Charles R. Ragan

Chuck Ragan practiced in San Francisco for more than 25 years with Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro (and successor firms), before co-founding the Redgrave Daley Ragan & Wagner national boutique firm that focused on emerging e-discovery challenges. While at Pillsbury, he litigated a wide variety of complex commercial disputes. Through his work with Chief Judge Peckham and Magistrate Judge Brazil in the Northern District of California, he was at the forefront of the Alternative Dispute Resolution movement. And through his work with The Sedona Conference, he participated in the rational development of e-discovery principles and norms. His substantive expertise ranges from simple contracts, through intellectual property (including international patents and licenses concerning biotechnology), competition issues, corporate governance, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, securities and derivative cases, representation and distribution agreements, insurance coverage disputes, and even RICO. He has tried cases in state and federal courts, and international arbitration venues (including Europe and Japan). He is a certified mediator, arbitrator, early neutral evaluator, and e-discovery neutral.

Beginning in 2002, Chuck concentrated his practice on legally defensible approaches to the management of electronic information in complex business organizations. He has helped clients establish proactive policies and guidance, and provided counsel on responding cost-effectively to discovery requests.

Services Offered:

Information Governance and Discovery Guidance: Beginning in 2002, Chuck focused his practice on legally defensible approaches to the rational management of electronic information in complex business organizations. The Ragan Law Firm can assist with the full range of information governance and policy issues, including:

• Information Governance & Team Building
• Litigation Preparedness, including Data Mapping
• Records Retention Policies
• Cloud Computing Risk Assessments
• Legacy Data Remediation Assessments
• Discovery Response Team Management
• Meet and Confer Assistance
• Rule 30(b)(6) preparation
• Privacy Assessments

Neutral Services: As an ADR pioneer, Chuck not only helped to develop procedures for the prototype ADR program in the Northern District of California, but also drafted unique protocols for the resolution of international and multi-party domestic disputes. Chuck serves as a neutral, including as:

• Commercial mediator
• Arbitrator of U.S. or international commercial disputes
• Discovery special master or referee

Employment:

• Ragan Law Firm, August 2011 - Present
• Huron Consulting Group, Managing Director, March 2009 – July 2011
• Redgrave Daley Ragan & Wagner, Managing Partner, October 2005 – April 2009
• Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (and predecessors), Partner, 1976 – October 2005

Publications/Presentations:

Chuck has written and presented in the U.S. and abroad for more than 30 years in the areas of international dispute resolution, mediation, information management and electronic discovery. Among his recent publications and contributions are the following:

• “A Return to a Balance of Cost and Reason in e-Discovery?,” Huron’s For the Legal Eye (Fall 2010)
• “Reevaluating the Rules for Discovery,” LA Daily Journal, May 21, 2010 (Co-Author with Daniel M. Kolkey)
•  The Sedona Conference, “The Case for Cooperation,” 10 Sedona Conf. J. 339 (2009 Supp.) (Contributing Editor)
• “The Sedona Principles (Second Edition): Best Practices Recommendations & Principles for Addressing Electronic Document Production” (2007), Annotated Edition (BNA), Co-Managing Editor
• “Competence and credibility in e-discovery,” (2007), Trial magazine, Co-author

Recent Teaching Experience:

• Panelist (multiple sessions) at The Sedona Conference’s e-Discovery Dispute Resolution Program for Special Masters and Mediators January 2010
• Panelist on electronic discovery training video for JAMS neutrals April 2009
• Lecturer on Electronic Discovery at Neutrals’ Conference of American Arbitration Association
• January 2009
• Moderator and Panelist in Juris conferences in New York (January) and London (October) on Electronic Evidence and Disclosure in International Arbitration 2008

Affiliations/Memberships:

• Admitted to the Bar in California (from 1976), Minnesota (from 2006) and New York (from 1975), Current
• CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, Panelist, 1996 - Present
• American Arbitration Association, Panelist (Mediation, from 2001; Commercial Arbitration, from 1986), and International Arbitration (from 1997), 1986 – Present

Information Management Experience:

 Illustrative projects include:

• Legal hold and discovery policies and guidelines for Fortune 25 financial services organization
• A global records and information umbrella policy for Fortune Global 20 company
• Legal hold procedures and guidelines, and data map, for an international cosmetics company, and managed international research for its record retention schedule
• Strategic legal risk assessment preparatory to moving certain data to “the cloud”, and formulation of change management protocols and informational materials
• Legal hold procedures and guidelines, litigation response tools (including data mapping narratives), and records and information policy for an energy company
• Advice to a Fortune 100 insurance company on records and information policy and protocols, and email archiving policies
• Legal hold procedures and guidelines for Fortune 50 technology company, and providing continuing counsel on e-discovery issues as counsel of record to the litigation and competition group

Selected Activities and Accomplishments:

• Ranked in Band 1 of Chambers Global 2010 for Litigation: E-Discovery;
• Rated in Chambers USA 2008 & 2009 as among America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the field of Privacy & Data Security
• Sedona Working Group on Electronic Document Retention and Production:
  • Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Sedona Guidelines: Best Practices Guidelines and Commentary for Managing Information and Records in the Electronic Age (2005)
  • Managing Editor for the 2004 and 2005 editions of the Annotated Sedona Principles: Best Practices Recommendations & Principles for Addressing Electronic Document Production (Pike & Fisher), and the 2007 annotated edition (BNA)
  • Contributing Editor, “The Case for Cooperation,” 10 Sedona Conf. J. 339 (2009)
• Nominated by his peers to the Who’s Who of Commercial Arbitrators (Law Business Research, 1999-2010). Listed as an Expert in Commercial Arbitration (Euromoney, 1999-2010).

Early Employment:

• Law Clerk to Hon. R. J. Aldisert, U.S. Court of Appeals for 3d Circuit (1974-1976)
• The Associated Press, N.Y. Bureau, Reporter and Editor (1968 (summer), 1969-1972).

Education:

• J.D. Fordham University, cum laude; Law Review Editor-in-Chief (1974)
• A.B. Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School (1969)