Resolving e-discovery disputes is a daunting process for even the most well-staffed law firms. It’s an even greater challenge for smaller firms with leaner budgets and limited opportunities for training. This scenario is motivating e-discovery reform proponents to focus on mediation for both the management of the electronic data discovery process and resolution of EDD disputes in civil cases.

Monday, the inaugural meeting of the San Francisco Bay Area E-Discovery Forum was held at Hanson Bridgett, with two speakers: attorney Michael Carbone, of his self-named law firm, and a “full-time neutral at MPC Dispute Resolution Services,” and attorney Ryon Lane, CEO of Yogo, and a principal e-discovery consultant at Symantec Corp.

The pair discussed the Seventh Circuit E-Discovery Pilot Programand urged the audience to replicate the program in the Bay Area. Carbone, who was a participant in the Seventh Circuit’s program, said that a key factor in the program’s success is buy-in by the judiciary: “Judges are very involved,” he said. Their participation raised the level of trust among parties involved in EDD disputes, said Carbone. This is a key point, he said, because clients, knowing that mediation is part of the process, are often afraid that their attorneys may “sell them out.”

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