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Committee Meeting Minutes
VSB Technology Committee Meeting Teleconference
November 29, 2007
In attendance:
Sharon D. Nelson, Chair
Alan S. Goldberg
Blackwell N. Shelley Jr.
Fredric Lederer
Hayden Codding
Rodney A. Coggin, liaison
CLE Proposal for Annual Meeting
The chair said that the committee’s proposed CLE for the annual meeting, “Electronic Evidence—Report from the Battlefield,” was submitted to the bar for consideration before the deadline.
Coggin said that the bar’s Better Annual Meeting Committee is scheduled to meet December 4 to review the continuing legal education proposals and that he will notify the committee of any decision about the proposal.
Writing Assignments for Virginia Lawyer
Goldberg: February 2008, copy deadline: December 11.
Nelson: April 2008, copy deadline: February 6.
Lederer: June/July 2008, copy deadline: May 15.
Shelley: October 2008, copy deadline: August 13.
All articles will be 750-800 words.
Graphics staff at the bar will mock-up the committee’s column moniker, Consultus Electronica –the electronic lawyer.
Web Site
Nelson said that she has obtained FTP rights for a committee Web page and will begin work on it.
Issues and Mission of the Committee
Nelson said that she will discuss the function and goals of the Technology and the Law Committee with VSB Executive Director Karen A. Gould on December 3. She said that she will express the committee’s desire to be more supportive of and integral to the bar.
Nelson reported that she was waiting to hear from the committee’s contact at the Supreme Court of Virginia concerning the Court’s electronic filing initiative and other related topics. (Note: Nelson did hear from him the next day, after the committee’s conference call meeting.)
Lederer said that he believes that the Technology and the Law Committee should be interested in two issues: E-filing (E-Discovery), and the impact of technology in the courtroom. He said that the latter topic, given its expansion in Fairfax County, is expected to have a significant impact in Northern Virginia.
Nelson said that she thought that, in addition to e-filing and e-discovery, and courtroom technology, the committee should discuss areas of technology use in law office management (paperless offices etc.)
She expressed her concern about privacy implied in an article in the Washington Post, “Cellphone Tracking Powers on Request –Secret Warrants Granted Without Probable Cause,” Friday, November 23, 2007. The article said that federal officials routinely ask courts to order cellphone tracking data so that they can locate drug dealers and criminal suspects. In some cases, the article said, judges grant the requests without probable cause.
Shelley said that another concern was the loss of lawyers’ privilege, especially in an employment context. Goldberg said that in some cases computer hard drives have been cloned to find cached messages and that the FBI has used this information for convictions.
Nelson said that the committee might consider educating lawyers about the erosion of privilege.
The next meeting, by conference call, was set for January 28 at 3 p.m. The meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Rodney A. Coggin