The Oldest Acronym In E-Discovery Continues Its Tradition Of Excellence

The annual meeting of the EDRM is not a conference and it is not like other events in the industry, and there are tons of new and exciting projects ahead.

The Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) has been a household name in the e-discovery and litigation support industry for 15 years. This seemingly simple graphic that represents the continuum of the e-discovery lifecycle has hands-down had the longest lasting and made the most significant impact on the work of judges, lawyers, legal operations professionals, and e-discovery consultants toiling in e-discovery across the globe.

Think about it — entire operational schemes, service workflows and software development, and academic programs have all been built upon the straightforward and easily understood EDRM. Heck, it’s even been translated into other languages. Other acronyms have come and gone in the legal industry, but one thing that remains constant is the EDRM.

I spent a few days last week at the annual meeting of the EDRM in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. For those who are not aware, about three years ago the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke University School of Law assumed control of the EDRM. Now led by Bolch deputy director John Rabiej and EDRM Director Jim Waldron, the EDRM at Duke has continued its long tradition of delivering scholarship and top-notch content to the e-discovery community.

This year, about 50 people settled in at Duke Law School for the annual meeting. It’s fairly intimate with a small group, but no less powerful. There was a presentation and some great comments and opinions on the notion of identifying documents that may have been missed in the context of a machine learning review project. We had an in-depth discussion with an in-house counsel panel and the judicial panel was as always illuminating.

The annual meeting of the EDRM is not a conference and it is not like other events in the industry. Sure, there are various industry movers and shakers, a few speeches, and the occasional panel discussion, but the core of the annual meeting is the project breakout sessions.

A “project” at the EDRM is an opportunity for members to get involved and make a difference on an issue they are passionate about. Projects may range from writing the TAR Guidelines paper released earlier this year to the updating and revision of the EDRM itself.

Sponsored

Currently, the EDRM is managing a number of active projects, including, a GDPR Project, an Artificial Intelligence Project, the CompSci/Stop Words Project, an IGRM Project, and a Privilege Log Project, just to name a few. Project teams meet regularly to identify the scope and vision for the project. The outcome of a project might be a scholarly paper, useful content for the website, a new methodology, measurement or metric, or a new process or form to be used by practitioners.

A couple of things make membership with the EDRM unique. First, any member can suggest a project. If you’ve got a topic of interest, something you’re interested in and you think it will be of interest to the wider e-discovery community, you are free to propose a project and build a project team.

Second, what makes working with the EDRM cool is that membership puts you on the same footing as the federal judge, senior litigator, or rock star e-discovery professional who is sitting right next to you working on the project.

Things to look forward to from EDRM:

  • Proportionality Conference on June 20, 2019, in Washington, D.C.
  • Final Draft of TAR Protocol (the companion piece to the TAR Guidelines)
  • TAR Conference in January 2020 (venue TBD)

Sponsored

EDRM is currently in the midst of a membership drive. Membership is affordable and there are discounts for ACEDS members and WiE members. Students get a discount as well. And organizational memberships are affordable as well. Contact EDRM or visit the website here for more information.

EDRM is also beginning an EDRM fellowship program. Please contact EDRM or check the website for more information.


Mike Quartararo

Mike Quartararo is the managing director of eDPM Advisory Services, a consulting firm providing e-discovery, project management and legal technology advisory and training services to the legal industry. He is also the author of the 2016 book Project Management in Electronic Discovery. Mike has many years of experience delivering e-discovery, project management, and legal technology solutions to law firms and Fortune 500 corporations across the globe and is widely considered an expert on project management, e-discovery and legal matter management. You can reach him via email at mquartararo@edpmadvisory.com. Follow him on twitter @edpmadvisory.

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