Hot Topics: Electronic Information in Criminal Investigations and Proceedings: Part 1

Emma M. Greenwood, a New York City-based lawyer and Officer of Greenwood Law Group, PLLC, has been focused on the intersection of technology and law since being admitted to practice. She represents individual clients and is also retained or appointed to provide guidance and services, on behalf of multiple parties, as an expert consultant on global e-discovery issues. She is a Coordinating Discovery Attorney (CDA) contracted with the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO).

Since 2011, in her CDA capacity, she has been appointed on dozens of federal criminal cases nationwide to provide e-discovery management and technology assistance for defense lawyers involved in multi-defendant cases with complex e-discovery issues. Matters include but are not limited to charges of mortgage fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, identify theft, Medicare fraud, drug conspiracy, money laundering, RICO, and death-eligible matters.

Her career has also included high profile projects at a variety of internet companies and non-profit organizations, including CitySearch.com, About.com, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the City Bar Justice Center, the legal arm of the New York City Bar Association.

In September 2014, Emma was among nine lawyers in the country selected and profiled as a Legal Rebel by the American Bar Association (ABA) for her accomplishments and continued work to provide e-discovery assistance to the federal criminal bar, including developing tools that help ensure an efficient e-discovery review process for lawyers and their clients.

Emma participates regularly as a speaker at local and national CLEs courses and seminars, and as a faculty member in combined federal defender staff and private CJA practitioner programs across the country. She has been invited to contribute assistance and guidance on a number of local and national committees on e-discovery issues.

Elizabeth J. Roper is an Assistant District Attorney at the New York County District Attorney's Office.

James C. Francis IV is a Distinguished Lecturer at the CUNY School of Law. Previously, he was a United States Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of New York from 1985 to 2017 and served as Chief Magistrate Judge from 1998 to 2000.

Judge Francis graduated summa cum laude from Yale College in 1974, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his juris doctor degree from the Yale Law School in 1978 and a masters degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the same year. Following graduation from law school, Judge Francis clerked for the Honorable Robert L. Carter in the Southern District of New York. He then joined the Civil Appeals and Law Reform Unit of the Legal Aid Society where he conducted impact litigation in the areas of housing and education and served as director of the Disability Rights Unit until his appointment to the bench.

From 2003 until 2017, Judge Francis was an Adjunct Professor at the Fordham University School of Law where he taught Constitutional Torts. He has served on the Legal Assistance, Federal Courts, Disability Rights, and Professional Responsibility Committees of the New York City Bar Association and the Federal Judiciary Committee of the New York State Bar Association. Judge Francis lectures frequently on electronic discovery, employment litigation, constitutional torts, legal ethics, and pretrial practice.

KENNETH J. WITHERS is Director of Judicial Education and Content for The Sedona Conference®, an Arizona-based non-profit law and policy think-tank on the forefront of issues involving technology, civil justice, intellectual property, and antitrust law. He has published several widely-distributed papers on electronic discovery, including Computer-Based Discovery in Federal Civil Litigation, Federal Courts Law Review, October 2000 (http://www.fclr.org/2000fedctslrev2.htm) and Observations on the Sedona Principles, with Hon. John Carroll, The Sedona Conference, April 2003 (http://www.thesedonaconference.org/publications_html). In 2004 he published a preliminary survey of the proposed amendments to the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure, Two Tiers and a Safe Harbor: Federal Rulemakers Grapple with Electronic Discovery, in the September 2004 issue of The Federal Lawyer. One year later, he published a follow-up article on the evolution of the proposed amendments as a result of the extensive public comment they received, entitled They've Moved the Two Tiers and Filled in the Safe Harbor, in the November 2005 issue of The Federal Lawyer. In 2006 he wrote and appeared in a 90-minute instructional DVD on electronic discovery with U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin, presented as the keynote address at the annual Management of Electronic Records conference and available from http://www.cohasset.com. In 2008 he published Ephemeral Data and the Duty to Preserve Discoverable Electronically Stored Information, 37 U. Balt. L. R. 349. From 1999 through 2005, Ken was a Senior Education Attorney at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington DC, where he developed Internet-based distance learning programs for the federal judiciary concentrating on issues of technology and the administration of justice. He contributed to several well-known FJC publications, including the Manual for Complex Litigation, Fourth Edition (2004), Effective Use of Courtroom Technology (2001), and the Civil Litigation Management Manual (2001).

Ronald is a member of Dentons' Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice group. He has extensive experience in e-discovery and in the management of complex litigation and has served as a special master, arbitrator and mediator. He also consults on management and discovery of electronically stored information (“ESI”).

Ron Hedges was a United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey from 1986 to 2007. While a magistrate judge, he was the Compliance Judge for the Court Mediation Program, a member of the Lawyers Advisory Committee, and both a member of, and reporter for, the Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Committee. From 2001 to 2005 he was a member of the Advisory Group of Magistrate Judges.

Ron was an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School, where he taught mediation skills. He was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and remains an adjunct professor at Rutgers School of Law—Newark. He taught courses on electronic discovery and evidence at both these schools. Ron was a Fellow at the Center for Information Technology of Princeton University for 2010-11 and 2011-12. He is also a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas.

Jay Shapiro has almost 40 years experience as a litigator. A prosecutor for two decades who focused on white collar crimes, Jay now represents clients in complex civil litigation and investigations, including corporate internal investigations, and criminal and regulatory enforcement. He also represents insurance companies in their affirmative efforts to combat insurance fraud. Jay has represented broker-dealers and financial professionals in FINRA arbitrations and has represented financial services businesses in connection with government inquiries.

Jay began his legal career in the Bronx County District Attorney's Office as a prosecutor for eight years and later spent 12 years with the King's County District Attorney's Office, becoming the Deputy District Attorney in charge of the Rackets Division, before going into private practice.

As a prosecutor, Jay was one of the first participants in the federal Electronic Crimes Task Force, which launched some of the earliest investigations into cybercrimes. He now advises clients on the investigation of data breaches, computer trespass and best policies concerning employee utilization of personal electronic devices for business purposes.

Jay has tried more than 35 cases in state and federal courts in New York and has also appeared before courts in California, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington. He has represented clients in relation to investigations conducted by federal and state authorities, including the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, state prosecutors and numerous city and state regulatory agencies. In addition, Jay has represented insurance companies in coverage disputes in numerous state and federal courts and has also represented attorneys, law firms and insurance professionals in professional liability actions.

He has been recognized for his involvement in combating insurance fraud by the insurance industry and regulators, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry of America for his anti-counterfeiting efforts, and the New York City Police and Fire Departments for his work with those agencies.

Jay has written and co-authored numerous publications, including treatises on trial practice and search and seizure. A frequent lecturer, he was an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York Law School (1989 to 2004) and served as a Faculty Member of the New York Prosecutors Training Institute, the New York City Police Department’s Criminal Investigators’ Course and the New York City Fire Marshal’s Training Program.

Jay is a member of the Executive Committee of the Criminal Justice Section of the New York State Bar Association and co-chair of the Committee on Expungement.