When I think of the people who make good things happen in e-discovery education, William “Bill” Hamilton tops my list.  Bill is the National E-Discovery Partner at Quarles & Brady in Tampa. Bill speaks frequently and has penned a number of helpful articles on e-discovery (including one I use in my law school course).  But, it’s Bill’s catalytic energy and enthusiasm on behalf of practical e-discovery education that impresses me most.  Bill created the first and only forum for adjuncts teaching e-discovery in law schools, allowing us to exchange ideas and assist one-another.  Bill founded the University of Florida Law School’s E-Discovery Project that brings distinguished speakers to central Florida (most recently Judge John Facciola). As Dean of Graduate Students at Bryan University, Bill built its Electronic Discovery Project Management Certificate program.  I could go on, but Bill is a modest man, and I’m sure he would prefer I get to the point of this post: yet another Bill Hamilton contribution to practical e-discovery education, this one to aid both practitioners and students.

If you can get to Gainesville, Florida on Friday, March 27, I urge you to attend the 3rd Annual University of Florida E-Discovery Conference.  It’s going to be good, and it’s really inexpensive ($199).  It’s even completely free to all government attorneys and employees, judges, judicial staff, teachers, and students. But don’t despair if you can’t get to Gainesville because the event will be live-streamed for just $99, and all Conference sessions are being recorded and made available for later viewing by registered attendees.  So even if you can’t watch it live, you can watch it at your convenience. Online attendees get to play, too, as you will be able to email questions to the panel and presenters.

This year’s Conference focuses on Social Media, Mobile Devices, and the Cloud. There is no more important topic for trial lawyers right now. If you don’t get a handle on social, mobile and cloud, you won’t grasp where modern evidence lives and how to use it.  Plus, it’s a fascinating field that touches us all.   Are you reading this on a mobile device?

The Conference offers a full day of distinguished experts demonstrating how to efficiently and defensibly identify and collect digital data and showing how to integrate it into your cases and tell a compelling story.  Note the action words I’ve underlined. The Conference is about “how to do it,” and features software demonstrations and practical tips and tools.​  Real skills as a takeaway, not just talking heads. One more reason to thank Bill Hamilton.

Here is the Conference website that shows the exciting Conference Agenda and the distinguished national faculty:

http://www.law.ufl.edu/academics/ediscovery-conference

Here is the Conference Registration page:

http://reg.conferences.dce.ufl.edu/EDC/Registers

The Conference has been approved for 6.5 CLE credits and is fully underwritten by the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law as a public service.   Come join me there!