Impatient Judges Push Lawyers to Dive Into E-Discovery

If you are wondering why the annual Georgetown Law Advanced E-Discovery Institute draws attendees faster than a One Direction concert attracts tweenagers, here’s the reason: the opportunity to interact with the elite posse of jurists who are determining the future of electronic data discovery. Of course, that’s not a slam against the other panels offering continuing legal education credit during the two-day conference at The Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner, McLean, Va., near Washington, D.C.

But no one ever wants to miss the conference’s signature first-day morning session, entitled “E-Discovery Case Law Update.” As is its tradition, the ninth version of the panel featured Judges John Facciola, Paul Grimm, Andrew Peck, Shira Scheindlin, who were joined this year by Judge Xavier Rodriguez and moderator Kenneth Withers, director of Judicial Education for The Sedona Conference. Facciola and Peck are magistrate judges for the District of Columbia and the Southern District of New York, respectively; Scheindlin and Rodriguez are federal district judges for the Southern District of New York and the Western District of Texas, respectively. On Tuesday, Grimm was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and will be elevated from magistrate judge to district court judge for the District of Maryland.