The Sedona Conference Working Group 1 Midyear Meeting 2025

Date: 
Thursday, April 24, 2025 - 8:30am to Friday, April 25, 2025 - 1:00pm

Location:
The Royal Sonesta
35 South 7th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55402

The 2025 Midyear Meeting of the Sedona Conference Working Group 1 on Electronic Document Retention and Production (WG1) will be Thursday, April 24, and Friday, April 25, at the Royal Sonesta in downtown Minneapolis. A welcome reception will precede the meeting on April 23, beginning at 5:30 p.m. 

The meeting will provide members with an opportunity to review and dialogue on several ongoing Working Group 1 drafting teams and brainstorming group efforts. Full sessions will be devoted to:

  • Recommendations from the Brainstorming Group on the Effectiveness of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) Conferences
  • An initial draft Primer from the Government Privileges Drafting Team

Updates will also be provided on four other working drafts: Managing, Modifying, and Lifting Legal Holds; Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Discovery; The Sufficiency of Rule 26(a)(1) Initial Disclosures; and Discovery Sanctions.

The agenda also includes a couple of WG1 staples:

  • Voices from the Bench (our judicial roundtable)
  • ESI Case Law review, which, due to popular demand, will again be the subject of dialogue in two separate sessions -- one on each day of the meeting.

Rounding out the agenda are sessions on:

  • The Evolving Roles of AI Tech and Humans in Discovery;
  • Professionalism and Civility in High-Stakes Litigation; and
  • The Ethical Duty of Competence in a Complex eDiscovery World.

Hotel Reservation Information: 

We have obtained a very favorable group room rate at the Royal Sonesta of $179 per night (plus tax) for a limited block of rooms on the evenings of April 23-24.  The group rate will be available for three days preceding and three days following the dates of the room block, subject to standard guestroom availability.  The hotel is holding this limited block of rooms until April 1, after which any unsold rooms will be released for sale to the general public and subject to availability.  Reservation information will be provided in your meeting registration confirmation email. 

To attend the meeting or participate in any of The Sedona Conference’s Working Group Series (WGS) activities, you must be a WGS member. For details on membership, please click here.

CLE

The Sedona Conference will seek CLE accreditation for this meeting in selected jurisdictions, as dictated by attendance.

Dialogue Leaders

U.S. District Court, Central District of California

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Nichols Kaster, PLLP

Minneapolis, MN, USA

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP

San Diego, CA, USA

Tousley Brain Stephens

Seattle, WA, USA

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Charlotte, NC, USA

Beasley Allen

Montgomery, AL, USA

U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Littler Mendelson, P.C.

Kansas City, MO, USA

US District Court, District of Minnesota

St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

Covington & Burling LLP

Chantilly, VA, USA

Innovative Driven

Alpine, UT, USA

Hausfeld

Washington, DC, USA

U.S. District Court, Southern District of California

San Diego, CA, USA

Cooley LLP

San Diego, CA, USA

Eastern District of New York

New York, NY, USA

Seeger Weiss LLP

Philadelphia, PA, USA

Paul Hastings

New York, NY, USA

Redgrave LLP

Washington, DC, USA

Smith, Gambrell & Russell

Atlanta, GA, USA

DLA Piper

Reston, VA, USA

U.S. Dept of Justice

Washington, DC, USA

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP

New York, NY, USA

Repario Data

Milford, CT, USA

Winston & Strawn LLP

Washington, DC, USA

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP

Radnor, PA, USA

Tucker Ellis LLP

Cleveland, OH, USA

Elevate

Delhi, NY, USA

Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft

Wolfsburg, Germany

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

Richmond, VA, USA

Arnold & Porter

Washington, DC, USA

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

West Palm Beach, FL, USA

Irpino Avin Hawkins

New Orleans, LA, USA

EEOC

Washington, DC, USA

Saint Louis University School of Law

St. Louis, MO, USA

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

St. Paul, MN, USA

Walmart

Fayetteville, AR, USA

The Sedona Conference Working Group 1 Midyear Meeting 2025

Time  Session  Panelists
  Wednesday, April 23, 2025 (*=moderator)
5:30 — 7:30 p.m. Welcome reception  
  Thursday, April 24, 2025  
7:30 — 8:45 a.m. Breakfast & sign-in  
8:45 — 9:00 a.m. Welcome and Announcements  
9:00 — 10:15 a.m. [Session 1]  ESI Case Law Session 1: Recent Key Case Law Decisions and Their Impact on Discovery Practice  
  Discovery case law is challenging lawyers to more effectively handle basic and advance ESI issues for their clients. With key decisions on preservation, discovery process, ethics, sanctions, and search, this session will review some of the top eDiscovery court decisions from the past six months and spotlight how they may affect discovery practice going forward in 2025. Phil Favro*, Ruth Hauswirth, Hon. Marcia Henry, Shauna Itri
10:15 — 10:45 a.m. Morning Break  
10:45 — 12 noon [Session 2]  In Search of Effective Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) Conferences  
  The Effectiveness of Rule 26(f) Brainstorming Group will share insights from its outline on potential WG1 guidance on the Rule 26(f) Conferences, including the history behind Rule 26(f), current 26(f) conference practices, and what changes would improve the 26(f) conference process going forward. After meeting for several months, the group will identify the topics they have reached consensus on and make recommendations on whether changes are required to maximize the effectiveness of Rule 26(f) conferences. The group seeks feedback from WG1 members on their recommendations. Hon. Maria Audero, Bustamante*, Emily Jennings, Michelle Newcomer, Benjamin Piep
12 noon — 12:30 p.m. [Session 3]  Ongoing WG1 Drafting Team Updates: Managing, Modifying, and Lifting Legal Holds; Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Discovery; Sufficiency of Rule 26(a)(1) Initial Disclosures; Discovery Sanctions  
  This panel of WG1 Steering Committee Liaisons will provide updates to the membership on the continuing efforts and progress of various WG1 drafting team projects, including Managing, Modifying, and Lifting Legal Holds; Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Discovery; Sufficiency of Rule 26(a)(1) Initial Disclosures; and Discovery Sanctions. Lea Bays*, Kaleigh Boyd, Daniel Lim, Meghan Podolny
12:30 — 1:45 p.m. Lunch (provided)  
1:45 — 2:45 p.m. [Session 4]  A Tour of Privilege in Government Investigations and Litigation  
  This panel will explore unique government privileges in the context of informal and formal government investigations and litigation. The drafting team members will seek member feedback on the draft Primer focused on the following government privileges: Bank Examination, Bank Secrecy Act, Confidential Informants, Deliberative Process, Executive, FOIA, Investigatory Files, Law Enforcement Investigative, Legislative, Official Information, Peer Review, Relator, Self-Critical Analysis, and State Secrets Privilege. Traer Cundiff*, Alex Khoury, Pearl Robertson
2:45 — 3:45 p.m. [Session 5] The Evolving Roles of AI Tech and Humans in Discovery  
  This panel examines how trust and acceptance of AI tools have evolved from early TAR approaches to today's modern TAR and GenAI applications. Drawing on lessons from the past, we'll explore current uses in document review and privilege analysis, while looking ahead to transformative applications like AI-enhanced early case assessment and real-time evidence retrieval. We will explore the balance between AI capabilities and human expertise, risk considerations, and predictions for how AI advancements may reshape discovery practice in both the near and long term. Tara Emory*, Nathaniel Giddings, Hon. Allison Goddard, Robert Keeling, Jeremy Pickens
3:45 — 4:00 p.m. Afternoon Break  
4:00 — 5:00 p.m. [Session 6]  What Professionalism and Civility Look Like in High-Stakes Litigation  
  eDiscovery disputes in high-stakes litigation can often become heated. For almost 15 years, the Sedona Conference has encouraged parties to cooperate in the conduct of discovery to the greatest extent possible. See The Sedona Conference Cooperation Proclamation: Resources for the Judiciary, Third Edition (2020). Cooperation, however, cannot happen without litigators conducting themselves with personal courtesy and professional integrity, which can sometimes be challenging as attorneys balance acting with “zeal in advocacy” with the expectation of cooperation (ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.3 Diligence – Comment). This panel explores the professional boundaries and expectations of behavior in this big-data era, as well as ways the judiciary has facilitated civility amongst the parties. Hon. Joy Flowers Conti, Dennis Kiker, Kelly McNabb*, Karen Sanner
5:00 — 7:00 p.m. Reception (guests invited)  
  Friday, April 25, 2025  
7:30 — 8:45 a.m. Breakfast & sign-in  
8:45 — 10:15 a.m. [Session 7]  Voices from the Bench: The Judicial Perspective for 2025 and Beyond
 

This session will present a wide range of judicial perspectives on emerging eDiscovery trends, new techniques, and recent case law. This esteemed panel will discuss hot topics such as generative AI, collaboration and short-message format discovery, modern "attachments", and best practices for evaluating and resolving complex eDiscovery disputes.

Hon. Maria Audero, Hon. Joy Flowers Conti, Hon. John Docherty, Hon. Allison Goddard, Hon. Marcia Henry, Hon. Bruce Reinhart, Maria Salacuse*, Hon. Elizabeth Cowan Wright
10:15 — 10:45 a.m. Break  
10:45 — 11:45 a.m. [Session 8]  ESI Case Law Session 2: Recent Key Case Law Decisions and Their Impact on Discovery Practice (continued)  
  Discovery and ESI case law in 2025 is pushing courts to consider a range of complex ESI issues. While tackling issues involving artificial intelligence and family productions, courts must also deal with seemingly banal yet still timely and important topics such as privilege logging. This session will review a range of these issues, highlighting some of the top eDiscovery cases from the past six months and discussing how they may affect discovery practice going forward this year and beyond. Jason Moore*, Gerard Quinn, Hon. Elizabeth Cowan Wright
11:45 — 12:45 p.m. [Session 9]  Ethics Session: The Duty of Competence in a Complex eDiscovery World  
  Attorneys play a critical role in guiding their clients on the preservation, collection, review, and production of electronically stored information to ensure compliance with discovery obligations. They must also effectively collaborate with opposing counsel to develop robust discovery plans. In today's digital age, with the proliferation of mobile devices, ephemeral messaging, cloud storage, collaboration platforms, hyperlinked documents, and AI-driven document review, the required level of technological competence has risen dramatically - often surpassing the comfort zone of many attorneys. This panel will explore the ethical and professional standards surrounding technological competence, the level of expertise required of attorneys, and how much attorneys may rely upon their clients and service providers while still ensuring compliance with their obligations. Rebekah Bailey, Suzanne Clark*, Hon. John Docherty, Paul McVoy, Tony Petruzzi, Deric Yoakley
12:45 p.m. — 1:00 p.m. Closing remarks and wrap-up  
1:00 p.m. Adjournment & Grab-and-go lunch (provided)  
Date: 
Thursday, April 24, 2025 - 8:30am to Friday, April 25, 2025 - 1:00pm