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5 Everyday Things e-Discovery Is (and Isn't) Like

Andie Linker

Do you ever go through the motions of your morning routine and think “Huh, this reminds me of e-discovery”? Yeah, me too.

As it turns out, e-discovery is not so far off from the things you encounter each and every day … sort of. Let’s take a deeper look at the e-discovery process and see where it fits in to the familiar trappings of your life.

Information Governance Is Like Your Commute

While tedious and often frustrating, your commute is an entirely necessary part of your day. There’s no way around it. Still, you’ll find any way to make your commute a little easier.

Every time you finally get home and put your feet up, you feel so relieved—but then you remember that you must do it all over again in 12 hours. This is not unlike information governance.

Information governance is sure to make your life a whole lot easier in the long run, but that doesn’t make the process much fun. Just like finding the quickest route or listening to your favorite podcast during your drive (or ride) to and from work, any way to take a little of the stress off your shoulders is much appreciated when it comes to managing your data.

How to Spice it Up: You may not be able to (responsibly) route around employing positive IG practices for your organization, but you can engage with other teams to ensure as smooth a journey as possible.

ESI Is Like Your Morning Coffee

That first cup of joe: If you miss drinking it at just the right time, your day is simply not going to be as bright. Coffee can be so uplifting when it’s nice and hot, but it gets less helpful as the day goes by. And if it’s burnt, you’re done for.

The insights you gain from your company’s ESI are, much like coffee, only “good” for so long. You need to make sure you’re constantly reevaluating and topping off your ESI. Are you looking at all of the relevant data? Have you explored all the right sources? You also need to make sure you’re capturing it at the right time, so you’re not caught with missing information in the future.

Of course, unlike ESI, your coffee has those magical powers to make your day just a little better after just one sip. But the right approach to your ESI can give you a boost, too.

How to Spice it Up: Make sure your legal hold process and technology aren’t just cut and dry, but above and beyond. It’ll help keep your ESI habits nice and warm.

Review Is Like Unclogging Your Drain

It’s a necessary, but tedious (and, let’s be honest, unpleasant) process. But, once you’ve got all that gunk out, the satisfaction is next-level.

You may be able to handle this project yourself, but if you need a hand, it can be a big benefit to outsource a little help. Similarly, review takes a long time, but as you get closer and closer to the finish line you feel so accomplished.

Review is a necessary part of e-discovery, and you simply need to get it done—but it’s also the most expensive part, and it’s where the stakes may be highest. So whether you can manage on your own or prefer a little professional help, it’s best to get down to business without delay.

How to Spice it Up: Unfortunately, there isn’t a quick fix like Drano that will help you avoid all the work of review—but active learning will accelerate your project with smarter, faster analysis. Give it a try.

Analysis Is Like a Networking Event

When you hear the word “networking,” you’re immediately met with horrifying images of navigating through crowds of strangers searching for that one meaningful connection.

At their best, these events can be easy to navigate and exciting to explore. At their worst, however, you could leave with a headache and no next steps.

Analysis, too, can be overwhelming, as you spend long hours sifting through and connecting all that information you just reviewed. Finding your smoking gun makes it all worth it—turning your sea of documents into an interesting, strategic puzzle to solve. And the right tools can add an element of fun, too.

How to Spice it Up: Much like teaming up with a buddy is a more effective way to make the most of a networking event, using the right technology to enable your strategizing during review can make analysis a much more productive exercise. Learn what successful teams do to make this happen.

Litigation Is Like Giving a Lecture to Your Kids

Whether you’re working hard to influence a jury or opposing counsel, or trying to keep your kids on the right path—theses things require you to be extremely precise with your words.

Lectures can be contentious and hard to navigate, but giving a good lecture is ultimately one of the most crucial skills you need as a parent. You must effectively communicate and persuade your audience toward your end goal.

Litigation is a similar art form, requiring an equal amount of care with your words. Your end goal is to make the most of all that evidence you just sifted through, using it to convince a third party that your point of view is correct.

How to Spice It Up: Parenting groups are great for sharing tricks of the lecturing trade. The Relativity Community can offer a similar hive mind when it comes to presenting arguments and leveraging ESI more effectively in the courtroom.

Next time you find your day dragging on with all-too-familiar routines, remember these comparisons and how to spice up the monotony. Have anything to add to this list of comparisons? Let us know on Twitter using #eDiscoveryIsLike. We’d love to hear your insights.

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Andie Linker is a member of the product marketing team at Relativity.

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