Ethics

There's no need to add to David's excellent posts on Qualcomm (below), but I will offer one prediction: Qualcomm will do what Fisons didn't.  There was some discussion about whether Fisons would usher in a new era of "good behavior" in discovery but, alas, it didn't. Qualcomm will.  Mark it.  Bet on it.

Qualcomm will not work that magic alone.  It's aided by the Morgan Stanley - Kirkland case and the new e-discovery rules.  Just as a matter of self-preservation and profit-motive, firms will have an incentive to conduct discovery in a different (and better) way.  (And shouldn't profit be linked to "doing the right thing"?)

We don't yet know how this will shake out, but one of the most promising innovations is to require the opposing parties to sit down and negotiate the document searching protocols.