I attended an EDRM webinar yesterday on finding common ground on ESI protocols which was conducted by Craig Ball that I highly recommend!

The webinar, available here on demand through EDRM’s webinar channel, is based on his guide titled The Annotated ESI Protocol, which is available here (and which I covered here). In his webinar on finding common ground on ESI protocols, Craig delivers straightforward, plain English advice about ESI protocols that every legal professional involved in eDiscovery should know. A few examples:

• Don’t Boil the Ocean! ESI Protocols don’t set the SCOPE of discovery! If you’re arguing over WHAT is discoverable, you’ve missed the point, viz, the HOW.
• Prepare to rebut flimsy objections, such as: “Our vendor can’t supply that.”, “That’s beyond the scope of discovery.”, and “We always do it this way.”
• If you want an ESI protocol with teeth, get it entered as an order.
• The TIFF+ format method of production is not only less useful, but also TIFF files are as much as fifteen times the size of native files, which means they’re more expensive to load, host and export.

Craig also illustrates his points with terrific examples, such as images converted to black & white TIFF where the output is a much less useful form of production, and analogies, such as comparing ESI produced in image formats to aspect ratios for movies delivered in “pan and scan” (which is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown in a standard-definition 4:3 aspect ratio, meaning that you’re probably missing some of the movie images when you watch it on TV).

Whether you’ve read The Annotated ESI Protocol or not, I recommend that you check out Craig’s webinar here on finding common ground on ESI protocols – it’s an excellent investment of 60 minutes of your time (75 if you stay for questions at the end). Craig is a master at presenting complex topics in a manner that anyone can understand. Even Luddite lawyers!

So, what do you think? Need help understanding how to create a good ESI protocol? Attend Craig’s webinar and download his guide! 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.