Metadata.

I am troubled by the Bar Board of Governors recent pronouncement in the January 1 News that lawyers should not be looking at metadata.

Metadata has been around for more than 10 years and is an invaluable tool for ferreting out fraud and unethical individuals. For example, a customer of the corporation I represent presented us with a counterfeit part and a certificate of conformance, claiming that it was a genuine part made by my company. I examined the metadata on the certificate and discovered that it was not generated by my company, but instead was written by the Chinese broker who sold them the counterfeit part. Further, negotiating agreements is a part of my daily life. Tracking additions and deletions (i.e., metadata) is part of the normal process until the...