Maureen Pavely Quoted on Ethics of Metadata Mining in New Jersey Law Journal

Maureen Pavely was quoted in a recent article, "High Court Committee to Examine Ethics of Metadata Mining," in the New Jersey Law Journal. The article discusses a newly formed committee that will consider whether the existing ethics rules, including RPC 4.4(b), allow a New Jersey attorney who receives an electronic document to mine it for metadata.

RPC 4.4(b) states that a lawyer who receives a document and has reasonable cause to believe it was inadvertently sent must stop reading it, promptly notify the sender and return it. From the sender's perspective, RPC 1.6 governs the confidentiality of client information.

Maureen noted, "Metadata is not just information, it's evidence," and that there are "different levels of competence and understanding of metadata both in practitioners and on the court." The committee will help the Court consider whether additional guidelines are needed given those differences and advances in technology.

For the full article, click here.