Law Times

Page 10 December 5, 2016 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com Cloud computing the future of e-discovery? BY JIM MIDDLEMISS For Law Times W hen the term cloud computing hit the mainstream lexi- con in 2006, it was met with trepidation by many le- gal commentators who warned that putting data in the "sky" was a bad thing. Concerns about privacy, protecting confidential and privileged information and location of servers were some of the concerns raised. Fast-forward a decade, and cloud computing is everywhere, transforming how we store elec- tronic data and use software and analytic tools, as we enter the Big Data era. "Cloud computing is continuing to grow," observes Karen Groulx, a partner in the construction, litigation and real estate group at Dentons Canada LPP in Toronto. One of the big reasons, she says, is cost. "For small and medium-sized businesses, it's a cost-effective way to store and manipulate your data," she says. Cloud computing is the moni- ker given to using the Internet to access a network of remote servers that stores, manages and processes data. That contrasts to traditional computing, where a desktop computer or internal company servers hosted informa- tion and powered the analytics. Cloud computing is quickly having a ubiquitous inf luence on business, touching everything from accounting to marketing and operations. For example, Google and music services such as Apple Music and Spotify run on the cloud, as does Microsoft's Office 365. It's no different in the legal industry, as more and more vendors offer a cloud solution to their software platform and tools, including e-discovery ven- dors. Rather than hosting data on internal IT systems, firms can rent server space and license software as a service. It means less maintenance and upkeep on IT systems, as that falls on the vendor, not the law firm. Cloud computing is becoming big business. International Data Corporation predicts that world- wide revenue from cloud services will reach more than US$195 bil- lion in 2020, more than double the US$96.5 billion in revenues forecast for 2016. The compound growth rate predicted between 2015 and 2020 is 20.4 per cent. Technology giant Cisco Sys- tems, Inc. predicts that by 2020, more than 90 per cent of infor- mation f lowing through data centres will be cloud related. It predicts that by 2020, the num- ber of "hyperscale data centres" — sites with enormous comput- er power and network architec- ture that can be scaled up — will increase to 485 from 259 today, in order to accommodate the growth of cloud computing. From the standpoint of e- discovery, vendors will ramp up their cloud offerings and more and more law firms will likely use such repositories for host- ing their client's sensitive data as lawyers winnow through it and build a case. Martin Felsky, national e -discovery counsel at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, says the "cloud is such a great thing for e-discovery because of the scal- ability. You just buy the space you need." That means you can ramp it up or down as cases f low in and out of the office. However, the cloud comes with challenges for law firms, says Groulx, who wrote a paper last year on electronic data stor- age and the cloud for the Cana- dian Bar Association's annual e-Discovery Institute. The biggest concern is ensur- ing a law firm is in compliance with privacy legislation and has the proper consents in place, she says. Part of the worry is where the servers that will be storing the information are located. If they are in the U.S., there are concerns that the data could be subject to search warrants or snooping by government agencies or fall un- der the U.S. Patriot Act. It's not always clear where ven- dors are placing their servers, Fel- sky observes. However, he adds, "Vendors are getting better at providing comfort with respect to confidentiality and security." Groulx says law firms need to make sure that the servers they use are dedicated solely to them for use and they aren't being lumped in with other businesses. There are also concerns about cloud cybersecurity breaches. In 2014, the United Kingdom Law Society warned law firms planning to use cloud technol- ogy that there was a risk of "un- lawful interception by intelli- gence agencies." It said that the technology can "improve resilience, allow more f lexibility and cut costs." However, it also noted the downside was that police or in- telligence agencies "can lawfully obtain access to your data via your cloud service provider." It urged firms to pick a ven- dor that will "offer "appropriate contractual commitments and operational practices." Felsky, whose firm transi- tioned to KPMG's managed ser- vice e-discovery offering a year ago, says that while KPMG hosts the hardware and software used by the e-discovery team, the firm manages the actual application. Previously, it used a popular soft- ware onsite, but it had to direct clients to a third-party vendor if they had a large data set because it didn't have the capacity. Now, that is no longer a problem. It recently collected 8.5 mil- lion records from one client, which it was able to winnow down to 3.5 million using search terms and analytics, saving the client hundreds of thousands of dollars that would have been spent on a traditional review. Other things to think about are the security that the vendor has in place and the technology support your firm will receive, adds Felsky. Groulx says another chal- lenge with electronic records is authentication. The burden of proving authenticity of a docu- ment falls on the person who wants to introduce it. "In order to prove authenticity, you must be able to establish the integrity of the data," she says, so if a service provider has a crash or information gets corrupted, law firms need to ensure that the ven- dor has adequate backup systems in place and can show the docu- ments weren't altered. From an operations stand- point, Groulx also says to be- ware of vendors' claims about their processing speed and make sure it's covered off in the service level agreement. "If it takes five minutes to download a document, that's not a really good cloud service," she says. LT FOCUS Karen Groulx says cloud computing is a growing area because it is cost-effective for small and medium-sized businesses. Order #987327-65203 $198 Hardcover approx. 200 pages October 2016 978-0-7798-7327-2 Shipping and handling are extra. Price subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. 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