Zubulake's e-Discovery: The Untold Story of my Quest for Justice download epub

For those working to improve information technology in health care, this is a "must-read".

Kim Baldwin-Stried Reich pointed me to this book as a fellow member of the HL7 Electronic Health Records workgroup for the Records Management and Evidentiary Support Standard. This is a phenomenal story told by, sadly, a phenomenal person. I say "sadly" because the world would be a much better place if more people of learning, character, and conviction were as undeterred as Laura Zubulake.

Prior to this introduction, as a non-lawyer I was wholly ignorant of the Zubulake rulings. From the "To the Reader" pre-Preface, the subject matter's power and the manner of its telling quickly gathered me up for a marathon read.

This is a story of special interest to those currently laboring to speak to the power and inertia of the public agency and private vendor/clinical entities facilitating the Federal Government's Health Information Technology enterprise. These efforts are currently largely unencumbered by considerations of source records truth that are pro forma in industries other than health care. Electronic Health Records Systems aka EHRs are currently unregulated patient care tools, "certified" against extraordinary minimal requirements for patient care fitness and thus will produce an explosion of opportunities for the eDiscovery professional who, hopefully, will find their way to Ms. Zubulake's book too. Electronically Stored Information (ESI) and Information Governance explorers will find the most amazing range of challenges generated by these tax-payer subsidized systems with their wide-ranging fundamental legal records management defects. Ms. Zubulake's insistence on getting answers from best-source data repository information (and the presiding judge's insightful and courageous enabling rulings) will be the path future attorneys will necessarily follow into the bizarre world of EHR-mediated record variability and, unfortunately, corruptibility. The golden paving of (in most instances) undeniable and shared good intent is being laid down by a policy machine apparently inured to issues of patient records' truth and the attendant legal risks.

In this struggle, Ms. Zubulake's tale is inspiring, enlightening, and sobering. She not only successfully confronted the task of overcoming a multi-national's resistance as defendant, but also the legal profession's institutionalized economic incentives to settle for less than the client's higher interest in justice. Here again, as one more accessory thread of power and import, the story also illuminates a core question challenging our society today. That question is, "What is the current state of the social contract with Professions (and with politicians)?" These groups, with sworn duties to the benefit of the client (or to the patient or to the citizen )are principle topics here as well. How far have we gone in blithely accepting that the benefit to the Professional/incumbent is an equal or greater stakeholder in outcomes than those they are deemed to serve, required to set personal interest and gains aside? In Ms. Zubulake's case, one measure of how far we've gone is that it required her nearly complete social isolation and 24/7 dedication for multiple years to overcome the alignments of the stakeholder status quo.

Lastly, one definitely appreciates the author's insight that the current state of eDiscovery requires understanding of its "pre-Zubulake" primitive state a mere 14 years ago. This in turn helps to point us to the persistent facts of fundamental differences between records as physical artifacts vs. records as (variable, too often untested) digital constructs.

Thank you Ms. Zubulake for your acts, your example, and for your book.

Reed D. Gelzer, MD, MPH
Co-Chair HL7 Records Management and Evidentiary Support Profile Standard Workgroup

Laura Zubulake's story is a must-read. As anyone in the legal world knows, the Zubulake line of cases were seminal in the early 2000s, and the opinions remain incredibly influential to this day. However, the story most never hear is the one told by Laura Zubulake herself. Before reading the book, I had no concept of the meticulous work Laura Zubulake put into to presenting a compelling employment discrimination case to a jury. Indeed, I don't believe we would have the Zubulake line of cases had Laura Zubulake not been so determined about gathering the electronic evidence she needed to supported her claims. The book itself is very well written, the legal jargon is accurate, and I felt like Laura presented the events in a non-biased and fair manner. Both pleasurable and educational to read!

This book is the real deal. Like Laura, I was also a sole plaintiff in a gender discrimination suit against a Wall Street firm that went on for 4 years. I had the fortune of reading this book early in my litigation, and it became a Bible to me. I sent a copy to all members of my legal team. For me, the book chronicled the gutwrenching process precisely. I was also fortunate enough to be introduced to Ms. Zubulake via a mutual colleague, and she was accessible to me through all the ups and downs of litigation. Ironically, e-discovery became an issue in my case and the Zubulake opinions were cited. The Court ruled in my favor and I did not have to share in the cost of production of emails, which was estimated at close to $600,000.

I would recommend this book for all trial lawyers. While Laura's case became famous because of e-discovery, her book describes what it feels like to walk through litigation in a way that only a sole plaintiff could describe. Thank you, Laura. Job well done!!

As an author of a book on e-discovery in healthcare and as a health information management professional (HIM) I was already well aware of the impact the Zubulake decisions had had on the Information Governance movement, but once, I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down-- because for the first time I was looking at this case from a whole different perspective.

I had always believed that at her core, Laura Zubulake was a true health information management (HIM) professional because she understood the value of the information contained in email and how to use that information to prove her case. But I found after reading her book, I was inspired both personally and professionally. I am thankful that Laura Zubulake not only had the courage to stand up for what she believed in, but also to write her moving and compelling story. Laura Zubulake is a true heroine and pioneer in both the Information Governance movement and women's rights. Laura Zubulake stands as a true symbol of information integrity and justice.

If you were a fan of Erin Brockovich you will love Zubulake's e-Discovery and hopefully, once you start reading it, you too, will have a hard time putting it down!

Though not trained as a paralegal, Zubulake used her business training as the beginning of a crash course in organizing litigation and tracking evidentiary documents. Great read for paralegals who want to understand the story that changed e-discovery rules, but because it is not written by a legal expert, it is also a great story (albeit a true one!).