Ashish Prasad

Practice Areas

Electronic discovery, litigation and government investigations.

Career

Litigation Partner, Founder and Chair of the Mayer Brown LLP Electronic Discovery and Records Management Practice (“EDRMP”); Founder and CEO of Discovery Services LLC; Vice President and General Counsel of eTERA Consulting; Vice President and General Counsel of HaystackID.

Professional Memberships

Adjunct Professor of Law, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (Civil Discovery, Advanced Topics in Litigation and Trial Advocacy); Advisory Boards for Center on Practice Engagement and Innovation at Pritzker School of Law, and Center for Forced Migration Studies at Buffett Institute; Member, Board of Directors, and Executive Editor of Distance Learning Program, Electronic Discovery Institute (EDI); Co-Founder and Member, Board of Directors, Government Investigation and Civil Litigation Institute (GICLI); Chair, Vice-Chair and Member of the Board of Directors, Midwest Region, US Fund for UNICEF. 2011-Present; Advisor, Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, United States Army, 2018-Present.

Publications

Litigation and Investigations

Treatises: Executive Editor, The General Counsel’s Guide to Government Investigations (Government Investigation and Civil Litigation Institute, 2017).

Articles: “Means to an Expensive End: Modes of Payment Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” forthcoming 2023; “Data Privacy Laws and Blocking Statutes: Five Practical Strategies for Counsel,” Complex Discovery (January 27, 2023), available at https://complexdiscovery.com/data-privacy-laws-and-blocking-statutes-five-practical-strategies-for-counsel; “Navigating International Discovery Restrictions: Seven Recommendations,” Complex Discovery (February 5, 2023), available at https://complexdiscovery.com/navigating-international-discovery-restrictions-seven-recommendations; “Cooperation Standards in Government Investigations: Practical Tips,” Complex Discovery (January 15, 2023), available at https://complexdiscovery.com/cooperation-standards-in-government-investigations-practical-tips/; “The Government Investigation Reference Model,” The General Counsel’s Guide to Government Investigations (Government Investigation and Civil Litigation Institute, 2017); “Production of Documents to Federal Agencies,” In-House Defense Quarterly (DRI, Fall 2016); “Class Certification After Wal-Mart v. Dukes: How Much Have the Standards Really Changed?” PP&D (Journal of the ABA Committee on Pretrial Practice and Discovery, November 2012): “The Use of Expert Witnesses for the Purpose of Class Certification: When Does Daubert Apply?” Class Action Litigation Report (BNA, 2012); “Better to be Savvy Than Sorry: Preparing for Injunctions in Patent Litigation,” The Computer and Internet Lawyer (July 2012); “The Importance of Keeping Secrets: The Use of Protective Orders During Patent Litigation,” The Computer and Internet Lawyer (August 2012); “Tools and Techniques for Effective Case Management,” The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (March 2011); “More Bark Than Bite? The Impact of Twombly and Iqbal,” PP&D (Journal of the ABA Committee on Pretrial Practice and Discovery, Winter/Spring 2011); “Myths, Realities and Strategies of Fixed Fees, Part I,” The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (April 2011); “Myths, Realities and Strategies of Fixed Fees, Part II, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (May 2011); “Strategies for Mitigating Litigation and Regulatory Risk of US Companies Doing Business in India," Practicing Law Institute (2007); “Rights Without Remedies: Section 1983 Enforcement of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act,” 60 University of Chicago Law Review 197, Winter 1993.

Electronic Discovery

Treatises: Editorial Board, The Federal Judges’ Guide to Discovery (Electronic Discovery Institute, 2015); Co-Editor in Chief, The Electronic Discovery Desk Book (Practicing Law Institute, 2009); Executive Editor, The Sedona Principles: Best Practices Recommendations & Principles for Addressing Electronic Document Production (The Sedona Conference, 2006).

Articles: “Remote Depositions: Reducing Costs and Improving Representation,” forthcoming 2023; “Preferred E-Discovery Providers for Corporations,” Chambers Litigation Support 2018 (May 2018), available at https://www.chambersandpartners.com/preferred-ediscovery-providers-for-corporations; “Technology-Assisted Review of Documents –- Must-Know Workflows and Roles for Attorneys,” The Computer and Internet Lawyer (April 2016); “Utilizing Contract Attorneys for Document Review,” Facts and Findings (NALA, July/August 2015); “Understanding the Process: Tools and Techniques for Defensibly Processing Electronic Data,” The Corporate Counselor (LJN, December 2012); “Collect to Protect: Processes and Technologies for Electronic Data Collection,” Digital Discovery and e-Evidence (BNA, September 2012); “Cloud Computing and Social Media: Electronic Discovery Considerations and Best Practices,” The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (January 2012); “Problems and Solutions in Electronic Discovery,” Digital Discovery and e-Evidence (BNA, January 2011); “Effective Project Management in Discovery,” The Practical Litigator (July 2009); “Courts Signal the Need for Defensible Search and Review Models, Digital Discovery and e-Evidence (BNA, October 2008); “Cutting to the Document Review Chase: Best Practices for Managing Document Review in Litigation and Government Investigations,” Business Law Today (American Bar Association, November/December 2008); “Legal Process Outsourcing: A Guide to Important Considerations, Risk Mitigation and Achieving Success,” Practicing Law Institute (2008); “Best Practices in Document Review,” Practicing Law Institute (2008); “The Practical Implications of Proposed Rule 502,” The Sedona Conference Journal (September 2007); “The Proposed Electronic Discovery Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,” Defense Research Institute (2006); “The Discovery of Electronic Documents in India,” Unpublished Manuscript (2005); “Electronic Discovery,” from Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel (Thomson West, 2005); “The Proposed Changes to the ABA Civil Discovery Standards and Electronic Discovery,” The Sedona Conference (2004); “Sampling of Backup Tapes,” For the Defense (June 2004); “US Discovery of Electronic Documents in Europe,” The Sedona Conference Journal (September 2004); “The Ethics and Due Diligence of Responding to Electronic Discovery," Defense Research Institute (2003)

Corporate, Private Equity and Venture Capital

Articles: “Entrepreneurship in the Legal Technology and Professional Services Industries,” Legaltech News (January 20, 2022), available at https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2022/01/20/entrepreneurship-in-the-legal-technology-and-professional-services-industries/, principal author without byline; “Sales and Acquisitions in the Middle Market: Partnering Between Entrepreneurs and Private Investors,” Complex Discovery (January 8, 2023), available at https://complexdiscovery.com/sales-and-acquisitions-in-the-middle-market-partnering-between-entrepreneurs-and-private-investors/.

Personal

Active in a wide variety of charitable organizations related to children’s health and education, including, among other things, serving as Midwest Board Chair of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and Board Member of Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Education

Experience

Widely regarded as a leading expert on discovery over the past 25 years, Ashish Prasad has: managed all aspects of discovery in litigation and investigations; developed policies and procedures for electronic discovery, records management and legacy data management for corporations, government agencies, and law firms; and defended discovery compliance procedures before numerous courts and regulators.

Ashish has served for the past 5 years as the Vice President and General Counsel of HaystackID, a leading electronic discovery, document review, and consulting company in the United States. Because he integrates 14 years of experience as a Litigation Partner and Associate at a leading international law firm with 15 years of experience managing projects at major document review and electronic discovery service providers, Ashish is uniquely qualified to lead the development, implementation, and management of corporate electronic discovery programs to improve efficiencies, reduce costs and enhance defensibility. He has utilized his deep knowledge of the law, technology and operations of electronic discovery to do this successfully for dozens of large organizations over the past 20 years.

In his prior positions, Ashish served as Partner at Mayer Brown LLP, where he launched the Firm’s Electronic Discovery and Records Management Practice (“EDRMP”) and grew it to a $7M annual practice before he took an extended leave of absence from the Firm. He also launched the document review company Discovery Services LLC and grew it to a $15M annual company; he was a key driver of the growth of the eDiscovery company eTERA Consulting to a $25M annual company; and he has been a key driver of HaystackID’s growth to a $150M+ annual company.

Ashish’s thought leadership, training and education experience over the past 25 years in the litigation and electronic discovery industries includes, among other things, editing 4 treatises, authoring over 30 articles, and teaching hundreds of classes and seminars to practicing lawyers, litigation support professionals, technology specialists and judges. He has held leadership positions at the Electronic Discovery Institute, Government Investigation and Civil Litigation Institute, Practicing Law Institute, and Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

In addition to his work in the areas of complex litigation and electronic discovery, Ashish serves as a co-investor and strategic advisor to legal technology and services companies and the venture capital and private equity investors in those companies. He has also written and given seminars to college students, and aspiring entrepreneurs and investors, on innovation, venture capital and private equity in the middle market.

Ashish has been active in a wide variety of charitable organizations related to children’s health and education, which has included service as Midwest Board Chair and Board Member of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and Board Member of Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.

Ashish graduated from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a Member of the Law Review, and the University of Michigan Honors Program, where he graduated with High Honors and High Distinction. He has served in a variety of advisory roles and on a variety of panels at his alma mater institutions.