It’s almost here!  And, by “it”, I don’t mean Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or even Festivus, I mean the end of 2020!  Finally! In my last post of the year, let’s take a look back at the top posts of the year in terms of blog traffic and interest from you, the readers of eDiscovery Today!  See if you missed any of them!

#10: How Do People in Legal Feel About Their Job Outlook? You Might Be Surprised: eDiscovery Trends – This post on May 4 showed that people in the legal industry are more confident in their jobs than any other industry, with the exception of public administration (and we know those jobs aren’t going anywhere).

#9: 12 Days of eDiscovery: eDiscovery Good Tidings – As Ron Burgundy would say, “that escalated quickly”!  This post made the list and it was published just two days ago!  By the time this post is published, it could be even higher on the list!  I guess people couldn’t get enough of good cheer for a great cause in this holiday season!

#8: Court Recommends Adverse Inference Sanctions and Awards Attorney Fees for Spoliation: eDiscovery Case Law – This case, covered on July 7, shows what happens when parties don’t listen to the court’s warning that the jury will be told if they fail to preserve ESI.  Whoops.

#7: Here’s a Way to Bring More “Reality” to Virtual Conferences – Virtually: eDiscovery Trends – Before EDRM’s “Expo at the Echo” was a big hit on E-Discovery Day, this post on November 17 showed people what to expect.  And it helps me perpetuate the myth that all Texans wear cowboy hats!

#6: SCOTUS Adopts Amendment to FRCP 30(b)(6): eDiscovery Trends – This amendment, covered on April 30 (shortly after eDiscovery Today was launched) that adds to Rule 30(b)(6) a duty to confer about the matters for examination, just went into effect at the beginning of this month.

#5: When You “Screw Up” on a Project, How do You Handle It?: eDiscovery Best Practices – When I published this post on May 29, it was because I couldn’t think of anything else to write about.  Who knew my screwups would be so interesting to people?  If that’s the case, I have SO much more content to share there – you have no idea!

#4: Announcing eDiscovery Today! – Hey, what do you know?  All the efforts to promote the new blog worked!  And this post, published on the very first day of the blog’s existence on April 20, was the first of 302 total posts published this year – in just eight months!

#3: An Interview with the Authors of a New TAR Framework: eDiscovery Best Practices – TAR posts are almost as popular as Craig Ball posts!  Here is the first part of a two-part interview (second part here, which almost cracked the top ten as well) on May 6 with Christine Payne of Redgrave LLP and Michelle Six of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, who proposed a new framework for using TAR in the context of civil litigation.

#2: Court Awards Defendant Over $750K in TAR Costs Shifted to the Plaintiff: eDiscovery Case Law – What’s more popular than TAR posts?  TAR posts about cases with big money cost-shifted to the other side!  The Lawson v. Spirit Aerosystems case was covered three times on this blog in 2020 (here are the other two) and was certainly one of the most talked about cases of the year.

#1: Craig Ball Just Published a New Exemplar Preservation Letter: eDiscovery Best Practices – Craig Ball puts his pants on one leg at a time, but when he does, he makes hit blog posts – for me!  My coverage of Craig’s updated “perfect” preservation letter had so many more views than the second-place post of the year, even “you-know-who” couldn’t dispute the results!  😉  That’s why this blog doesn’t need “more cowbell”, it needs:

I want to thank all of you for reading the blog this year – I really appreciate it!  eDiscovery Today has come a long way in just eight months and I have you to thank for it!

I also want to thank the partners of eDiscovery Today for all your support!  Without you, there would be no eDiscovery Today!

Educational Partners: HaystackID, Ipro, Prism Litigation Technology, Ricoh, Compliance, Vound Software and NICE-Nexidia.

Foundational Partners: EDRM, Craig D. Ball, P.C.

Affinity Partners: eDiscovery Assistant.

One final note: I had intended to publish the 2021 State of the Industry Report for the eDiscovery industry (sponsored by EDRM) this month before the holidays.  But putting the report together has taken longer than expected (it’s now about 2/3 complete) and (as you can imagine) I don’t want to release it during the holidays.  So, look for it just after the new year when new posts resume.  Your Christmas “gift” from eDiscovery Today is still coming, it’s just delayed a bit!  I promise, it will be worth the wait!  🙂

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from eDiscovery Today!

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.