E-discovery Consultant

Over the past two decades, as more and more information is stored digitally, collecting electronically-stored materials during an investigation or litigation has become essential.  E-discovery is now a critical component of investigations and litigations, particularly in complex matters involving large quantities of email, texts and electronic data. Many targets and defendants have access to expert assistance in formulating e-discovery plans and responding to e-discovery requests, either in-house or through outside counsel. The State Center provides State Attorney General Offices with access to similar expertise to assist with regard to discovery of targets and defendants at the initial stages of antitrust and consumer protection matters — expeditiously, confidentially and at the State Center’s expense.

The State Center’s expert has extensive experience across a broad range of e-discovery issues. See the annexed resume, description of services provided and a copy of the Consulting Agreement for Michael Simon. He is available for consultation by State Attorney General Offices for a maximum of twenty (20) hours per matter, upon approval by the State Center’s Executive Director.

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Resources

The Attorneys’ Guide to Understanding Databases (pdf)

The Attorneys’ Guide to Discovery of Databases (pdf)

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Request a Consultation

Before requesting the consultation, the State Attorney General’s Office should first contact the expert to ascertain their availability and ensure there are no conflicts. 

There are two ways to engage the State Center’s e-Discovery consultant:

1.   The simplest is to submit a Request for Panel Work. That Request should be submitted to the Executive Director. It must provide enough detail about the consulting services sought (without disclosing confidential information) to allow the Executive Director to evaluate the request. The Executive Director’s approval of the Request makes the submitting Attorney General’s Office a third party beneficiary of the Consulting Agreement, entitling it to use of the consultant at the State Center’s expense and triggering confidentiality and other built-in protections.

A State desiring further services from their selected expert may separately contract directly with that expert at any time for any continued work.

2.   An alternative method is for a State Attorney General’s Office to negotiate its own agreement with the State Center consultant at the hourly rate they agree upon and then request that the State Center provide reimbursement for up to 20 hours of the panelist’s time pursuant to the State Center’s negotiated agreement with that consultant (with those payments either being made directly to the consultant or being made to the State in reimbursement). This alternative may be preferred by States who have already decided to engage the panelist for a longer term. 

A State may use the same Request for Panel Work form, but provide additional information about your own arrangements with the panelist. The request should provide substantially the same information and be submitted to the Executive Director. The Executive Director’s approval of the Request makes the submitting Attorney General’s Office a third party beneficiary of the Consulting Agreement, entitling it to use of the consultant at the State Center’s expense and triggering confidentiality and other built-in protections.

The Executive Director has sole discretion to act with respect to all requests for Panel expert consultations. Unless authorized to do so, the Executive Director will not disclose information about the nature of the Consulting Services provided to any third party or to any member of the State Center’s Board of Directors while the matter is pending.

The State Center hopes that all grant recipients will consider contributing funds to the State Center realized from projects supported by State Center grants. Consideration of the State Center as a recipient of third party recoveries through litigation or settlement, of cy pres distributions, or from other sources is appreciated. In the event a matter is resolved with the ability to recover costs, the State Center suggests that reimbursement for its grants be sought as costs. All such funds will be used to support the important work being done by the State Center and will make additional grants possible in the future. The State Center, however, does not require an advance commitment to repay any grant made to a State Attorney General’s office. Applications for such grants are assessed on their merits, regardless of the likelihood of repayment.