DAY ONE DAY TWO COURSE MATERIAL
(Central Standard Time)
{Click here to access Zoom for day one}
Check-in and Breakfast
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Robin Perkins (Kutak Rock)
Client Interview Mock Session
This interactive mock session will demonstrate the client interview process at the outset of eDiscovery, focusing on how counsel identifies relevant custodians, data sources, preservation obligations, and potential discovery challenges. Attendees will see practical strategies for asking the right questions early to better understand the client’s information systems, how to appropriately scope discovery, and how to avoid costly issues later in the case.
Presenters: Amy Sellars (Gunster); Laura Hunt (Meta)
Networking Break
ESI Protocol Mock Negotiation
An ESI (Electronically Stored Information) protocol is a formal, negotiated agreement or court order that outlines how digital data must be preserved, collected, reviewed, and produced during a legal case. It acts as a shared rulebook to prevent costly technical disputes and confusion between opposing sides; however, it can often be challenging to reach agreement on some of the challenges that ESI presents. Attend this session to watch an ESI Protocol negotiation take place.
Speakers: Michelle Newcomer (Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP); Kelly Atherton (Norton Rose J. Hunter Jones Fulbright)
NeLI Talk: The Nuances of M365
Attend this NeLI Talk to learn about the nuances of M365 when preserving, searching, and collecting email from M365 accounts.
Speaker: John Collins (Redgrave LLP)
Lunch
The Judges’ Debate
The most sought after NeLI session. Join us as real judges remove their robes and take on the position of an advocate for or against a certain eDiscovery position as they participate in mock hearings. After hearing from both sides, the audience will pick the winner.
Moderator: John Pappas, Jr. (UnitedLex)
Speakers: Magistrate Judge Angel D. Mitchell (U.S.D.C. Dist. Kansas); Hon. Stephen R. Bough (U.S.D.C. W.D.MO); Hon. William Matthewman (U.S.D.C. S.D.FL., ret.); Hon. Young B. Kim (U.S.D.C. N.D. IL)
Networking Break
1:30 p.m. - 2:50 p.m. Best Practices for Working with Your eDiscovery Team
This panel will provide a practical look at the legal, technical, and financial considerations involved in collecting, processing, reviewing, and producing electronically stored information. This is a behind-the-scenes look at the steps that must take place to forensically collect, process, and produce documents. It is not as easy to do as one might think, as each stage can require significant time, technology, and personnel. The discussion will help attorneys and judges better understand the real-world costs and complexities associated with meeting eDiscovery obligations.
Moderator: Amy Ambroson Reid (UnitedLex)
Panelists: Steve Davis (Purpose Legal); Farhad Mahmoudi (Epiq); Mary Flexman (UnitedLex); Everlaw representative TBD
Networking Break
The Role of AI in the Courts and Legal Profession
Judge Scott Schlegel will examine the rapidly evolving role of artificial intelligence in the legal profession and the courts. The keynote will explore the opportunities and challenges presented by AI, including its impact on legal practice, judicial decision-making, professional responsibility, and the administration of justice.
Speaker: Hon. Scott U. Schlegel (Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal - State of Louisiana)
Panel discussion: All Speakers will take audience questions
This moderated Q&A will bring together the day’s speakers to address substantive legal, ethical, and practical issues arising from the program’s eDiscovery topics and fact pattern. Panelists will respond to attendee questions, clarify applicable legal standards and professional obligations, and discuss how the principles covered throughout the day apply to real-world discovery practice.
Speakers: All speakers
Networking Reception
Dinner
(Central Standard Time)
{Click here to access Zoom for day two}
Check-in and Breakfast
Opening Remarks
Ethically Overcoming Implicit Bias in the eDiscovery Process
A three-way conversation between Daniel Gold, Damien Riehl, and Marisa Zalabak on how bias enters, and can potentially be caught, when discovery decisions are shaped by generative AI rather than human review alone. Riehl and Zalabak bring distinct vantage points on the same terrain: Riehl as a lawyer and technologist who has spent his career building and testing legal AI tools, Zalabak as an AI ethicist and educational psychologist who has helped shape international standards for responsible AI. Both of them are TED Talk speakers. The session examines what it means to build validation, defensibility, and genuine fairness into AI-driven workflows, and what attorneys' ethical responsibilities look like when the fairness of a process depends as much on how a tool was built and tested as on how a lawyer exercised discretion.
Speakers: Damien Riehl, Esq. (Clio), Marisa Zalabak (Open Channel Culture), and Daniel Gold, Esq. (BDO USA)
Networking Break
In-House Counsel Perspectives on the eDiscovery Process
This panel will explore eDiscovery from the in-house counsel perspective, including managing preservation and discovery obligations, working with outside counsel and vendors, controlling costs, and navigating emerging technology. Panelists will share practical strategies for balancing legal requirements, business needs, risk, and efficiency throughout the discovery process.
Moderator:
Edward H. Rippey (Covington & Burling LLP)
Panelists:
Christopher Boone (Boyd Gaming Corporation); Lisa Kistler (Astellas Pharma Inc.); Laura Hunt (Meta); and Sean Wiederkehr (Everlaw)
Lunch
Validation in eDiscovery
Maura Grossman and Lea Malani Bays will examine validation in eDiscovery and the importance of defensible methods for evaluating the effectiveness of technology-assisted review and other discovery processes. The session will address practical and legal considerations for measuring results, documenting methodology, and demonstrating that a review process is reasonable, reliable, and defensible.
Speakers:
Maura Grossman (University of Waterloo); Lea Malani Bays (Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd)
Networking Break
Case Law Update
This panel will review recent and significant case law developments affecting eDiscovery and electronically stored information. The panelists will discuss emerging trends, evolving legal standards, and practical lessons from recent decisions involving preservation, proportionality, discovery disputes, sanctions, and the use of technology in litigation.
Moderator:
Jennifer Cavner (Husch Blackwell LLP)
Speakers:
Hon. Young B. Kim (U.S.D.C. N.D. IL); Rose J. Hunter Jones Jones (Hilgers PLLC); Robin Perkins (Kutak Rock)
Networking Break
Ethics’ Game
Barbara Glesner Fines will lead an interactive exploration of ethical issues facing lawyers in modern legal practice. Through engaging scenarios and audience participation, the session will examine professional responsibility, ethical decision-making, and the application of the Rules of Professional Conduct to challenging situations attorneys may encounter in practice.
Speaker: Barbara Glesner Fines (UMKC School of Law)
Adjourn/Giveaways
