IT Projects: Expert Witness, CIO, In-House Counsel & Litigation Forum

Judge Makes Lawyers Pay for Frivolity

This is a pretty amazing story!!  What do you think?? Justice? Travesty? Something else??  We would love to hear from you!!  Warren

With the verdict overturned, two attorneys must pay the others' fees.

By Mike McPhee, The Denver Post Article Last Updated: 02/25/2008 02:53:25 AM MST

A federal judge recently got so infuriated by the conduct of two highly regarded trial attorneys that he overturned a jury's $51 million verdict, then ordered the lawyers to pay the fees and costs of the opposing lawyers, a sum that could total several million dollars.

U.S. District Senior Judge Richard P. Matsch sanctioned attorneys Terrance McMahon and Vera Elson of the firm McDermott, Will and Emery, of Chicago and San Francisco, for "cavalier and abusive" misconduct and for having a "what can I get away with?" attitude during a 13-day patent infringement trial in Denver.

He ruled that the entire trial was "frivolous" and the case filed solely to stifle competition rather than to protect a patent.

Neither McMahon nor Elson returned phone calls. But their firm defended them by stating it "believes in vigorous and ethical advocacy on behalf of our clients. While we respect Judge Matsch, we disagree with the conclusions of the opinion and believe that it will be reversed on appeal."

FW: Poll Reveals 430 New Demographics That Will Decide Election

With Senator Obama already having made his acceptance speech and Senator McCain set to do so next week, news coverage and national attention with turn to those all important Demographics targeted by each candidate. With all of today's technology, it's getting harder and not easier as more and more demographic groups are added to the mix.  I hope that the following youtube.com news clip will "clarify things" for you.   Can you add a few demographics for IT professionals, CIOs, and attorneys??

Have fun with this great satire!!  Warren

Originally posted on Friday August 29, 2008 at:                                                         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uql1avoyizc

E-voting vendor: Programming errors caused dropped votes

I thought Every Vote Counted! Not if major electronic voting systems lose votes! Not if it is caused by undetected source code logic errors. Given how close the last few presidential elections have been, hundreds of vote can make a big difference. According to Kevin Costner's new movie "Swing Vote" even 1 vote can change the whole future.  In any event, let us have your thoughts on this article and your thoughts on software testing, error detection, bug fixing,  etc. is as good as it gets, or some programmers and testers and project managers till just don't get it!! Also, let us know or any new tools that are working for you (or not) and what you or your company has done to improve its latent defect errors metrics.   Warren S. Reid

Written & originally posted By Grant Gross , IDG News Service , 08/22/2008 at: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/082208-e-voting-vendor-programming-errors-caused.html

A major electronic voting system vendor has changed its story in an attempt to explain how its machines dropped hundreds of votes in Ohio's March primary elections, saying it was a programming error, not the fault of antivirus software.

E-voting machines from Premier Election Solutions, formerly called Diebold Election Systems, dropped hundreds of votes in 11 Ohio counties during the primary election, as the machine's memory cards uploaded to vote-counting servers. Premier originally blamed conflicts caused by antivirus software from McAfee, but the company this week said a logic error in the machines' GEMS source code was responsible for the problem.

"We now have reason to believe that the logic error in the GEMS code can cause this event when no such antivirus program is installed on the server," Premier President Dave Byrd wrote in a Tuesday letter to Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. "We are indeed distressed that our previous analysis of this issue was in error."

New Legal Finding Against SAP: 'Guilty by Reason of Customization

"If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck..."
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling of July 11, 2008 discussed here in Byron's blog brought this old adage to mind.  My analogy to the packaged software issue  being something like the fabled ugly duckling that turned into the beautiful swan.  The swan's beauty and appeal required time for the "add ons" of its growth and maturity, while from the get-go, a duck is a functioning package, including flying as well as swimming, albeit not offering the aesthetics of a swan.  What, if any, import could this ruling have in litigation involving  failed software projects?  Any  thoughts?
Marlene Palmer, Consultant, WSR Consulting Group LLC

http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/den/?p=132
Posted by  Dennis Byron on August 4, 2008

In the dog days of August here on Cape Cod, it’s harder to find something to write about regarding enterprise software on a daily basis than it is to actually write it. It’s summertime and the living is easy, blah blah blah. But not for bloggers.

My choices looked pretty bleak this morning as I scoured the Web for news over the last few weeks while I was on vacation. Let’s see: Write my umpteenth post about enterprise software being too expensive? Is enterprise software good or bad for open source? Or I could write that enterprise software is doomed by software as a service!

And then this story from Wisconsin popped up and hit me across the forehead with all the subtlety of a two-by-four at a stick-ball game.

IT careers in the 'cloud'

 

Time to retool again!  In today's ever changing IT world new skills are critical.  But where should you spend your time and hard-earned dollars?  In the 'Cloud'? Boning up on the hosted ERP services of the largest vendors?   How to write new algorithms for 'targeted internet ad marketing'?  How to improve your testing results?  How to make your software more successful?   Why don't you drop us a line with your experience and  recommendations as to where, and why, you will focus your on-going IT learning and education efforts.  Warren
 

By Thomas Hoffman, Aug 4, 2008 This article appeared in Computerworld's print edition. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?
command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=322132&source=NLT_CAR&nlid=5

IT organizations that shift a good part of their IT infrastructure activities to hosted service providers over the next decade (see "Is Google your next data center?") will likely see profound changes in the makeup and skills of their remaining IT staffers.

"There's a limited number of resources in IT," notes John Dutra, CTO of Sun IT, a division of Sun Microsystems. "Wouldn't I want to focus them on the most strategic areas possible?"

JDA Software To Pay $346 Million For i2 Technologies

The combination will create a supply chain management software company with revenue of more than $600 million that can better compete with SAP and Oracle.

By Paul McDougall, InformationWeek August 11, 2008

http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/systems_management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210001970&subSection=ERP

In a challenge to industry giants Oracle and SAP (NYSE: SAP), business applications vendor JDA Software said Monday that it has agreed to acquire rival i2 Technologies for $346 million in a move that would double its size.

Both JDA and i2 specialize in supply chain management software, which helps companies automate inventory recording and funnel real-time warehouse information to front-office departments like sales and billing.

 

Open Source Code On Firmer Ground After Jacobsen Ruling

Is it possible that open source may become the new legal bugaboo for corporate counsel, and perhaps it will  eventually be necessary for corporations to create and enforce internal controls, in the same vein as  Sarbanes-Oxley, to protect from the risks and exposure engendered by their dealings with open source?  Any thoughts about the direction and pitfalls facing users?  Let us here from you on this subject. (Marlene Palmer, Consultant, WSR Consulting Group LLC)

Written by Charles Babcock on August 14, 2008,      
http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/open_source/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210004213

A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision has upheld the binding provisions of open source licenses, saying to fail to abide by their terms makes the user an infringer of their inherent copyright protections.

Until the decision in Jacobsen vs. Katzer was issued Wednesday, it wasn't clear whether a court of law would regard an open source license as being capable of imposing enforceable copyright restrictions on the use of computer code.

The Circuit Court of Appeals cited Stanford professor Lawrence Lessig's Creative Commons license and as well as Jacobsen's use of the Artistic License in saying that their provisions constitute a form of copyright.

Gmail outage the latest cloud stumble; Where’s the offline synching?

 

Do you have your head in the Cloud?  Or should you be getting your head in the Cloud?  Like all waves or implementations of new technologies, there are +s and -s to jumping into the cloud without first knowing how it will affect your business, operations and goals. I invite you to share your lessons learned -- either the easy way or the hard way --  so our readers can stand upon what you have learned and not make the same mistakes.  Thank you in advance.   

Warren

First Posted by Larry Dignan, August 12th, 2008 on http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9646

Google’s Gmail outage on Monday was the latest stumble for nascent cloud computing services, which are becoming the lifeblood for small businesses and startups. The Gmail outage–along with Amazon’s stumbles of late–raises a few key questions: Where’s the offline synchronization capability? Can we depend solely on the Web? Is Microsoft’s software and services mantra the best path forward?

Those questions don’t have easy answers at the moment. But one thing is clear: If you’re depending on these Web-based applications you need a backup plan. To wit:

• Google said in a blog post that Gmail was down “a couple hours” due to “a temporary outage in our contacts system that was preventing Gmail from loading properly.” Obviously, the Gmail outage (Techmeme) impacted Google Apps customers.
• MobileMe is becoming a long-running nightmare for customers and Apple CEO Steve Jobs has admitted that the device synchronization effort has been a disappointment.
• Amazon’s S3 storage service has had its share of problems and outright outages, but the company has improved its transparency when problems occur.

New IT Project Failure Metrics: Is Standish Wrong?

Posted by Michael Krigsman - December 7th, 2007

http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/?p=513&tag

How many of you out there have quoted the Standish Group's Chaos Report for lo these many years?  Right! What importance might this new report hold, and does this information fall into the category of the experts being right - at one time - but the times they are a'changing? (Just tossing in a reference for all you music lovers out there).  Let us know what your take is on this new outlook and  information.   Marlene Palmer, WSRcg LLC, Consultant

The Standish Group’s Chaos Report describes two-thirds of IT projects as being “challenged.” Now, three academics have published a report suggesting these numbers are flawed, and that only one-third of IT projects actually fail. If this new report is accurate, it represents a significant departure from common perceptions of IT project risk and failure. The research was conducted by Chris Sauer, Andrew Gemino, and Blaize Horner Reich who described their results in an article titled, The impact of size and volatility on IT project performance.

EXECUTIVE CONCLUSIONS

The following table outlines management recommendations made by the authors on the basis of their research:

The Draft Expert Report—Caught In The Tug of War Between Full Disclosure and The Work Product Doctrine

Below is an interesting piece taken from the articles posted on  http://www.hgexperts.com/article.asp?id=4778.  I have found http://www.hgexperts.com/ in general to be a well researched and reliable source of information in the past?  This article covers important material. Have any of our readers hsd to test this or some other theory in their court cases? please tell us what happened and the result.   Thanks.   Warren

There is a split in authority in the federal courts regarding the discoverability of attorney work product provided by counsel to his or her expert and in particular, the discoverability of draft expert reports. Most jurisdictions have ruled that the 1993 amendment to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure makes it clear that any materials provided by counsel to a testifying expert is discoverable, including information contained in draft reports.

INTRODUCTION
The retention of an expert, the formation of his or her expert opinion, and the creation of his or her expert report are all part of an overall process that should be carefully planned and monitored. In this overall process, a particularly important issue is the treatment of draft expert reports. Often, these reports contain indications of core attorney work product. Core attorney work product may include the legal counsel’s legal strategies, mental impressions, and case conclusions.

By James J. O’Sullivan, J.D., CPA, and Richard T. Cordano, Esq.
Provided by Willamette Management Associates

Working With an Expert Witness: The Seven Deadly Sins

This post presents Gabrielle Bonne's, Law.com article from April 12, 2006, on what lawyers do (or shouldn't do) to get the most and bests from their expert witnesses.

I just finished presenting two seminars on this topic to ACCA, along with Steve Brower, Esq., a Superior Court Judge, a Federal Court Judge, and an Appellate Court litigator. I'll post my thoughts/notes from this important seminar in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, what do you think of Gabrielle's checklist?  Have you ever been asked to break some of your own ethical rules as an expert? What did you do?  What happens if the relationship starts off well, but then the attorney begins to practice some of these "Sins" -- What do/did you do then?

"So, I'd really like it if I could say this ..."

If you've just said that to your expert witness, you've just made his blood boil. And that's probably not going to be very good for your case. As engineer Steven Murray, Ph.D., of Exponent Failure Analysis Associates in Menlo Park, Calif., says, "Our job is not to support a lawyer's theory, it's to find out the technical truth."

Working on a case can be like a juggling act -- you've got your client, the other side, the other side's attorney(s), your witnesses, your expert witnesses, the other side's witnesses and experts. That's a lot of balls in the air. But you should never lose sight of your expert witnesses -- they can make or break your case. Commit too many of the Seven Deadly Sins and you can sabotage your chances of getting the best results.