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Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Know your metadata
I've been following the buzz about an ongoing controversy in Florida where the bar association is considering a rule that could make mining metadata unethical. By way of illustration, in court discovery proceedings, the attorney for one party would basically be prohibited from using the other party's metadata to his client's advantage. This came about when a client's deleted comments in a document were recovered by the attorney for the opposite side.
The online legal community is all abuzz about this proposed rule because, so far, metadata has been fair game. That is, the more you know about your opposition, the better. And, if your opposition is neglectful enough to leave a trail of secrets in the form of metadata, then too bad on him.
Oklahoma attorney, and highly respected legal blogger, Jim Calloway, weighs in on this very matter in, The Mysteries (and Magic) of Metadata. Particularly noteworthy is:
I am still surprised at how many lawyers seem to be unaware of the existence of metadata.
I see this too. And, I think I know why. Most of the law offices I talk to consist of, at most, a couple lawyers and a secretary or two. The lawyer thinks anything to do with the computer to be the job of his secretary. It's not because they don't care. It's that they just don't have the time. Or, take the time.
They do, however, take the time to scrutinize the paper documents that go out in a discovery response. These lawyers, who would never let a secretary have the final say on what documents go to opposing counsel, are giving the secretary the power to reveal client secrets in the form of metadata.
The few online lawyers I talk to have yet to grasp the idea that the internet can be a tool for their practices. It's all about getting educated. So, instead of enacting limiting rules, the bar would better serve its lawyers by teaching them the ins and outs of metadata. Of course, that takes time too.
Related entries:
- Redacting metadata
- WordPerfect X3 on search and metadata
- Metadata removal checklist
- Metadata tips from lawyers
- Turn off metadata
• Posted by: Marie Carnes at 11:30 PM
• 359 words in this article
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• Filed in: Thinking outloud
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