Document Dumps in Litigation: How Acciona Fell Short and Gowing Got It Right on Discovery Legal Standards

Document Dumps in Litigation: How Acciona Fell Short and Gowing Got It Right on Discovery Legal Standards

Kelly Friedman

Chief Legal Data Intelligence Office and Senior Counsel

July 23, 2025

 

In the evolving landscape of electronic discovery, courts are increasingly asked to adjudicate disputes over document production volumes and the boundaries of relevance. Two recent decisions, Acciona Wastewater Solutions LP v. Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District [GVS&DD], 2025 BCSC 1256 (Acciona) and Gowing Contractors Ltd. v. Walsh Construction Company Canada, 2023 ONSC 4407 (Gowing), offer contrasting judicial approaches to these challenges.

 

Acciona misses a critical opportunity to clarify the legal obligations of document production under Rule 7-1 of the British Columbia Supreme Court Civil Rules.  … Read More

Heuristica Sponsors Women of Class Summit

Heuristica Sponsors Women of Class Summit

Heuristica is pleased to sponsor the 2nd annual Women of Class Summit.  For this three-night event, women leaders gather to explore developments and insights for plaintiffs class action counsel in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere.

 

Crystal O’Donnell, Chief Executive Officer and Senior Counsel at Heuristica and Kelly Friedman, Heuristica’s Chief Legal Data Intelligence Officer and Senior Counsel, are featured speakers at the event and will present Empowering Class Counsel with Discovery Strategy.  This session emphasizes that, even though defendants control the vast majority of potentially relevant documents and tend to exclude class counsel from key decisions on production, plaintiffs class counsel can leverage recent caselaw to ensure that the discovery process properly arms them for trial or settlement approval.… Read More

Heuristica’s Lawyers Recognized by Lexology

Heuristica’s Lawyers Recognized by Lexology

Heuristica is pleased to advise that more of its lawyers have again been chosen for inclusion in the 2024 Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal) eDiscovery rankings than those of any other Canadian law firm.

 

 

The following have been selected:

 

These selections are particularly meaningful as two of the nine Canadian lawyers selected as Thought Leaders and four of the 22 Canadian lawyers selected as National Leaders are Heuristica counsel.… Read More

Kelly Friedman to Speak at ADRIC 2024 National Conference.

Kelly Friedman to Speak at ADRIC 2024 National Conference.

Kelly Friedman, Heuristica’s Chief Legal Data Intelligence Officer and Senior Counsel, is a featured speaker at the ADRIC 2024 National Conference and will present Reimagining Redfern 25 Years Later. This session will discuss developments in the law and technology and provide practical suggestions on how the Redfern process can be reimagined to continue to meet its underlying principles.

 

Join us in Toronto on October 24th for the 50th AGM and Annual National Conference! Together leaders from the ADR sector, organizations and government from across the country will provide attendees with inspiring, innovative and interactive plenary, keynotes, hands-on workshops, comprehensive panel discussions and great networking opportunities

 

Crystal O’Donnell, Chief Executive Officer and Senior Counsel at Heuristica and Chief Executive Officer, iJudicate will be moderating the session.… Read More

Friedman Speaks at Relativity Fest 2024!

Friedman Speaks at Relativity Fest 2024!

 

 

Kelly Friedman, Heuristica’s Chief Legal Data Intelligence Officer and Senior Counsel, is a featured speaker at Relativity Fest 2024 and will present How Legal Wins Budget and Influences Stakeholders.

 

When risk mitigation alone isn’t enough to win over the C-suite, how do you translate the work you do into the value you can create for your organization, law firm, or government agency? Meet the practitioners who are reframing the jobs to be done with the Legal Data Intelligence (LDI) model—the industry’s first holistic framework that tackles the underlying data challenges getting in the way of legal professionals.… Read More