Our Advisory Board

Academics and industry-leading thinkers in Electronic Discovery, Linguistics, Information Retrieval and Statistics will assist the Electronic Discovery Institute in developing study methodology and reviewing drafts of the published results.

Technology Experts

Dr. Herbert L. Roitblat founder, OrcaTec: Herb is a co-founder and principal at OrcaTec LLC. Before starting Orcatec, Herb was Executive Vice President, Chief Scientist, and co-founder of DolphinSearch. He is the primary inventor of the core DolphinSearch technology (patent No. 6,189,002). His duties at DolphinSearch included new product development, business development, and marketing as well as internal and external consulting on the processes of eDiscovery and related information management and data mining issues. Herb led the design of the DolphinSearch review tools, DIAD, and ComplianSeek, and was part of the team that brought concept searching and native file review to the eDiscovery industry. He was also responsible for DolphinSearch’s Federal Market efforts. Herb is a recognized expert in cognitive science, information management, data mining, statistics, and eDiscovery processes. He is the author of numerous papers on dolphin biosonar and neural network models of the dolphin sensory system. More recently he has been writing about data mining and how technology can ease the burden of eDiscovery. Herb was an award-winning Professor of Psychology at the University of Hawaii from 1985 until 2002. He taught courses in cognitive science and research methods. He has a B.A. degree from Reed College in Portland, Oregon and his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California-Berkeley. He served as Assistant Professor of Psychology at Columbia University until he joined the faculty at the University of Hawaii. Herb is a Past President of the Division of Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology of the American Psychological Association and Past President of the International Society for Adaptive Behavior. In 2002, he received the Clifford T. Morgan award for distinguished contributions to behavioral neuroscience and comparative psychology. Herb is a member of the Sedona Working Group on Electronic Document Retention and Production.
Brian Golbère OrcaTec: Brian is a co-founder and principal at OrcaTec LLC. Before starting OrcaTec, Brian was an Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, and co-founder of DolphinSearch. At DolphinSearch, Brian engineered DolphinSearch's patented concept search and was the primary architect for their pioneering electronic discovery review application - the industry's first to offer concept search, native document review and a review management console. Brian also architected and deployed a state of the art data center to host DolphinSearch's ASP products which brought together a high-availability blade architecture, SAN fabric and redundant data network. He was the product manager for DolphinSearch eDiscovery and other tools. Prior to DolphinSearch, Brian was a Senior Technical Analyst for NeoMedia Technologies, Inc., an innovator and international leader in print-to-internet and other security and e-authentication technologies. Before that, he was Chief Technology Officer, co-founder and principal developer for Ernestine Technology, LLC (which eventually became part of NeoMedia), a privately held organization that developed technology linking bar code technology to the Internet. Prior to his involvement with Ernestine Technology, Brian was co-founder and Vice President for Research and Development, at Dancing Bear Enterprises, Inc. Dancing Bear provided custom programming, hardware, and services for NeXT computers as well as other UNIX based systems. Before founding Dancing Bear, Brian was Manager of Operations and Development for Servare International, Inc., Laguna Hills, Calif., which provided service bureau management services and software to the banking industry. At Servare he developed an advanced service management system (ServicDesk) for both internal and commercial use. Brian has his B.A. degree in Computer Science and Economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Industry Experts

Anne Kershaw, Esq. Founder and Senior Counsel and consultant at A. Kershaw, PC//Attorneys & Consultants: Anne is an experienced litigation lawyer and founder of a nationally-recognized litigation management consulting firm, A. Kershaw PC, Attorneys & Consultants. She is a specialist in high-tech litigation management, including national trial counsel team management roles in defending high-volume, multi-state, product liability claims. She is also an expert in the technology and management of electronic document collection and production, web-based document production and analysis, concept searching, and artificial intelligence. Anne is the author of “Automated Document Review Proves Its Reliability”, Digital Discovery & e-Evidence, November 2005. She is the Contributing Editor of The Sedona Conference Glossary For E-Discovery and Digital Information Management and author of "Navigating the Vendor Proposal Process: Best Practices for the Selection of Electronic Discovery Vendors."
Patrick L. Oot, Esq. Verizon Communications: Patrick L. Oot is Director of Electronic Discovery and Senior Counsel at Verizon in Arlington, Virginia. He has extensive experience in discovery practices involving commercial litigation, regulatory filings, and antitrust matters. Mr. Oot is charged with advising Verizon’s business units on electronic discovery while developing new technologies that increase cost-efficiency. In 2006, Mr. Oot was nominated for the Verizon Excellence Award after playing a key role in the successful completion of Verizon’s response to the Department of Justice’s Second Request for Documents in its acquisition of MCI. Recently, Inside Counsel Magazine named Verizon’s e-discovery team as one of the ten most innovative legal groups of 2006 and featured Mr. Oot in the September 2006 issue. He has also testified as Verizon’s 30(b)(6) witness for discovery- related inquiries in other matters. Currently, Mr. Oot is a member of the advisory board for The Georgetown University Law Center CLE Program’s Advanced E-discovery Institute, and The eDiscovery Institute, an independent search and retrieval science consortium. Mr. Oot actively participates in The Sedona Conference’s working groups; focusing on best practices for selecting search and retrieval technology and e-mail management systems. He is a member of the International Legal Technology Association, and has co-chaired Martindale-Hubble’s Counsel to Counsel electronic discovery roundtables. Mr. Oot lectures regularly at educational events, legal conferences, and general counsel round tables across the country. He received both his B.A. and J.D. from Syracuse University and his LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. Oot is admitted to practice in New York and Massachusetts and is also registered corporate counsel in Virginia.
Craig D. Ball, Esq. Plaintiff lawyer, EDD Expert: Mr. Ball is a veteran trial lawyer and certified computer forensic examiner with 23 years of experience resolving a wide range of personal injury and products liability disputes. He regularly serves as a Special Master in state and federal courts in matters of computer forensics and digital evidence. Named as one of the Best Lawyers in America and a Texas Superlawyer, Mr. Ball is a recipient of the Presidents’ Award, the State Bar of Texas’ most esteemed recognition of service to the profession. His monthly column in LawTechnology News, “Ball in Your Court,” explores developments in electronic discovery practice, and he is a frequent speaker across the country, including the ABA Tech Show, where he has been rated as one of the top speakers.
Florinda Baldridge Fulbright & Jaworski: With 20 years of experience in the legal industry and a focus on cutting-edge technology and a consultative support philosophy, Ms. Baldridge ensures that her department acts as an e- discovery consulting group to meet the growing needs of the firm and its clients.
Peter B. Gronvall, Esq. Co-founder and Managing Director, AdamsGrayson: Peter B. Gronvall is a co-founder and Managing Director of AdamsGrayson, a nationally recognized IT and legal consultancy specifically designed to provide corporate and law firm clients with counsel on information risk management and electronic discovery issues. Mr. Gronvall's practice focuses on helping corporations and law firms design, implement and optimize defensible data retention practices and e-discovery procedures. Under Mr. Gronvall’s leadership, AdamsGrayson’s IT and legal professionals conduct litigation preparedness assessments, assist corporations and law firms in the audit and selection of "best in class" vendors in content management, archiving, collection, and data processing, and advise on a wide range of strategic matters relating to e-discovery risk. Mr. Gronvall has also developed unique project management methodologies for hosting, staffing and supervising data review projects. AdamsGrayson leverages these offerings in next generation IT infrastructure in its state-of-the-art facility in downtown Washington, DC.
As an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Hunton & Williams LLP, Mr. Gronvall built the core of his practical legal experience in antitrust and merger matters and in representing corporate clients in large-scale civil litigation. Peter is a contributing member to the Sedona Conference, EDRM, and other thought leading organizations in the e-discovery space. Mr. Gronvall is a 1997 graduate of The Yale Law School and a 1994 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota. He is a member of the Washington DC and Virginia State Bar Associations, along with several individual court bars.

Judiciary and Regulatory Advisor

Hon. Ronald J. Hedges, U.S.M.J. Counsel, Nixon Peabody, LLP: Judge Ronald J. Hedges is a member of the firm’s Business Litigation practice group. He has extensive experience in e-discovery and in management of complex civil litigation matters. Mr. Hedges was appointed in 1986 as a United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, where he served as the Compliance Judge for the Court Mediation Program, a member of the Lawyers Advisory Committee, and both a member 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. Mr. Hedges has also been an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law since 1993 and at Georgetown University Law Center since 2006.
Honorable Loren Smith, U.S.D.C. US Court of Federal Claims: Judge Smith was appointed a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims on July 11, 1985 and entered duty on September 12, 1985. He was designated Chief Judge on January 14, 1986. He graduated from Northwestern University, receiving a B.A. in 1966; he attended Northwestern University School of Law, receiving a J.D. in 1969. Judge Smith formerly served as Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 1981 to 1985. During his tenure as Chairman, Judge Smith was a member of the President’s Cabinet Councils on Legal Policy and on Management and Administration. He also served as the Chairman of the Council of Independent Regulatory Agencies. Judge Smith was Deputy Director of the Executive Branch Management Office of Presidential Transition from 1980-81; Chief Counsel, Reagan for President campaigns in 1976 and 1980; Professor of Law, Delaware Law School, 1976-1984; Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, 1974-75; Assistant to the Special Counsel to the President, 1973-74; General Attorney, Federal Communications Commission in 1973; and Consultant, Sidley & Austin, Chicago, 1972-73. Also in 1972 he served as host of a nightly radio talk show called What’s Best for America? In 1970, he ran for Illinois General Assembly with the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune. Judge Smith is author of the following: The Morality of Regulation, William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review, 1998; The Aging of Administrative Law: The Administrative Conference Reaches Early Retirement, Arizona State Law Journal, 1998; Renovation of an Old Court, Federal Bar News and Journal, September 1993; A Spring Thaw in Estonia, The Washington Times, April 11, 1992; Administration: An Idea Whose Time May Have Passed, in The Fettered Presidency, eds. L. Gordon Crovitz & Jeremy A. Rabkin, 1989; Vision of the Exchange, William & Mary Law Review, 1986; Judicialization of the Administrative Process: The Fine Print, National Legal Center for the Public Interest, 1986; The End of the Constitution, 4 Detroit College of Law Review 1147 (1986); Judicialization: The Twilight of Administrative Law, 85 Duke L.J. 2, 1985; Judicial Review of Administrative Decisions, 7 Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 61 (1984); Business, Buck$ & Bull, The Corporation, The First Amendment & The Corrupt Practice of Law, 4 Delaware J. of Corporate Law 1, 1978. He is co-author of Black America and Organized Labor: A Fair Deal?, The Lincoln Institute for Research and Education (1979).
Judge Xavier Rodriguez, U.S.D.C. Western District of Texas: Judge Rodriguez is a former Justice on the Texas State Supreme Court and currently sits on the bench as a United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas. Born in San Antonio, Texas, he received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University (A.B. History), a graduate degree from the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs (M.P.A) and a law degree from the University of Texas Law School. Prior to assuming the bench, he was a partner in the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski. Rodriguez, was appointed in 2001 by Governor Rick Perry. Rodriguez returned to private practice briefly before being appointed to the Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio by President George W. Bush. Rodriguez is a regular speaker on continuing legal education seminars and has authored numerous articles regarding employment law, discovery and arbitration issues. He is past chair of the State Bar of Texas Labor and Employment Council and Chair of the State Bar Paralegal Committee. Rodriguez has served on numerous state and community boards, including the State Board for Educator Certification, the Texas Lutheran University Board of Regents, the South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, the San Antonio Area Foundation, the Alamo Area Boy Scouts Council, and Respite Care of San Antonio. He served in the United States Army Reserve as an officer from 1983 to 1993 after receiving his commission from the ROTC program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.