The S.C. Bar now offers high quality training to lawyers and paralegals who must navigate the complexities and risks of electronic discovery. Managing digital information as evidence presents significant risks that can put a lawyer's case in jeopardy, and expose the lawyer-and their client-to potential fines and sanctions.
 
The Bar has partnered with The Ritter Academy to offer S.C. lawyers two paths to the knowledge and practice tools required to be more effective in navigating e-discovery:
 
"Six-Pack for E-Discovery"
The "Six-Pack for E-Discovery", available for $329, presents six full hours of online CLE training (delivering you in one place the six-hours of 'alternative delivery' learning allowed under South Carolina rules) on the following five topics:   
•    Understanding Electronically Stored Information
•    Playing the Game: The Legal and Technology Rules for E-Discovery
•    Navigating the Federal E-Discovery Rules  
•    Discovering the Digital Record-The Risks of Failure
•    Identifying the Plaintiff's Duty to Preserve ESI

One-year all-access enrollment
One-year all-access enrollment in The Ritter Academy for one year is available for $489 through January 15, 2012 (at which time a price increase will be announced), entitling a subscriber to unlimited access to all of the courses, projected to be over 40 hours of training available in 2012. Click here for a preview of the latest course.  
 
These courses have been selected to provide S.C. lawyers a solid foundation to navigate the complexities of both the law and related technologies. Every course includes:

• Engaging, interactive learning that you can access, control, pause, playback and search online, 24/7.  Here is a short demonstration of how you control the platform-enabling you to fit your training into a busy schedule.
• Video explanations of complex concepts and important strategies. Here is a recorded sample of how Jeffrey Ritter unfolds the complexity of electronic discovery.
• Downloadable practice tools - model process maps, preservation letters, custodian interviews, and research inventories. Here is a sample map that enables you to explain the risks of e-discovery to your clients.
• Email access to Jeffrey Ritter¬ - at any time, you can e-mail your questions to the instructor and obtain direct, authoritative assistance.
• CLE credit - All of the courses are approved for MCLE credit hours by The Supreme Court of South Carolina Commission on CLE and Specialization. Please remember, Commission rules allow attorneys to report 6.0 MCLE credit hours per compliance period. Hours taken above the 6.0 MCLE limit, cannot be banked for the next reporting period.      

Jeffrey Ritter is one of the pioneers in shaping the law of online commerce and nationally recognized in shaping electronic discovery best practices.  These courses are authored by him personally; to learn more about Jeffrey Ritter, click here.   
 
The Benefits of The Ritter Academy
The e-discovery courses presented by The Ritter Academy deliver enormous benefits to lawyers and paralegals, especially those who are uncomfortable with navigating the complexities of technology and digital evidence:

• Courses are available online, on-demand - this allows you to learn at your own pace, and to review materials that may be technically challenging or complex.
• All courses are designed - they use visual information maps to accelerate and improve the efficiency of your learning. Just like driving your car, a map enables you see the whole picture and understand how to get to your destination. The maps become valuable tools for sharing your knowledge with team members and clients.
• Courses are interactive - you just don't sit and listen to a lecture; instead, you are engaged in exploring the content, unfolding the details, and managing your learning. In addition, you may e-mail your questions to Jeffrey Ritter, Esq. and he will directly answer them, at no additional cost.
• Full disclosure of the content of every course - you no longer have to guess what a course covers from a short description. Once enrolled, you can survey the lessons in every course and confirm that your time investment will produce results.