David Levitt and Steven Puiszis Participate in "Electronic Discovery in Illinois" Program

David H. Levitt and Steven M. Puiszis, partners in the Business Litigation Practice Group of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, participated in a program titled "Electronic Discovery in Illinois." The presenters discussed Illinois' new e-discovery rules and ways by which lawyers can make the e-discovery process work smoothly to effectively represent their clients.

The event — hosted by the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel (IADTC) and the Illinois Judges Association — was covered in a February 23, 2015, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin article titled "Resolving E-discovery Issues Early Can Be Big Financial Benefit, Panel Advises." Said Mr. Puiszis in the article, "E-discovery is the unholy alliance of lawyers who don't know technology and technologists who don't know the law." The article also notes, "When judges encounter an ediscovery request, Puiszis said, there are a number of questions to consider in proportionality, such as how much a case is worth, cost involved in the controversy, resources of the party and how relevant the requested discovery is to resolving the case." Mr. Puiszis goes on to detail several specific questions and concerns that lawyers should consider.

Adds Mr. Levitt — who is the IADTC president — in the article, "ediscovery is difficult, expensive and changes the dynamics in the resolution of cases." On the subject of a case he read about where the parties "spent hundreds of thousands of dollars litigating ediscovery issues before addressing the merits of a case[,]" Mr. Levitt remarked, "That is something to be avoided for everyone[.] . . We need to get to the merits of cases and not let discovery be a side issue."