Short Messages, Big Challenges: Navigating a shifting e-discovery landscape

Melissa Heidrick | mmData

Melissa is the founder of mmData, an organization dedicated to spatial computing for the legal sector. She is also a technology columnist for the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Magazine, and serves as Of Counsel for Kidd Production LLP, a Texas-based oil company. She is the Director of Social Media and Brand Management for the nonprofit organization, Women in eDiscovery, and a Director at Large for the North Texas chapter of ACEDS. Until recently, she served as Manager of eDiscovery and Litigation Technology for Norton Rose Fulbright. In her abundant spare time, Melissa and her husband run an exotic animal farm outside of Dallas.

Admitted to the State Bar of Texas, Melissa earned her J.D. from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, and her B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin. She has extensive experience leading cross functional legal teams and managing the execution of complex discovery matters. She also develops, implements, manages, and vets emerging legal and eDiscovery technology solutions – with a special interest in AI and spatial computing projects.

I. E-Discovery and New Messaging Platforms | 1:00pm – 1:30pm

• Traditional e-discovery practices
• Emergence of new messaging platforms (e.g., Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Discord, Telegram, Signal) in the workplace
• Differences between traditional email-based communication and new messaging platforms
• Implications for e-discovery: Volume, variety, and velocity of data

II. Legal and Regulatory Frameworks | 1:30pm – 2:00pm

• Key legal standards governing e-discovery
• Application of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to new messaging platforms
• Regulatory challenges and compliance considerations

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

III. Data Preservation and Collection Challenges | 2:10pm – 2:30pm

• Best practices for data preservation in new messaging platforms
• Addressing challenges in data collection: Identifying relevant data, metadata, and communication threads
• Handling deleted, ephemeral, and encrypted messages

IV. Data Review and Production Strategies | 2:30pm – 2:50pm

• Effective review techniques for complex messaging data
• Dealing with data privacy concerns and privilege issues
• Producing data in a usable format: Formatting challenges and solutions
• Strategies to ensure compliance with production obligations while minimizing costs

V. Future Trends and Emerging Issues | 2:50pm – 3:10pm

• The impact of AI and machine learning on e-discovery processes
• Preparing for the next wave of communication tools and their implications for legal practice