Contract analysis

I. PURPOSE AND SCOPE This memorandum memorializes the e-discovery protocol governing the collection, processing, hosting, review, and production of documents and electronically stored information ("ESI") in connection with the defense of the claims asserted against Northgate Networks America Inc. ("Northgate America") and Northgate Telecommunications PLC ("Northgate PLC," and together with Northgate America, "Northga

II. E-DISCOVERY VENDOR ENGAGEMENT A. Vendor Selection and Retention Following commencement of the District Court Action, the firm undertook a competitive evaluation of e-discovery vendors qualified to support the anticipated scope and complexity of this matter. After consideration of several candidates, we retained Candela discovery Solutions Inc. ("Candela") as the primary e-discovery vendor for all collection, proc

III. LITIGATION HOLD AND CUSTODIAN IDENTIFICATION A. Litigation Hold A litigation hold was implemented on September 21, 2022, two days after Ridgepoint filed its complaint initiating the District Court Action on September 19, 2022. The hold was implemented promptly upon receipt of the complaint and the engagement of Calderwood & Harkness LLP to defend the action. The litigation hold notice was distributed to all iden

IV. DOCUMENT COLLECTION PROTOCOL A. Data Sources The following data sources have been identified as within the scope of collection for the 23 identified custodians and for enterprise-level repositories: (1) Enterprise email systems. All 23 custodians' email accounts on Northgate's Strathmore Data Systems / Ashbury Software environment, including sent items, received items, deleted items (to the extent recoverable), d

V. PROCESSING SPECIFICATIONS A. Processing Parameters All collected data has been ingested and processed by Candela discovery Solutions in accordance with the following processing parameters: (1) De-duplication. De-duplication has been performed at the global level (across all custodians) using MD5 hash values. Global de-duplication ensures that identical copies of the same document are reviewed only once, regardless

VI. REVIEW WORKFLOW A. First-Pass (Relevance) Review The first-pass relevance review of the approximately 87,000 potentially responsive documents is to be conducted using the Concordia Review™ platform upon reactivation of discovery in the District Court Action. The following parameters will govern the first-pass review: Review team. The review team will consist of Calderwood & Harkness attorneys, including Aaron Liu

VII. PRODUCTION SPECIFICATIONS A. Production Format Documents produced in connection with the District Court Action (upon reactivation of discovery) or in the FCC Proceeding will be produced in the following format: (1) Image format. Single-page TIFF format, with extracted text (for native electronic documents) or OCR-generated text (for image-only documents and scanned documents), accompanied by a searchable PDF ove

VIII. COST MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET A. Candela discovery Solutions Fees Candela discovery Solutions' fee structure for this engagement comprises per-document processing fees, per-gigabyte hosting fees, and monthly platform licensing fees for Concordia Review™, as well as hourly rates for project management and consulting services. The detailed fee schedule is maintained as Appendix C to this memorandum. As of the August

IX. DATA SECURITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY The security and confidentiality of all data associated with this matter are of paramount importance, given the sensitivity of the information at issue, including proprietary technical information regarding Northgate's network infrastructure, confidential business strategy documents, and privileged attorney-client communications. The following data security measures are in place:

X. COORDINATION WITH INSURANCE AND COVERAGE MATTERS Northgate tendered the Ridgepoint claim to Clarendon Mutual Insurance Ltd., a Bermuda-domiciled insurer, on October 12, 2022. Clarendon issued a reservation of rights letter on November 3, 2022, reserving its rights with respect to the antitrust exclusion set forth in the applicable policy (Exclusion 4(j) of the Directors & Officers / Entity Liability Policy). Whitm

XI. CASE DORMANCY PROTOCOLS During the period of the stay in the District Court Action, granted by Judge Wentworth on March 14, 2023, the following dormancy protocols are in effect: (1) Data hosting. Candela continues to host all collected and processed data on the Concordia Review™ platform. Monthly hosting fees continue to accrue and are included in the $294,000 total fees to date as set forth in Section VIII above

XII. CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS The e-discovery infrastructure for this matter is in place and fully operational. The document universe has been collected from all 23 identified custodians and processed by Candela discovery Solutions. Approximately 87,000 documents have been identified as potentially responsive and have been loaded into the Concordia Review™ platform. Targeted review in support of the FCC Proceeding h