There’s an ancient Chinese proverb that says, “May you live in interesting times.”  Perhaps you’ve read it from a fortune cookie.  If you’re a geologist or meteorologist, this has been an interesting week.  On Tuesday a magnitude 5.8 earthquake rattled the east coast, making citizens jumpy.

Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told CNN that the Federal government is reviewing many of its policies and procedures as a result of the earthquake.  She said the government discovered flaws in its evacuation procedures because as employees were released from work the Washington, DC area cell phone circuits became overloaded and the public transportation system slowed to a crawl.

Meanwhile tonight, citizens in the Bahamas are bracing for Hurricane Irene as the storm approaches with 120 mph winds.  According to the National Hurricane Center, Irene could be upgraded from a category 3 to a category 4 by the time it hits the U.S. later this week.  Category 4 hurricanes have winds of 131 mph or more.

Irene is expected to clip the Carolinas and then head north to the more densely populated northeast where it could hit New York City, Long Island and the eastern portion of New England.  All along the eastern seaboard local officials are meeting to draw up plans before the storm hits.

These two events are a sharp contrast in how organizations deal with emergencies and how quickly they are able to spring into action.  In many ways studying the reaction to the earthquake is like working with a client who has never been through an eDiscovery process before.  Everything is new and the people involved aren’t really sure how to react.  Compare that to the folks who are in charge of preparing for Irene.  They have a well thought out plan (based on years of experience), follow process and procedures. 

There’s no way that anyone could have anticipated an earthquake with its epicenter in Virginia so the “flaws in evacuation procedures” that Secretary Napolitano referred to can be overlooked.  I’m sure the Federal government will form some working groups or a task force and will tighten up its procedures.  Should another earthquake hit the region people will know what to do and the process will be much improved.

In comparison, those in charge of hurricane preparedness have lots of experience getting ready for storms.  They, like well trained eDiscovery professionals, know their roles and responsibilities.  They know the priorities, the chain of command and, most importantly, they know when to make the critical decisions because lives are at stake.

The National Hurricane Center, national media, state and local government and the Federal government have worked together for years and, for the most part, slide into their roles seamlessly. 

eDiscovery professionals can learn from studying the two events from this week.  No one would have predicted the Virginia earthquake but studying how policies and procedures change because of an unexpected event of significant magnitude can, and will, be a valuable learning experience.  eDiscovery pros can also pay attention this weekend as the events of Hurricane Irene unfold.  Watch how various organizations work together share information, make decisions, get the word out to citizens, revise plans and continue to analyze data.  The process is very similar to that of eDiscovery.  A hurricane preparedness team that works well under extreme pressure is very similar to how a great eDiscovery team should function.

We certainly live in interesting times.

For years Paul Ceglia has maintained that he is the co-owner of an online yearbook company that has become pretty well known.  Ceglia claims that in 2003 he placed a job ad on Craigslist and in April of that year he met Mark Zuckerberg in the lobby of a Boston hotel to discuss the position.  During the meeting, says Ceglia, Zuckerberg signed a two-page agreement to work on a street-mapping database called StreetFax that Celglia was creating (and here’s the kicker) and that the two also discussed an online yearbook idea that Zuckerberg was working on.

According to court documents, Ceglia contends that he chipped in $1,000 towards Zuckerberg’s online yearbook idea and the two agreed to split the company if it ever got off the ground.

As “proof” of his involvement with the creation of the online yearbook, now known as Facebook, Ceglia provided the court with his computer, floppy drives, CDs, and a series of email exchanges with Zuckerberg. 

Attorneys poured over the electronic data studying the widths of margins and type size of documents, Zuckerberg’s writing style, and his use of punctuation to see if the alleged communications were authentic or fraudulent.  A linguist determined that the email exchanges were fakes.

Attorneys for Facebook and Zuckerberg also conducted “painstaking forensic analysis” and discovered that Ceglia altered the original street-mapping contract to include references to Facebook and that “embedded electronic data” proves the Facebook contract is a fake. 

They found the smoking gun.

This particular case is high profile because of the names and the amount of money involved.

But let’s face it, when Ceglia’s computers and digital media were turned over to the forensic analysts the truth was certain to came out.  It’s difficult to lie when it comes to digital footprints.  And that’s why eDiscovery is so important.  Having the tools and people in place to conduct forensic analysis on data will reveal the truth.  It might take time, patience and money but eventually the truth will become clear.

And the truth is always something to “Like.”

Millions of professional football fans breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the players and owners averted a labor strike that threatened to wash out this coming season. The negotiations were tense, and lengthy, because billions of dollars in shared revenue were at stake.  The players were seeking significant changes in working conditions as well as changes to the length and value of individual contracts.

The two sides went back-and-forth for months and exchanged volumes of arcane data to justify their respective positions. To avid football fans it seemed to take forever for the two sides to weed through all of the information and hammer out an agreement.

And because it took so long to hammer out an agreement many of the tasks that typically would have taken place as part of standard day-to-day operations during the off-season, will have to be compressed into just a few weeks.  Organizations throughout the league will have to assess their current players; review and prioritize hundreds of free agent players; compile as much information as possible about specific players; and eventually make decisions on whom to offer a contract.

In eDiscovery, a compressed timeline is all too familiar.  Too often, plaintiffs who are presented with eDiscovery requests are given very short timelines. Volumes of information must be identified, categorized, reviewed; and ultimately decisions about information and its importance must be made quickly.

Sometimes eDiscovery requests can come with a deadline of months or even more than a year to complete.  Other times, however, law firms, general counsels and IT are given much less notice, which can put tremendous strain on the internal and external resources as they try to identify, assemble and evaluate lots of information quickly and (most important) accurately.

What are the consequences if a football team makes errors when assembling its roster?  The most obvious answer is that the team probably won’t win the Super Bowl. But more importantly players and teams can lose out on millions in endorsements and future revenue opportunities.  What are the consequences if a company can’t identify all of the requested data?  Depending on the size and scope of the litigation, bad decisions based on bad information or an inability to comply with an eDiscovery request can cost a company millions.

So what can businesses learn from the NFL settlement?  One important takeaway is that most negotiations, especially when there are discernable (not to mention significant) monetary benefits to both sides, are likely to reach a settlement and business will resume.  But sometimes negotiations become so complex outside mediators or the courts are called in to try and broker a settlement.  Those third parties will need data to make an informed decision so it’s important to have an eDiscovery readiness plan prepared. 

We recommend to our clients that they use the time when the elephants are stomping around the room trying to work out a deal to develop the eDiscovery plan that you’ll be able to execute when needed.  As part of that plan you’ll need to identify the custodians of the information; pull together the key people who will make up the core the eDiscovery team; define roles and responsibilities; and pick your partners so when called upon to provide information you’ll be ready to execute.

Walk into any Starbucks or eavesdrop on a random conversation at a movie theatre and more likely than not it will include some mention of the economy.  The foreclosure rate is once again creeping north, jobs creation is anemic and Wall Street remains jittery.

But there are also signs that the years-long economic slump might soon be over.  How did I arrive at this conclusion?  Companies are starting (albeit slowly) to spend again. In recent months we’ve seen some companies announce mega-mergers – Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion and AT&T is attempting to acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion.

CEOs are starting, once again, to talk about growth (as opposed to mere survival).  The head of the defense company Lockheed Martin was quoted recently about organic vs. inorganic top-line growth.  It’s been so long since I heard that phrase I almost had to Google its definition.

With every merger comes a long checklist of to-do’s as the organizations try to integrate processes and systems.  Functional areas such as human resources, finance, IT, sales, marketing and legal frequently struggle meld two (often distinctly different) corporate cultures.  Certainly, full integration and creation of processes is more critical for some groups (such as IT, finance and HR) than others.

One critical process that is often overlooked is how the newly formed company will handle eDiscovery.  Think about it – in order to conduct a complete and defensible eDiscovery matter, cross-functional teams need to work together (often under immense pressure and short timelines) to identify, search, cull and review volumes of electronic information.  Add a layer of complexity to the task – people who don’t have a pre-established work history – and an eDiscovery request can go from being relatively straightforward to a nightmare.

To be sure there are huge tasks involved when merging two companies.  Communicating with employees and hammering out the working relationships between IT and finance are probably at the top of the list.  But eDiscovery, its processes, policies and procedures also needs to be near the top.  If the companies that are being merged are publicly traded it’s likely that the new entity will get hit with a shareholder suit of some kind and in order to respond the newly formed company will need to provide the court with documentation to prove its case.

Time is money and companies can’t afford to waste either when it comes to eDiscovery because a mistake can cost millions.  So as the M & A market heats up, think about adding eDiscovery to the list of to-dos.  Doing so might save you some time and money.