eDiscovery is hard, but here’s a practical handbook for eDiscovery, written by an expert in the trenches who has a lot of best practices to share!
The book (available here) is titled Best Practices for E-Discovery: A Practical Handbook and it was recently published by the American Bar Association. The book is written by Nicole Marie Gill, who is Chair and Managing Member of Cozen O’Connor’s ancillary business unit CODISCOVR, where she manages complex and high-profile eDiscovery projects for the firm as head of the group.
As noted in the Introduction, the purpose of the book is “to demystify the e-discovery process and offer practical insights that can be applied in real-world scenarios”, “serve as a valuable resource, offering best practices, tips, and strategies to streamline your e-discovery efforts” and “is structured to walk you through the entire e-discovery process, from initial planning to final production”.
That structure is key to making it easier to understand. The first three chapters are designed to set you up for the eDiscovery process, with the first chapter – Know the Landscape: The Relevant Rules Governing the Discovery Process – discussing not just the rules, but also the EDRM model, with a history of how the EDRM model has evolved over the years, with illustrations of how the model has changed to provide perspective on how we got where we are today.
Chapter 2 – Keeping Your Data House in Order – discusses best practices associated with Information Governance, including the IGRM model, goals associated with IG and a discussion of types of InfoGov policies.
Chapter 3 – Initial Considerations – gets you into a hypothetical case, discusses preparing for a Rule 26(f) conference, and discusses ESI protocols – the basics and detailed information about ESI protocols.
The remaining six chapters walk you through the EDRM life cycle – from Identification in Chapter 4 to Production in Chapter 9. Along the way, Gill touches on important topics for eDiscovery professionals to understand, such as Possession, Custody and Control in Chapter 4, Cost Shifting for Inaccessible Data in Chapter 6 (Collection), Time Zone Considerations in Chapter 7 (Processing) and more.
As part of the discussion of Review in Chapter 8, Nicole briefly gets into Methods for Culling Review Sets and Finding Relevant Documents, which includes things like Search Terms, Technology Assisted Review, Clustering, Email Threading and “A Word about Generative Artificial Intelligence”. She also gets into QC and Privilege Review before finishing up with a discussion of Production in Chapter 9, which includes things like production preparation and QC, production formats and transferring the data securely.
Nicole’s Practical Handbook also includes figures and tables throughout the book to illustrate key points, workflows and examples – such as an illustration of the timing for a Rule 16 Conference Scheduling Order, a terrific decision tree to illustrate consideration of sanctions under Rule 37(e), processing metadata fields, examples of a traditional and categorical privilege log and more.
The entire book is about 200 pages. However, the core nine chapters are only 100 pages. The rest of the book is a series of useful Appendices containing Sample E-Discovery Documents, including a Rule 26(f) Memorandum, a Rule 502(d) Order, a Comprehensive ESI Protocol, a Comprehensive Custodial Interview form and checklist, three Sample Legal Hold Notices, and more. So, you not only have a chance to learn the basics, but you also get some forms and checklists to apply them! And the book also includes a Glossary of Terms and an Index to find key concepts quickly!
I’m regularly asked for resources that I recommend for people to learn the basics of eDiscovery. Best Practices for E-Discovery: A Practical Handbook does a great job of laying out those basics and is right-sized to be comprehensive enough to introduce legal professionals to those basics without overwhelming them with too much information. The book is available from Amazon here – side note: as of my writing this last night, there’s only one copy left at the moment (with a note that more are on the way), so hurry up if you want that copy! 😉
So, what do you think? Do you need a practical handbook on eDiscovery? Then, check out Nicole’s guide! And 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 authors and speakers themselves, 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.