Lecturer Bios
Hon. Xavier Rodriquez
President George W. Bush appointed Judge Rodriquez to the bench as a United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas in 2003. He is a former Texas Supreme Court Justice and was also a partner in the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P. Judge Rodriguez is a frequent speaker on continuing legal education seminars and has authored numerous articles regarding employment law, discovery and arbitration issues. He serves as an adjunct professor of law at the St. Mary’s University School of Law and is a lecturer at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He was elected to membership in the American Law Institute and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Texas Bar Foundation. He was awarded the Rosewood Gavel Award for outstanding judicial service from the St. Mary’s University School of Law in 2011.
George Socha, Esq.
George Socha is a consultant and expert witness who focuses on the full range of electronic discovery activities. His clients include corporations, governmental agencies, legal vertical market software and services providers, investment firms and law firms.
George is the president and founder of Socha Consulting LLC, an electronic discovery consulting firm; co-founder of ABIKOS; co-founder of Apersee; and co-founder of EDRM. In 2003 he and Tom Gelbmann launched the Socha-Gelbman Electronic Discovery Survey, now Apersee (apersee.com) and in 2005 they started EDRM (edrm.net). In 2014, George and David Kittrell formed ABIKOS, an e-discovery consulting and technology firm.
Before launching his consulting firm in 2003, George spent 16 years as a litigation attorney in private practice. He received his law degree from Cornell Law School and his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Craig Ball, Esq.
Craig Ball is a Board Certified trial lawyer, certified computer forensic examiner, law professor and electronic evidence expert He's dedicated his career to teaching the bench and bar about forensic technology and trial tactics. After decades trying lawsuits, Craig limits his practice to service as a court-appointed special master and consultant in computer forensics and e-discovery. A prolific contributor to educational programs worldwide--having delivered over 1,600 presentations and papers--Craig’s articles on forensic technology and electronic discovery frequently appear in the national media. For nine years, he wrote the award winning column on computer forensics and e-discovery for American Lawyer Media called "Ball in your Court." Craig Ball has served as the Special Master or testifying expert on computer forensics and electronic discovery in some of the most challenging, front page cases in the U.S.