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 2024 Annual 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:

  • Generative AI and How It's Being Used;
  • 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.

The Sedona Conference Working Group 1 Midyear Meeting 2025

Time  Session  Panelists
(All times MDT) 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  
     
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.  
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  
     
12:30 — 1:45 p.m. Lunch (provided)  
1:45 — 2:45 p.m. [Session 4]  Navigating Unique Privileges Involving the Federal Government  
     
2:45 — 3:45 p.m. [Session 5]  Gen AI -- How Is It Being Used and What Comes Next?  
     
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.  
5:00 — 7:00 p.m. Reception (guests invited)  
  Friday, April 25, 2025  
7:30 — 8:45 a.m. Breakfast & sign-in  
8:45 — 10:015 a.m. [Session7]  Voices from the Bench: The Judicial Perspective for 2025 and Beyond
 

 

  
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)  
     
11:45 — 12:45 p.m. [Session 9]  Ethics Session: The Duty of Competence in a Complex eDiscovery World  
     
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