Understand the current trends dealing with public records.
Public records laws, sometimes called sunshine laws, serve an important purpose in allowing oversight of government. Public record requests can at times be burdensome and can divert personnel and financial resources away from other public tasks. This session focuses on recent developments in public records law, with an emphasis on the efficient and effective treatment of electronic data. The speaker has handled data collection of all sizes including simple public records requests, to a village that encompasses a handful of documents, to federal litigation involving the production of millions of documents with highly-contested e-discovery issues. The speaker will draw from her experience with both governmental entities and private litigation, to discuss and develop strategies for providing prompt and thorough responses to public records requests efficiently and cost-effectively that make good use of public resources.
Agenda
Public Records Requests and Use of E-Discovery Search Terms
- Overview of Sample State and Federal Laws: Can a Requester Identify Specific Search Terms to Be Used?
- Use of Search Terms in Litigation: Lessons Learned and Strategies Applicable to Public Record Requests
- Strategies for Effective Use of Search Terms in Response to Public Records Requests
Public Records Law and Text Messaging
- Employee Policies and Retention of Government Records
- Strategies for Collecting and Searching Text Messages
- Recent Rulings Regarding Adequacy of Search of Text Messages
Public Records Law and Format or Production of Electronic Data
Questions
Speakers
Shannon L. Bjorklund,
Dorsey & Whitney LLP- Provided legal advice to Minnesota city and oversaw response to public records requests from local and national media sources, after a key event garnered national attention
- Successfully represented a requester in federal litigation challenging the federal government’s refusal to release information—and refusal to confirm or deny the existence of—a publicly referenced by top officials in national media
- Designed and oversaw a records response involving new and complex areas of law which were upheld by a court as correct under the state statutes, after a requester brought a lawsuit
- Has represented numerous companies in litigation involving complicated e-discovery issues often involving the production of hundreds of thousands of documents
- Member of early e-discovery working group and co-author of Minnesota State Bar Association white paper on e-discovery
Who Should Attend
This live webinar is designed for public information and records managers, attorneys, city managers, county and municipal officials, law enforcement officials, school administrators, financial officers, and treasurers.
