>I think judges should have some basic knowledge of what they are ruling

>on so he can make an intelligent/reasonable ruling.

>

To paraphrase the May 19 2007 Economist. The legal system is in danger of

being overloaded by the problem of electronic discovery.

In the discovery process both parties of a lawsuit share relevant documents

and this has become mostly about retrieving computer files. Companies being

sued are having to pay large teams of lawyers tons of money, for months on

end, in order to wade through every email ever sent by or within the company

just to determine which docs have to be handed over to plaintiffs.

Rules need to be made clear and judges need to familiarize themselves with

relevant technology so informed rulings can be made. At the moment the

rules are unclear and the costs are rising.

Software designed to make quicker searches of relevant documents would seem

to be a real opportunity for enterprising developers. Graham.