Blogs

ILTA’s litigation and practice support steering committee is really excited about our line-up of speakers for our peer group sessions at conference this year. Since May is ILTA’s spotlight month for litigation and practice support, I will be blogging about the speakers we have lined up for the conference in Las Vegas.

Bill Kellerman is among the panelists on our session titled “Discovery Solutions Part 2: Challenges and Lessons Learned.  The description for this session is below and is a must see!

In part two of this series about discovery solutions, panelists will discuss the implementation of their discovery solutions, including the models/workflows and software their firms selected. You will also hear “lessons learned” analyses of the projects, which will include challenges identified and other considerations that can improve processes and add value to future business or technology projects.

So Bill…

Q.  When and how did you begin your career in Litigation and Practice Support?

A.   I was Director of Operations for a start-up, high-tech company (we manufactured energy efficient commercial lighting systems and automated controls.)  We did not have in-house counsel and became mired in litigation (equal-pay, product liability, Patent and Anti-trust.)  Since the warehouse fell under my purview and we stored all our paper there, I was tasked to liaise with both outside and opposing counsel to support an old-school document review.  We also had significant computer evidence – I’d helped design and supervised a CAD/CAM system that ran things.  The whole experience rekindled my youthful desire to go to law school.

Q.   How has your role in this field changed over time?

A.    I went from client-victim, to actively litigating cases (including DIY computer forensics) to designing litigation support software, to counseling clients on implementation of in-house litigation-readiness systems.

Q.  What do you find most interesting about this profession?

A.  It is like being a perpetual explorer.  Every day you are faced with new challenges in un-charted waters (for the Columbus metaphor) or quadrants of the galaxy (if you are a Trekker.)

Q.  What do you do for fun?

A.  I launch and recover high power rockets 3 to 8 miles high in the Black Rock Desert.  A lesson in how to burn $500 in 15 seconds.  eDiscovery is not rocket science…  but there are similarities.  No matter how hard you work to succeed, things sometimes blow-up.  All you can do is try to safely manage the explosion.

Q.  What are some of the key concepts you hope to cover in your session at the 2013 ILTA Conference?

A.  The passion for a relentless drive for efficiency and cost reduction.

Q.   Anything you’d like to say to Conference attendees?

A.  Viva Las Vegas!  Viva ILTA!  Viva South Pacific!

With over 20 years experience as a litigation attorney, William (Bil) Kellermann is Director - Electronic Discovery at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC.  In this role, he oversees the firm's Electronic Discovery Operations Center (EDOC), to work with firm attorneys and in-house counsel & IT personnel to effectively manage all aspects of client electronic evidence.  He is recognized for his expertise in the use of software for eDiscovery, case assessment, and trial preparation.

EDUCATION:

•             J.D., University of San Francisco School of Law, 1990

•             B.S., Business Administration, San Francisco State University, 1986