The ACEDS ANZ Chapter board election results are in! & Happy eDiscovery Day...
ACEDS Australia & New Zealand
Bringing together professionals across the local IT and legal communities to promote best practices in e-discovery.
Welcome to the December 2024 edition of the ACEDS ANZ Chapter Newsletter.?
This edition brings exciting news that the ANZ Chapter Board elections were held in September and the results are in.
The current and new board are busy making plans for community events across Australia and New Zealand to celebrate the 10th eDiscovery Day so please continue to support our group by attending events, sharing your ideas and engaging with our content.
Thank you for your continued support.
WELCOME TO THE NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS
We are pleased to introduce our newly elected board members following our recent elections:
Congratulations?to all the new members:
Directors at Large:
All of the new board members will be in attendance at the eDiscovery Day events, so come along and connect with them!
For more information on our board members and links to their Linkedin Profiles click here:
A NOTE FROM THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE ACEDS ANZ CHAPTER - STUART HALL
Stuart Hall, President
Day Job: Managing Director of Technology at FTI Consulting
Why Did You Join the ACEDS Board? I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to work in the eDiscovery market for over 25 years at several service providers, law firms and in the software industry.? What I’ve learnt over that time is that we all work in an industry that it not well understood, or recognised, for the immense skills that those in eDiscovery bring to the table.? Those that I’ve worked with over the journey bring an incredible mix of deep technical understanding across a range of technologies, immense project management skills, a strong practical understanding of the implementation of civil procedure, commerciality and a get things (s**t) done attitude.?
What they lack though, is a way to be recognised and accredited for the incredible work they do day to day and that’s what ACEDS provides.? It also provides a unique opportunity to recognise skills broader than just the technical acumen that many of our software partners recognise through their own stellar certification programs.?
It was an easy decision to join the ACEDS board and to help build educational opportunities and accreditation to support the eDiscovery industry in ANZ.? Plus… and it’s a big plus, is to have the opportunity to work with several talented peers on the ACEDS board that I admire and respect.
Outgoing Board of Directors
A massive thank you to the outgoing board members Gina O'Neill and Enzo Lisciotto for volunteering your time, ideas and support of the Chapter as it has been forming.
A NOTE FROM THE OUTGOING PRESIDENT - EMMA YOUNG
As I transition from the founder and President of the chapter and hand the reigns over to Stuart Hall 賀力宏 I have taken a minute to reflect on why the group was started and how we got to where we are today...
The Australia and New Zealand Chapter of ACEDS was formed in early 2021.
When I'd moved back to Australia after working in the UK for 13 years, I was looking for a group of peers that could share war stories, ideas and hopes for the future of doing eDiscovery in Australia. After being part of the ACEDS, UK Chapter I enlisted the help of Rhyno Heydenrych, CEDS and Michael Quartararo to bring together the Australian and New Zealand eDiscovery communities and bought the concept of the Association of Certified eDiscovery Specialists to our region.
It hasn't all been easy and as a volunteer role being squeezed in between the demands of the day job (and family life) we worked really hard to hold networking events, CLE sessions, educational webinars, present at and attended conferences on behalf of ACEDS such as Relativity Spotlight, Nuix XLR8, LawFest and bought together an amazing community of like-minded individuals who share the same challenges.
2-and-a-bit years on, we have raised funds and awareness through our wonderful sponsors (Relativity, EDT, GoldFynch eDiscovery, CBIT Digital Forensics Services (CDFS), LawFest, Reveal and Nuix).
Whilst I am very proud of our achievements to date and the foundation that we have built, I am very happy to be passing the reigns onto the new board who bring enthusiasm, energy and ideas to help continue to develop our group for our community. Thank you to everyone who has helped us get here by volunteering your time and support.
GETTING TO KNOW THE BOARD
John Minn, Co-director membership
Day Job: Partner, Forensic & eDiscovery, McGrathNicol Auckland
Why Did You Join the ACEDS Board?? After working in eDiscovery for 20+ years, I have seen the industry develop and grow.? I saw the forming of the ACEDS ANZ chapter as an opportunity to bring the local industry together, promote knowledge, create a community and be able to offer formal certifications.? The board has a wealth of knowledge who are only too happy to share their insights and experiences.? I thoroughly enjoyed the first stint on the board, and I am very pleased to be able to support the chapter for a second term.
NEWS
eDiscovery Day 2024 is Thursday 5 December
Have you registered to attend an event in your region?
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT
Relativity supports over 300,000 professionals across approximately 40 countries, empowering users to tackle complex legal data challenges.
As a proud sponsor of the ACEDS ANZ Chapter, we’re committed to fostering a strong e-discovery community across Australia and New Zealand. Partnerships like these are vital in navigating today’s rapidly evolving landscape. Relativity CEO Phil Saunders discussed this time of momentous development at Relativity Fest, stating, “we are entering a phase of accelerated change, accelerated compute, industrial strength, massive size AI workloads. That’s going to drive transformative outcomes with the work in our lives.”
A recent study Generative AI in Legal 2024 conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC) and commissioned by Relativity highlights key insights into how generative AI’s transformative outcomes are playing out. Read more about the findings in this blog post here.
To see how these innovations are shaping the industry, join Relativity on 8 April 2025 for the first-ever Relativity Fest Sydney! Connect with e-discovery and tech professionals, discover how Relativity aiR, our fit-for-purpose generative AI solutions, are transforming investigations, explore generative AI best practices, and tackle legal data challenges with industry leaders. Register for free here.
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Name: Christopher Morris
Firm: Control Risks
Job Title: Director
But what does my day job look like?
Every day brings new challenges, and my plans often take a complete turn by mid-morning. As the leader of the custom development team, I collaborate closely with Project Management, Operations, and Forensic teams to define requirements, test solutions, and streamline processes. Recently, my work has included converting Zendesk data into RSMF format for legal review, developing scripts to push extracted text to OpenAI Azure for rapid document summarization, automating custom timeline visualizations across structured and unstructured data, and designing dashboards that provide clients with actionable insights into their data and spending metrics.
In addition to tackling daily challenges, whether through custom development, training, or coordination with software providers, I’m committed to improving our team’s capabilities. In my downtime, I focus on developing training programs to onboard new team members and ensure we stay ahead of industry trends.
What would you be doing if you weren't in eDiscovery?
I enjoy writing software or SQL scripts to address client requests—it’s one of the most satisfying aspects of my work. If I weren’t in eDiscovery, I’d likely still be pursuing a career in software development.
One eDiscovery thing I'm passionate about?
I’m truly passionate about streamlining processes. I focus on increasing efficiency, minimizing the risk of human error, and enabling our team to dedicate more time to high-value consultancy work that drives meaningful results.
领英推荐
What is something that still surprises me about eDiscovery?
The unique and unexpected client requests that come our way. I’m continually impressed by our team’s ability to tackle these challenges head-on and deliver solutions with remarkable speed and precision.
Do you have an eDiscovery pet peeve?
Seeing manual hours spent on a task that could have been streamlined or entirely automated with the right software solution.
What is something you’re keen to see change in industry?
I’m excited about the potential of emerging technologies, particularly Large Language Models, and eager to see how they transform and elevate the industry.
Is there anything else you'd like us to know about you?
When I’m not working, I cherish spending time with my young kids, watching them grow, learn, and blossom into amazing little humans.
TECH TALK
We point our community to three significant developments to legislation in Australia - read on to stay informed:
Supreme Court of New South Wales - Chief Justice issued Practice Note SC GEN 23 – Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI)
A note from Past President Emma Young :
On 21 November 2024 the Chief Justice issued Practice Note SC GEN 23 – Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI), with a commencement date of 3 February 2025.
It is stated that "Due to the rapidly developing nature of Gen AI, this Practice Note will be periodically reviewed" we recommend eDiscovery professionals read the full Practise Note here: PN_Generative_AI_21112024.pdf
Gen AI must not be used in generating the content of affidavits, witness statements, character references or other material that is intended to reflect the deponent or witness’ evidence and/or opinion, or other material tendered in evidence or used in cross examination.
This may not be entirely unsurprising; it is reassuring that the Practice Note looks inwards to say that "Judges in New South Wales should not use Gen AI in the formulation of reasons for judgment or the assessment or analysis of evidence preparatory to the delivery of reasons for judgment. Gen AI should not be used for editing or proofing draft judgments, and no part of a draft judgment should be submitted to a Gen AI program."
Introduction of landmark Cyber Security Legislation Package - Australia
Note from Vice-President Hans van der Heijden
Australia's 2024 cyber security reforms focus on strengthening national resilience against cyber threats. They introduce stricter regulations for critical infrastructure sectors, expanding security obligations to more industries, including energy, banking, healthcare, and telecommunications.
?Key measures include mandatory incident reporting, improved risk management frameworks, and enhanced collaboration between government and private sectors. The reforms also aim to boost penalties for non-compliance and encourage adoption of best practices in cybersecurity across organisations. These efforts align with global standards to counter growing risks posed by cyber-attacks.
Further detail available here:
Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
Note from President Stuart Hall 賀力宏
The Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 amends the Privacy Act 1988 to improve privacy protections.?The bill was introduced in September 2024 and passed in November 2024 with some changes made by the Senate.?
Key reforms
The bill requires the Information Commissioner to develop a code to protect children's privacy online.?The code will apply to many online services, including social media, websites, and apps.?
The bill introduces a new tort to provide compensation for serious invasions of privacy.?
The bill introduces criminal offenses for releasing personal data in a menacing or harassing way.?
The bill requires more transparency when automated decisions are made using personal information.?
The bill gives the Information Commissioner more powers to enforce the Privacy Act.?
The bill improves information sharing in emergencies and after data breaches.?
?The bill also includes:?
Further information can be found here:
UPCOMING EVENTS
eDiscovery Day - Thursday 5 December 2024
The ACEDS ANZ Chapter is holding eDiscovery Day Events in Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney this week. If you would like to attend, in some cities it is not too late - check for last minute availability here: eDiscovery Day Tickets.
Further details on ACEDS events can be found on the ACEDS Events page.
WE WELCOME CONTRIBUTIONS
As our group grows and expands within our region, we hope that this regular publication gives you an opportunity to learn a little and provides a platform for our community to share information.? We do this for you, our community, therefore please get in touch with us if you have any feedback, if you would like to share your ideas for regular features we could include, or if you are an ACEDS member and you would like to contribute to an article or feature. Email [email protected] to tell us what you want to see in 2025.?
LINKS
DISCOUNT CODES
As we grow our chapter, we invite you to use the ANZ30 discount code for signing up to any certification or community membership.
CONTACT US
Email us at [email protected] or go to our website: