, as always.

Technology-assisted Review: Learn About Da Silva Moore, Quinn, and Pyrrho from the Participants in the Cases

Monday, October 10, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CT

Three nations have given judicial approval to the use of technology-assisted review (TAR) in litigation: the United States, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. In what we believe is a first for any legal conference, we will have participants from all three landmark cases in each of the nations approving TAR.

In this session, Judge Peck, the author of the 2012 US decision in Da Silva Moore v. Publicis Groupe, will join Karyn Harty, partner at McCann FitzGerald in Dublin and attorney in Ireland’s 2015 decision in Irish Bank Resolution Corp. Ltd. v. Quinn, and Edward Spencer of Taylor Wessing in London and Daniel Wyatt of Reynolds Porter Chamberlain in London, two attorneys in this year’s UK decision, Pyrrho Investments Ltd. v. MWB Property Ltd.

Judge Peck and the lawyers will provide legal and practical information about how TAR was used in the cases as well as discuss best practices. for attorneys,  paralegals, and technologists using TAR.

The History and Future of the Law and e-Discovery

Monday, October 10, 3:00-4:00 p.m. CT

In August 2016, the American Bar Association released its Report on the Future of Legal Services in the United States, including recommendations on the technical competence of legal teams and how courts can improve access to justice, as well as observations on innovation, artificial intelligence, and social issues shaping the law.

In this session, Judge Fischer and Judge Rodriguez join Monica Bay of Stanford Law CodeX, EDRM co-founder George Socha of BDO, and me as we discuss the report and share experiences on the history of law and e-discovery—including issues ranging from the evolution of legal advertising to the events of September 11, 2001—while giving predictions for the future of the profession and the industry.

A Conversation with Judge David Waxse

Monday, October 10, 4:30-5:30 p.m. CT

Described by legal commentators and in a recent law review article as part of the “Magistrates' Revolt” against search warrants granting the government wide access to electronically stored information, Judge Waxse is one of the nation’s foremost jurists on e-discovery and data privacy.

In this session, Judge Waxse and I will discuss his important decisions on the search of electronically stored information, including In re Three Hotmail Accounts, the effect of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Riley v. California, the recent Second Circuit decision in Microsoft v. United States, and how it all relates to your e-discovery practice.

There’s Still Time to Register

Although Relativity Fest 2016 is just around the corner on October 9-11, there’s still time to register to attend these sessions and the more than 100 others at this year’s conference. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago.


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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