Who we are
The Maas Consulting Group is led by Jonathan Maas, a renowned paper and electronic discovery/disclosure veteran with an unparalleled 36 years experience in the field: 28 years in international law firms and eight years in international consultancies. Jonathan speaks and writes on the subject widely and has been involved in developing civil procedure in England & Wales to respond to the modern demands of litigating in the digital age.
Jonathan’s métier is acting as a verbal or written bridge between technical experts and lay people, whether it’s conveying complex technology concepts to a legal audience or explaining matters of detailed legal procedure to IT specialists. He has the ability to unite diverse teams to complete discovery exercises as cost- and time-effectively as possible. In this way he has delivered numerous successful projects for national and international businesses and local and central government. This translates into extremely experienced and empathetic support for lawyers and IT professionals.
His experience of identifying, collecting, classifying and acting on data in the legal environments of investigations and disputes continues to add value in the current environment of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Information Governance and preparations for the UK to leave the European Union (BREXIT). Sound and defensible data management is more important in business than it has ever been.
Jonathan has also researched and implemented computer systems in law firms for the purposes of library and know-how management, litigation support, costs budgeting, collaborative working and more.
At a glance, since 1982 Jonathan has worked at:
Hogan Lovells
Simmons & Simmons
The Litigation Support Company
DLA Piper
EY
Huron Legal
Consilio
Maas Consulting Group
This is the home of the BONG! Jonathan regularly sends out a popular daily email alert (see to the right, his “BONG!”) to subscribers, containing brief snippets of interesting and current discovery, GDPR, legal technology and other news. Every weekend The Project Counsel Group sends out curated selections from that week's BONGs to an international distribution list of some 12,000 individuals, from Swiss paralegals to US judges. Also, every month Jonathan distills the more important eDiscovery news from that month's BONGs into a column - "ICYMI" (In Case You Missed It) - for Legal IT Insider, with a brief note putting each selected item into context.
Although based in London Jonathan has set up and managed case teams in Australia, Bermuda, France and Hong Kong.
Click here for information about some example projects from Jonathan's long career.
View Jonathan Maas'
©️ 2016-9 | The Maas Consulting Group Ltd
©️ all photographs 2016-9 | Jonathan Maas
An informal and occasional selection of recent international eDisclosure / eDiscovery / GDPR / legal IT / data protection / information governance / interesting news / articles collated since 2011 by Jonathan Maas of The Maas Consulting Group in London. Simply pick and click from below.
These links are copied from a recent BONG! We BONG! most work days as an email to subscribers: anyone can email Jonathan@MaasConsultingGroup.com to subscribe / unsubscribe. Subscription is free.
Don't forget to visit our BONG! archive. All our BONG! items are available and searchable (via your web browser). Thought you saw it? Now you can search for it!
BONG!
Has Spring sprung? Take the Spring 2019 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey (ComplexDiscovery) https://maas-bong.io/2OCdvow
Initiated by Rob Robinson in January 2016, the eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey is a non-scientific quarterly survey designed to provide insight into the business confidence level of individuals working in the eDiscovery ecosystem.
BONG!
BigLaw’s model “stifles" its ability to innovate (Corporate Counsel) https://maas-bong.io/2OAImC1
L'Oréal general counsel Anna Lozynski explains why - from the perspective of those in-house, the buyer's side - innovation must be prioritised by the big end of town.
BONG!
Law firms' future isn't about rainmaking, it's about change-making (The American Lawyer) https://maas-bong.io/2OFWU35
Change-makers are lawyers with a relentless focus on growth who also recognise that long-term success requires more than revenue generation alone. With the head of a rainmaker and the heart of an innovator, change-makers are quickly becoming a driving force in helping partners buy into new ways of thinking.
BONG!
World Backup Day: Practical advice regarding backup data in relation to eDiscovery (Consilio) https://maas-bong.io/2OBVaYJ
Every year on 31 March, in order to avoid looking like an April fool and losing your data on the following day, the world is encouraged to back up its data on “World Backup Day”. I wonder if we’ll ever see World Restore Day...
BONG!
New tech to “halve" transcript costs (The Law Society Gazette) https://maas-bong.io/2OFqqpz
A social enterprise set up by a legal aid barrister is aiming to slash the cost of court transcripts by harnessing voice recognition software. Sophie Walker, of One Pump Court, says that technology can help make the workings of the justice system understandable to a far wider audience.
BONG!
In Code we trust? Trustlessness and smart contracts (Society for Computers and Law) https://maas-bong.io/2OE1SgE
This article looks at “trustlessness" which may have given rise to a common misperception of smart contracts reducing or even eliminating the need for trust.
BONG!
IEEE Launches Ethically Aligned Design, delivering a vision for prioritising human well-being with autonomous and intelligent systems (IEEE) https://maas-bong.io/2OC9Bfn
Intended to provide guidance for standards, regulation or legislation for the design, manufacture and use of autonomous and intelligent systems, as well as serve as a key reference for the work of policymakers, technologists and educators.
BONG!
Can we stop AI outsmarting humanity? (The Guardian) https://maas-bong.io/2OEgexN
The spectre of super-intelligent machines doing us harm is not just science fiction, technologists say - so how can we ensure AI remains friendly to its makers?
BONG!
Translation, participation and education are the keys to successful eDiscovery collaboration (ACEDS) https://maas-bong.io/2OBPyO4
Collaboration in eDiscovery has its own special challenges. First, communication between lawyers and technologists often requires translation. Second, participation is a prerequisite - but not a given. Third, continuing education and professional development improves collaboration.
BONG!
The rising tech tide: Australia's legal tech scene is making waves (Legaltech News) https://maas-bong.io/2OCM8dX
Australia's legal technology ecosystem is in some places still being developed. But in its focus on data and fostering innovation, it's already proving to be a force on the global stage.
A selection of upcoming and potentially interesting live webinars / webcasts
02 Apr 1100 BST The digital lawyer (Advanced) https://maas-bong.io/2Wo0EZG
03 Apr 1100 CT eDiscovery cost recovery: Five considerations for law firms (Relativity) https://maas-bong.io/2Fxxf8K
10 Apr 1300 ET Tangible innovation (ACEDS / Sente) https://maas-bong.io/2FmLAVv
11 Apr 1300 ET Ask the expert your burning career questions (ACEDS / TRU Staffing) https://maas-bong.io/2FnDcoI
12 Apr 1700 BST Think-tank: State of the legal industry (High Performance Counsel) https://maas-bong.io/2H7HbrX
14 Apr 1630 BST Trends of working remotely and what that means for data security (Litera Microsystems) https://maas-bong.io/2Fl5Zu8
18 Apr 1300 ET Advanced legal hold tips: Taking your preservation to the next level (ACEDS / Epiq) https://maas-bong.io/2FfZ59a
18 Apr 1400 EST Futuristic law department leaders: Transforming the way in-house teams engage outside counsel (Persuit) https://maas-bong.io/2U5Vx3O
18 Apr 1630 BST Identifying the right technology to fit your needs (Litera Microsystems) https://maas-bong.io/2FjKERx
25 Apr 1300 ET Optimise your eDiscovery spend with business intelligence (ACEDS / Ricoh) https://maas-bong.io/2UZVN0j
07 May 1230 BST Evidence and disclosure in 2019 (LexisNexis) https://maas-bong.io/2QJOsPS
02 Jul 1230 BST Cybercrime in 2019 (LexisNexis) https://maas-bong.io/2QJPfQQ
Let me know of any upcoming webinar / webcast you'd like to see included in this list.
Still not ready for the GDPR (really??)? Ask us about
www.trust-hub.com, the best tool for assessing, achieving
and maintaining your GDPR compliance
("'one to watch' in 2017": Cyber Security Awards 2017).
By the way, we have noticed that sometimes the links we compile above have registration/paywall information inserted between the referenced site and you. At the time we compose these emails there are no such distractions so we can only assume sites randomly impose registration/payment requirements on links to them. We apologise in advance as my intention is to give you all untrammelled access to this information.
(Incidentally, and for those outside the UK (or in the UK but without televisions), BONG! is a reference to the main evening TV news in the UK, on which headlines are read out between strikes (bongs) of the now-silent Big Ben, the bell in the Elizabeth Tower (renamed from the Clock Tower in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee) at the Palace of Westminster. (You can thank a particularly persistent pedant early on in the life of the BONG! for this rather precise explanation.)
Welcome to the web site of The Maas Consulting Group. We specialise in working with lawyers, IT people and suppliers, negotiating, delivering cost-effective solutions, writing, speaking, listening, hearing, attention to detail, humour, determination, tact and diplomacy, project management, encouraging the best out of people, removing problems, team work and getting things done.
BONG!
(01 April 2019)