The Sedona Conference Working Group 6 Annual Meeting 2024

Date: 
Tuesday, January 9, 2024 - 8:45am to Wednesday, January 10, 2024 - 1:00pm

Location:
Marriott Brussels Grand Place
Brussels, Belgium

Register today for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Working Group 6 on International Electronic Information Management, Discovery, and Disclosure (WG6), to be held at the Brussels Marriott Hotel Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday-Wednesday, 9-10 January 2024. A welcome reception will be held on the evening of Monday 8 January from 18:00-20:00.

The meeting's primary focus will be on new drafts in need of WG6 member review and comment, including the following topics:

  • Cross-border data and information governance - practical considerations for global compliance
  • Proportionality in cross-border discovery
  • Exporting data from the People's Republic of China
  • Operationalizing the Hague Evidence Convention and other mechanisms for cross-border data transfers

The meeting will also feature the following sessions:

  • Internal investigations
  • Preservation in modern communication and collaboration platforms
  • Data protection authority (DPA) roundtable
  • Town hall

Hotel Reservation Information:

We obtained a very favorable group room rate at the Brussels Marriott Hotel Grand Place of €189 per night (plus taxes) for a limited block of rooms on the evenings of 8-9 January 2024. For those who wish to arrive early, leave late, or otherwise extend their stay, the group rate also is available for three nights preceding and three nights following the dates of the room block, but subject to room availability.  This room block expired on 12 December, so now all rooms are on a space available basis. Reservation information will be provided in your meeting registration confirmation email.

CLE:

The Sedona Conference will seek CLE accreditation for this meeting in selected jurisdictions (except Virginia) as dictated by attendance.

Dialogue Leaders

3M

Avondale, PA, USA

Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner

St Helier, Jersey

European Data Protection Supervisor

Brussels, Belgium

Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP

Atlanta, GA, USA

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Los Angeles, CA, USA

FTI Consulting

London, United Kingdom

European Commission

Brussels, Belgium

Center for Information Policy Leadership

Brussels, Belgium

Cozen O' Connor

Philadelphia, PA, USA

UBS Business Solutions AG

Zurich, Switzerland

FTI Consulting

London, UK

Swiss Re

Armonk, NY, USA

Covington & Burling LLP

Los Angeles, CA, USA

KLDiscovery

Minnetonka, MN, USA

Google

Ridgefield, CT, USA

Duane Morris LLP

Pittsburgh, PA, USA

KLDiscovery

Mechanicsville, VA, USA

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

San Antonio, TX, USA

Italian Data Protection Authority

Rome, Italy

Redgrave LLP

Chantilly, VA, USA

King & Spalding

Atlanta, GA, USA

DLA Piper LLP (US)

Reston, VA, USA

DLA Piper LLP US

Chicago, IL, USA

European Data Protection Board

Brussels, Belgium

Gowling WLG

Ottawa, ON, Canada

Clyde & Co

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

AlixPartners

Shanghai, China

WG6 Annual Meeting 2024 Agenda

Time  Session  Panelists
  Monday, 8 January  
18:00 — 20:00 Welcome reception  
  Tuesday, 9 January  
7:45 — 8:45 Sign-in  
8:45 — 9:00 Welcome and Overview Mancari, Shonka, Weinlein
9:00 — 10:15 Internal investigations  
  The panel will lead a dialogue with all attendees on whether WG6 should draft a supplement to The Sedona Conference International Investigations Principles (“Principles”) or a stand-alone Commentary that provides practical and current guidance for issues not addressed in Principles, such as the involvement of AI and other current, applicable technologies, as well as changes in laws that may present new concerns. The feedback during the panel will be instructive as to whether WG6 will move forward with a brainstorming group on this topic and if so, the topics to be included. Earnshaw, Mancari*, Robinson, Stein
10:15 — 10:30 Morning Break  
10:30 — 11:45 Cross-border data and information governance - practical considerations for global compliance  
  A panel of WG6 drafting team members will lead a dialogue with all attendees on their first draft of a Commentary on Cross-Border Data and Information Governance: Practical Considerations for Global Compliance (“draft Commentary”). The intent of the draft Commentary is to provide guidance to corporate stakeholders, the bench, and the bar on myriad decisions and activities an organization must consider when implementing a cross-border information governance program intended to optimize the balance between the competing demands of ongoing retention of information to meet business, legal, and regulatory demands, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the timely disposition of aged or sensitive information—including disposing of personal data to effectuate recognized data protection principles of data minimization and storage limits and fulfill legitimate data subject access requests. Brady, Greco, Mandel*, Strauss, Wagner, Wilkinson
11:45 — 13:00 Preservation in modern communication and collaboration platforms  
  When the duty to preserve data arises, organizations face the complex task of determining what to preserve. Preserving every potentially relevant document in existence is often neither reasonable nor proportional. This challenge intensifies when collaboration platforms, such as Microsoft Teams, are used across global enterprises with separate, but linked, corporate entities spanning multiple borders and jurisdictions. The scoping of preservation efforts often touch upon conflicting legal obligations and rights including data privacy rights. The panel will lead a dialogue on solutions to (1) navigate international tensions that may arise during preservation efforts and (2) incorporate the principles of reasonableness and proportionality, specifically within collaboration platforms. Hendley, Hoffman*, Robinson, Hon. Rodriguez, Solomon
13:00 — 14:00 Lunch  
14:00  — 15:30 Data protection authority (DPA) roundtable  
  Global DPAs will lead a dialogue on their respective challenges and priorities in both their enforcement and advisory roles under global data protection regimes. The dialogue will also address technological developments and data transfer mechanisms (e.g., SCCs; EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework). Breitbarth, Buchta, Gencarelli, Gerlach*, Scorza, Talus
15:30 — 15:45 Afternoon Break  
15:45 — 17:00 Town hall  
  WG6 Steering Committee members will lead a dialogue amongst the WG6 members in attendance on progress made on the work product of the Working Group, and by the Working Group as a whole. WG6 member input will be sought regarding the future direction of WG6, including ideas for existing and new commentaries and projects. Gerlach, Hoffman, Mancari, Mandel, Shonka*, Wilkinson
17:00 — 19:00 Reception (guests invited)  
  Wednesday, 10 January  
8:00 — 9:00 Sign-in  
9:00 — 10:15 Proportionality in cross-border discovery
  The drafting team will lead a dialogue on its draft Commentary on the applicability of the Rule 26(b)(1) proportionality analysis to cross-border discovery involving non-U.S. data protection laws and regulations. A number of U.S. courts have used a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) proportionality analysis to determine whether information residing outside the U.S. that is subject to foreign data protection or other laws restricting disclosure is discoverable in U.S. litigation. The Sedona Conference International Litigation Principles provides guidance on balancing potential conflicts between U.S. litigation requirements and non-U.S. data protection laws, and specifically references Rule 26(b)(1) in this context. There is no stand-alone guidance on these issues from The Sedona Conference, however, and this draft Commentary on Proportionality in Cross-Border Discovery would fill that void. Calvert, Mancari, Meyers*, Hon. Rodriguez
10:15 — 11:30 Exporting data from the People's Republic of China  
  A panel of WG6 drafting team members will lead a dialogue with all attendees on their draft Commentary on Exporting Data from the People’s Republic of China (“draft Commentary”). The draft Commentary addresses the current landscape of laws and regulations, the challenges, and potential avenues for best practices for compliance in the PRC. The draft Commentary (1) provides an overview of the landscape of new and existing (and forthcoming) privacy and data security regulations; (2) addresses the challenges presented by the existing and evolving privacy and data security laws and regulations; and (3) provides current best practices and guidance for complying with these laws and regulations while exporting data from the PRC in connection with legal matters outside of the PRC. Gill, Priselac, Solomon*, Yu
11:30 — 11:45 Morning Break  
11:45 — 13:00 Operationalizing the Hague Evidence Convention and other mechanisms for cross-border data transfers  
  A panel of WG6 drafting team members will lead a dialogue with all attendees on their draft Commentary on Operationalizing the Hague Evidence Convention and other Mechanisms for Cross-Border Data Transfers (“draft Commentary”). The draft Commentary addresses The Hague Evidence Convention’s (“Convention”) potential to further advance discovery in civil litigation and ways that potential might be advanced. In particular, the draft Commentary explores the use of Letters Rogatory under Chapter 1 of the Convention and the use of Commissioners and Special Masters under Chapter 2 of the Convention; it is also explores the use of MOUs and MLATs and the limits of those agreements in dealing with blocking statutes, data protection laws, and other impediments to the unfettered flow of information across borders. The draft Commentary addresses how those devices are, or may be, (mis)used to impair or impede cross-border transfers for litigation. Brady*, Costello, Meyers, Shonka
13:00 — 14:00 Lunch  

*Panel Moderator

Date: 
Tuesday, January 9, 2024 - 7:45am to Wednesday, January 10, 2024 - 2:00pm