Sirote’s Allison Skinner Helps Establish American College of e-Neutrals

April 12, 2011

The law firm of Sirote & Permutt is pleased to announce that Allison O. Skinner has co-founded the American College of e-Neutrals with Peter S. Vogel, a partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, in Dallas, Texas.

The American College of e-Neutrals (ACESIN) is providing judges and attorneys with a free directory of qualified "e-Neutrals" – third-party referees who resolve discovery disputes involving electronically stored information (ESI) in a lawsuit, commonly known as e-discovery. An e-Neutral is qualified in both the disciplines of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and e-discovery. Using an e-Neutral reduces overall costs and enhances efficiencies in the discovery process. The need for a complete list of qualified e-Neutrals, such as Special Masters and e-Mediators, has continued to grow with more courts demanding parties cooperate in discovery of ESI. Designed to help courts and parties identify the best e-Neutral for the unique needs of each case, ACESIN’s directory is the first of its kind. To access the Directory of e-Neutrals, log on to http://www.acesin.com.

Ms. Skinner is a full-time neutral at the Sirote & Permutt Mediation Center, where she provides e-neutral services by serving as either a mediator or special master for ESI disputes.

“I am honored to be a co-founder of ACESIN with Allison Skinner, who is the great innovator of e-Mediation. Allison’s pioneering writing and teaching e-Discovery has led many of us to promote e-Mediation and use of Special Masters in e-Discovery disputes,” says Mr. Vogel.

Ms. Skinner teaches e-discovery at the University of Alabama School of Law and the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law. She authored the TEACHER'S MANUAL (West 2010) for Scheindlin, Capra and The Sedona Conference®, ELECTRONIC DISCOVERY AND DIGITAL EVIDENCE CASES AND MATERIALS (West 2008). Ms. Skinner was the first in the country to publish on the use of mediation for e-discovery disputes. Ms. Skinner lectures regularly on ADR and e-Discovery. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Court Appointed Masters and was recently appointed to an e-Discovery Special Master Panel in a Federal Court pilot program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ms. Skinner serves as the Immediate Past-President of the Birmingham Bar Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Section and Secretary of the Alabama State Bar Dispute Resolution Section. Ms. Skinner is a registered trial and appellate mediator with the Alabama Center for Dispute Resolution. Prior to becoming a neutral, Ms. Skinner represented clients in complex litigation

Sirote’s Allison Skinner Helps Establish American College of e-Neutrals

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