Site icon eDiscovery Today by Doug Austin

For Newbies, Here Are Some eDiscovery Resources You Need to Know: eDiscovery Best Practices

I’ve had several people reach out to me recently via LinkedIn, asking about available resources for newbies to better understand the “ins and outs” of eDiscovery.  I’ve responded to a few of them with brief LinkedIn message responses, but you can’t get very comprehensive in a LinkedIn response.  So, I have attempted to identify several useful eDiscovery resources that I can recommend to newbies, looking to learn more about eDiscovery concepts and best practices.

By no means will this be a comprehensive list of terrific resources – there are many others that are also good as well.  But it’s a good place to start!  If you know of others, feel free to add them into the comments!  For those of you who are experienced eDiscovery professionals that already know all these, bear with me this one post (at least) to help newbies out!

Best Practice and Educational Resources Organizations

When it comes to educational resources and industry standards that legal professionals need to know about eDiscovery, here are three organizations that stand out:

All three organizations are not only terrific eDiscovery resources of information, but also terrific organizations from a community standpoint to get to know others in the industry.

Sites to Follow and Read Regularly

For the most part, all you need to do for this section is look to your right as I list several sites I follow there!  But I’ll briefly discuss three here:

There are numerous other terrific blogs and sites as well, but this should be a good start.  Oh, and this site, eDiscovery Today does provide daily posts about eDiscovery, so don’t forget this one too!  You can follow the blog via email to not only get daily posts delivered to you for free, but also any industry reports that eDiscovery Today offers.  eDiscovery Today has already offered two this year: the 2021 State of the Industry Report (sponsored by EDRM) and the 2020 eDiscovery Case Law Year in Review Report (offered in partnership with eDiscovery Assistant).

So, What Should You Do Next?

Wow, this turned out to be a more comprehensive post that I expected!  Or, in other words, that escalated quickly!  So, I will be brief here.  Here are some recommendations for what you (if you are a newbie) should do to further your eDiscovery education:

  1. Set aside at least 15 to 30 minutes a day for reading about eDiscovery: Anything less and you’re not really committed.
  2. Attend at least 1 to 2 webinars on eDiscovery topics each month: There are so many FREE choices out there, you can easily do so without spending a dime.
  3. Learn and Understand the EDRM Model: It is the single best guide for understanding the eDiscovery life cycle there is.
  4. Keep up with the Case Law: It’s the best and most relatable learning tool for legal professionals wanting to understand eDiscovery.  You can keep an eye out on this blog for the monthly EDRM case law webinars that include discussion of interesting cases and lessons learned and you can also check out Kelly Twigger’s weekly ACEDS #caseoftheweek videos on LinkedIn here.
  5. Consider Getting the CEDS Certification from ACEDS: If you want a thorough understanding of eDiscovery concepts and best practices, it’s the best program and certification there is.
  6. Learn the Rules, Shankapotomous!: In the immortal words of eDiscovery expert and thought leader Tom O’Connor, learn the rules (shankapotomous)!  “Wait”, you say, “you didn’t cover the rules in this post!”.  True, so it looks like there will need to be a second part to this newbie orientation.  Look for that soon!

So, what do you think?  If you’re a newbie, did that help give you some useful resources to help you better understand eDiscovery?  I hope so!  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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.

Exit mobile version