National Archives Screens THE DECADE OF DISCOVERY January 27
Press Release · Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Washington, DC

Special program to follow screening

On Tuesday, January 27, at 7 p.m., the National Archives presents a special program and screening of a new documentary, The Decade of Discovery™. Archivist David S. Ferriero will introduce the program. See the trailer: 10thmountainfilms.com

The program is free and open to the public and will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC. Attendees should use the Special Events entrance on Constitution Avenue at 7th Street, NW. Reserve a seat online.

Joe Looby's documentary, The Decade of Discovery™ (2014, 63 minutes), details a government attorney's quest to find a better way to search White House e-mail. The documentary also tells the story of a teacher who took a stand for civil justice on the electronic frontier—and the attendant revolution in the way law is practiced and the government operates. Together they sparked a revolution in the way law is practiced. The Decade of Discovery™ chronicles the impact of the information explosion on the courts and the government during the years 2002 to 2012.

Following the screening there will be a panel discussion featuring Joe Looby, the filmmaker, Jason R. Baron, former Director of Litigation at the National Archives (who stars in the film), Gary M. Stern, General Counsel of the National Archives, and Anne Weismann, Chief Counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Joe Looby wrote and directed The Decade of Discovery™, his first feature length documentary. He served in the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps, practiced as an environmental enforcement attorney for New York State, and co-founded the forensic technology practices at Deloitte and FTI. His film production company, 10th Mountain Films, was named in honor of his father, who served in the 10th Mountain Division, a U.S. Army ski patrol that fought in World War II.

Jason R. Baron is Of Counsel to the Information Governance and eDiscovery Group at Drinker Biddle Reath LLP. He served 13 years as the first appointed Director of Litigation at the National Archives, and prior to that as a trial attorney and senior counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he served as counsel of record in lawsuits involving the preservation of White House e-mail. He is the recipient of the 2013 Justice Tom C. Clark Outstanding Government Lawyer Award from the Federal Bar Association, and was named as an e-discovery “trailblazer” by American Lawyer magazine, in its 2013 issue “The Top 50 Big Law Innovators of the Past 50 Years.” He is an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Maryland, Chair-elect of the D.C. Bar E-Discovery Committee, and Co-Chair of the Information Governance Initiative.

Gary M. Stern is the National Archives' General Counsel, Chief Freedom of Information Act Officer, Senior Agency Official for Privacy, and Dispute Resolution Specialist. Previously, he worked at the U.S. Department of Energy as senior advisor to the Secretary of Energy, a special assistant to the General Counsel, and assistant general counsel for contractor litigation. In 1994-95, Mr. Stern was a senior policy and research analyst for the U.S. Federal Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. From 1987-94, he was a staff attorney for the Washington Office of the American Civil Liberties Union, where he specialized in national security, classification, and information law issues. He was a plaintiff in Armstrong v. Executive Office of the President, the lawsuit involving preservation of White House e-mail.

Anne L. Weismann serves as interim Executive Director and Chief Counsel of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Prior to joining CREW, Ms. Weismann served as Deputy Chief of the Enforcement Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission. Before that, she worked in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, where she served as an Assistant Branch Director with supervisory responsibility over banking litigation, housing litigation, and from 1995 until 2002, all government information litigation (including litigation involving White House e-mail). This included litigation under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act and statutes governing federal and presidential records. Prior to that she worked in the Solicitor's Office of the Department of Labor.

The National Archives Museum is located on the National Mall on Constitution Avenue at 9th Street, NW. Metro accessible on Yellow or Green lines, Archives/Navy Memorial station. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., daily. Free admission. Additional information on exhibits and programs at the National Archives Museum can be found online.

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For press information contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.

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