how to effectively use metadata as a lawyer

Meta-titles should be between 50 and 60 characters and should contain the page name and your law firm name, provided you can make it fit within the character limit.

Full Answer

Should metadata be part of the litigation process?

But if the metadata is unlikely to be meaningful, the requesting party might agree to forego it. By communicating and reaching agreement on these issues at the outset of litigation, parties might avoid the unnecessary effort and expense associated with preserving and producing irrelevant metadata.

What is metadata and why does it matter?

And metadata frequently is a by-product that results from the use of technology. For example, a litigator who uses a software application like MS Word to create a document—a pleading or motion, a letter to opposing counsel, etc.—creates metadata. Also, as discussed herein, metadata produced or obtained in discovery might make or break a case.

Is metadata protected by the attorney-client privilege?

Because internally stored metadata travels with the electronic file to which it relates, it is possible to unintentionally disclose information that is confidential or protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege or attorney work product protection.

Who has a duty to preserve metadata?

Parties to litigation have a duty to preserve relevant metadata. Simply put, if a party to an existing or impending lawsuit has possession, custody or control over metadata that is relevant to the dispute, the party has a duty to preserve it.

How can metadata be used in court?

Metadata often counts as substantive evidence. For example, comments in a Word document can show the drafter's intent. The same with tracked changes and formulas in Excel. Further, metadata is extremely useful for authenticating evidence because it often shows the author and creation date for files.

What is metadata in a legal document?

In litigation, “metadata is evidence, typically stored electronically, that describes the characteristics, origins, usage, and validity of other electronic evidence.” ▪

What is metadata law firm?

Metadata is information (data) that describes your data. Metadata may include: Dates/Timestamps: file creation, last modified, last accessed. Original Author: perhaps many years, many firms ago.

Can a lawyer use data analytics?

First and foremost, law firms can use legal data analysis to win cases and secure good outcomes for their clients. Robust analytics can uncover patterns in how certain courts, or even certain judges, have ruled in past cases that are similar to your clients.

Can metadata be used as evidence in court?

Simply put, yes. Metadata is both discoverable and admissible. As one New York Court put it, “[w]hile certainly meta-data is discoverable to determine if and when documents may have been altered, that is not the only reason for production.

Is metadata protected by attorney client privilege?

First, metadata raises significant issues concerning confidentiality for attorneys. Depending upon the law of the jurisdiction, an attorney who sends a document that she has created and edited without removing the metadata may be held to have waived the attorney–client privilege or work-product protection.

What is an example of metadata?

Some examples of basic metadata are author, date created, date modified, and file size. Metadata is also used for unstructured data such as images, video, web pages, spreadsheets, etc. Web pages often include metadata in the form of meta tags.

Can metadata be wrong?

Very often, unreliability comes down to discrepancies and errors with the photo or video's metadata. Metadata summarises a photo or video's basic information. For example, the footage's time and location, and the device it was taken with.

Is metadata confidential?

Beyond what is immediately apparent to the eye, metadata is generated within the file and often contains information that could be privileged or confidential. Metadata is basically data about data – for example, the file's context, time and place of origin and record of revisions.

How do lawyers use data?

A fundamental truth all in-house lawyers need to understand is the language of business is numbers, and data analytics can help legal departments talk the talk and make the case with accurate numbers for the needs and operations of the department as a whole.

What type of analytics do lawyers commonly use?

Predictive analytics, for example, can help lawyers forecast the future. Or more accurately, it helps legal professionals make educated guesses on things like how long a case will take to reach a decision or how an expert witness may fare under scrutiny.

How are law firms using data?

Law Firms use data to evaluate and check their marketing efforts and learn more about their customers, making use of some of the key tools available to gather and store data. Attorneys can now use data analytics to inform the cases they try for clients.

Why do lawyers scrub metadata?

On the other hand, some lawyers like to scrub metadata from Word documents so that the other side doesn't see metadata such as the document author or the total time spent editing. Still, it's hard to see what bad things would result from the other side seeing this information.

Why is metadata important in a document?

Further, metadata is extremely useful for authenticating evidence because it often shows the author and creation date for files. Digital photographs often include GPS coordinates. Without metadata, you'd have to authenticate Word documents and digital photographs based only on testimony.

What is metadata in Word?

What is Metadata? Metadata is simply information about computer files and related records. Consider, for example, a Microsoft Word document on your computer. The following pieces of information about the Word document all count as metadata: The author of the file (tracked by Word).

What is application metadata?

Application metadata is included in computer files themselves. If you copy a file from one computer to another without changing the contents of the file, the application metadata will be preserved intact and unchanged. System metadata is not included in computer files. Instead, the operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.) holds this metadata.

Is the name of a file considered metadata?

It's not important to decide whether the name of a computer file counts as metadata or, instead, as part of the file. The same goes for tracked changes and comments. The key thing to know is not whether these items count as metadata, but that they are always useful and sometimes very relevant.

Is metadata expensive to produce?

Metadata is expensive to produce in discovery ... Not really. Application metadata produces itself if you produce files in native format. System metadata is a bit more difficult, but some parties will agree to forego system metadata. In any case, the probative value of metadata makes it worth some extra effort or cost.

Is metadata a substantive evidence?

Metadata is mostly useless information ... Not true. Metadata often counts as substantive evidence. For example, comments in a Word document can show the drafter's intent. The same with tracked changes and formulas in Excel. Further, metadata is extremely useful for authenticating evidence because it often shows the author ...

How long should a meta description be?

For best practices, meta-descriptions should be between 120 and 150 characters in length. You should also be sure to include a short explanation of the webpage, the name of your law firm, and a call to action. You can include rhetorical questions, your phone number or email address, and phrases such as “free consultations” or “over twenty years of experience” to help entice users to click on your webpage in search results.

How long does it take for Google to update metadata?

While you can do things to help speed this process along, it can still take up to six months or longer for Google to find and update your metadata in search results.

How many characters should a meta title be?

Meta-titles should be between 50 and 60 characters and should contain the page name and your law firm name, provided you can make it fit within the character limit. A good rule of thumb is to make the first part of your meta-title the name of your webpage, followed by a separating character like a dash “ – “ or a bar “ | ” followed by your firm name. It should look something like this:

Is metadata a set it and forget it?

Metadata isn’t a “set it and forget it” type of activity. Google and other search engines are constantly evolving and changing, requiring law firms to continually update website metadata. If you don’t have the time or don’t know where to begin, contact the search engine optimization experts at Stacey E. Burke, P.C.

What is the ABA 477R?

In May, the ABA, in Formal Opinion 477R (Securing Communication of Protected Client Information ) underscored the importance of keeping up with technology. Some questions you might consider when reviewing your policies, procedures and training schedule:

Does Microsoft Office have metadata?

Microsoft Office has a metadata warning system which can alert you before you save, print and in certain instances email a document that it contains metadata. It is not enabled by default, but it is recommended that all law firms consider enabling this feature throughout the firm.

1. Improve your Title Tags

The “title” of a webpage is displayed in the top left corner of the browser and can also be seen in the tab of each browser page. This so-called “page-title” provides visitors and search engines with information about what a website – and webpage – is about.

2. Add Meta Description with a Call-To-Action

The “description” of a page is similar to the page title in that it provides visitors and search engines with information about the content of a website. This description is of huge importance and is used by Google as the page summary that can be found underneath each link on its search result page.

Definition of Metadata

Surprisingly, the term “metadata” does not appear in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th Ed. (2003). In ancient Greece, “meta” was the name for the turning point or winning post in a racecourse, and it came to designate a goal or target.

Inherent Metadata Risks

The risk for a lawyer is that, however careful he may have been, a document transmitted by him electronically is apt to contain metadata which is inimical to his client’s interest or, in the worst case, reveals the client’s secrets or confidences.

Metadata & PDF

Most users assume that conversion of a document to PDF destroys all metadata within the original document. This is not always the case and a prudent lawyer will want to guard against the possibility that metadata lurks in the PDF. An Adobe Blog dated Oct. 27, 2005 discusses the problem.

Recommended By ABA

In a 41-screen slide show, the ABA has constructed a dramatic and instructive review of metadata and its inherent problems. [ See, “Metadata (and other things that go bump in the night),” by Catherine Sanders Reach, Director, American Bar Association Legal Technology Resource Center (July 27, 2006).

What is metadata in litigation?

1. What metadata is. Metadata is information generated by a computer operating system or other software program that is associated with a particular electronic file. Simply put, metadata is data (or information) stored in electronic form about other data (or information) ...

How might metadata be relevant to a case?

By becoming aware of the various forms of metadata that may exist, a litigator has a greater understanding of evidence that may be available to support or refute the claims and defenses in a case.

What should counsel consider in a dispute?

Likewise, counsel should consider whether the metadata associated with these categories of ESI are relevant. Rather than allowing metadata to be a trap for the unwary or a costly sideshow to more substantive document discovery, counsel should proactively discuss and attempt to agree upon which types of metadata might be meaningful in a particular dispute. If agreement is reached to produce electronic files in their native file format, this generally becomes a non-issue because the metadata is included with the produced native file. However, if electronic files will be produced in some other format (such as TIFF or .pdf files), then counsel should consider and discuss whether some or all of the associated metadata also should be produced.

What is metadata in a Word document?

In other words, metadata is information stored in electronic form that concerns other information stored in electronic form. As an example, the substantive content of a MS Word file (e.g., the words on the page if the file is printed) is data. if relevant, this data must be preserved. Information about when the MS Word file was created ...

What is application metadata?

Application metadata (also referred to as file-level metadata) is information about a specific electronic file that is created by the application itself. Using the same Microsoft Word file in the prior example, follow the same sequence of steps above.

What is system metadata?

System metadata (also referred to as directory level metadata) is data about an electronic file supplied by the computer’s operating system (e.g., Microsoft Windows). To see an example of system metadata, open a Microsoft Word file and select the File tab, then select “Info” and then from the “Properties” drop down menu, ...

What happens if metadata is not scrubbed?

In either instance, if metadata is not scrubbed—i.e., removed from the electronic file—before transmission, it may fall into the hands of an unintended recipient. There are numerous metadata scrubbing software applications, many of which integrate with email and other software programs.

What Is Metadata?

• There is data lurking in your data. Some people call it “invisible ink”. The technology world refers to it as “metadata”. Either way, the reference is to information in an electronic document that is not always visible. Metadata, or “information about information”, does serve a purpose. Metadat…

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Why Is Metadata A Big Deal?

Metadata – What Can Be Viewed

How Do You Get Rid of It?

Efiling and Metadata

Electronic Discovery and Metadata

Conclusion

What Is Metadata?

Meta-Descriptions

Meta-Titles

• Metadata is mostly useless information ...
  Not true. Metadata often counts as substantive evidence. For example, comments in a Word document can show the drafter's intent. The same with tracked changes and formulas in Excel. Further, metadata is extremely useful for authenticating evidence because it often shows the au…
• Metadata is expensive to produce in discovery ...
  Not really. Application metadata produces itself if you produce files in native format. System metadata is a bit more difficult, but some parties will agree to forego system metadata. In any case, the probative value of metadata makes it worth some extra effort or cost.

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Bonus – Alt-Text

Wait, Why Isn’T My Metadata Showing Up?

There’S Actually No Guarantee…

• Like meta-descriptions, meta-titles were also given an increased character count earlier in the year, only to later be reduced again. Meta-titles should be between 50 and 60 characters and should contain the page name and your law firm name, provided you can make it fit within the character limit. A good rule of thumb is to make the first part of y...

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Getting Help with Your Metadata