edisclosure myth or reality? » ICC

An EU amendment to the Flow of Personal Data from Controller to Processor

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:19:57 +0000

I am currently hopping around London and elsewhere too.

So a quick post on what’s new in the Data scene. Check out the ICC’s site on news coming from the European Commission on changes to the Standard Contractual Clauses.

Production of electronic documents

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:56:50 +0000

The announcement at the ICC website on ‘Task Force on Production of Electronic Documents in Arbitration’ appears to me to be the start of more Task Forces to come.

I do not know why the ICC specifically use the term ‘Production’. Why not just a Task Force for electronic disclosure or electronic documents?

I fear that by having a Task Force for ‘Production of electronic documents’ and with a mandate specifying two streams (i.e. disclosure and production) signal the potential to focus on disclosure and production with the outcome to report on ‘production of electronic documents’.

The ICC has great world class reports and publications and also a great institution in many ways.

I do hope this new Task Force will break convention and not just focus on the production aspects of e-disclosure.

discovery of ‘e-mail diary’ disallowed even by a mock panel of international (real) arbitrators

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:26:10 +0000

I was at the ICC Arbitration Day event in Paris last week. Thanks to Ms. Mireze Philippe at the ICC for her company and lunch.

The mock arbitration was well organised with two sittings comprising of well known arbitrators, lawyers and also a barrister. Only one of the parties was not a lawyer. The participants were mostly from law firms from various European cities.

The mock arbitration was conducted in English and French and the ‘fictitious’ case involved an English Software consulting firm (the Claimant) and a Greek Banking corporation (the Defendant number 1). The claim against the Greek Bank’s majority share owner, a German Bank (the Defendant number 2) was dismissed by the panel in the first hearing.

Besides dismissal of the 3^rd party claim, the tribunal comprising of two French arbitrators (including the chairman) and a Swiss lady arbitrator also dismissed the claimant’s request ( an English Lawyer) for discovery of ‘e-mail diary’.

A mock case no doubt but a ‘real’ cultural show of who wants discovery and who objects to discovery. How interesting!

Controlling Costs in Arbitration

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:57:11 +0000

Techniques for Controlling Time and Costs in Arbitration
A Report from the ICC Commission on Arbitration

In the ICC Publication 843 -Techniques for Controlling Time and Costs in Arbitration, no specific mention on ‘electronic document production’ or ‘electronically stored information’, although ‘Úse of IT’ is discussed. The Redfern Schedule is mentioned for managing requests for document production.
Case management is also mentioned, however no specific mention on how to determine the scope of the document production, which in a document (paper-based & electronic) intensive dispute can be unmanageable even with the use of IT.
The article pointed out that ‘special emphasis needs to be placed on steps aimed at reducing the costs connected with the parties’ presentation of their cases and that such costs are often caused by unnecessarily long and complicated proceedings with unfocused requests for disclosure of documents …’.