Overcoming Ethical Issues With CDAs

Coordinating Discovery Attorneys (CDAs) can play a crucial role in examining, organizing. and processing discovery in a white collar case with massive amounts of documents. Like joint defense agreements, the use of a CDA can significantly cut costs in a case. Many who cannot afford the fees of being represented in a document driven white collar case turn to the court for this assistance and appointment of a CDA. Some, however, may find the court reluctant to such an appointment, citing ethical issues.  For those facing this challenge, check out this recent Note - Hannah Silverman, The Role of "Coordinating Discovery Attorneys" In Multidefendant Federal Criminal Cases , 88 Fordham L. Rev. 1173 (2019) that "concludes that by carefully circumscribing the role and establishing proper ground rules, coordinating discovery attorneys can provide beneficial and substantive legal assistance to multiple codefendants at once."

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