Industry Trends

Yep, it’s that time of year again.  Time for Andrew Haslam’s annual eDisclosure Systems Buyers Guide!

Authored once again by litigation support and “eDisclosure” (that’s what they call eDiscovery across the pond) expert Andrew Haslam and published in conjunction with Legal IT Insider – and now in its seventh edition, the eDisclosure Systems Buyers Guide has become an industry bible for tracking providers in the industry. As always, the Guide provides an overview of key technology considerations, industry approaches and vendor capabilities regarding eDisclosure.  Covering topics from the EDRM Model to vendor service and software analysis, the guide provides a complete and credible resource for legal and IT professionals seeking to understand and apply eDisclosure concepts, processes, techniques, and tools.

The target audience for the Guide are those individuals who understand they have a requirement, but don’t know how to proceed with the next steps. Andrew says that Chapter 6 (the procurement Chapter) provides the “meat” of the document with example requirements for scanning, coding, data collection and litigation support services. There is also a reference Chapter (Chapter 7) for additional links to other useful sites and then the specific details of suppliers and software.

The Guide is based on Andrew Haslam’s general experience in the marketplace, also drawing from a number of vendor procurement exercises. The information on firms and software tools has been provided by the organizations themselves, with moderation from the author.  As in previous editions, Andrew sprinkles boxes throughout the guide that are notes, best practice recommendations and warnings (which are designated by a bomb with a lit fuse icon) to help provide guidance to readers for best practices.

There have been 43 modifications to the entries, with the Guide showing 98 (the same as last year) suppliers and 68 (down from 73 last year) products.  If you provide both services and software, you’re listed in both sections.  So, for example, CloudNine (shameless plug warning!) is listed on both page 103 of the document in the suppliers section and page 260 of the document in the software section – needless to say, we have a few more products to report on than last year!

Though the overall number of suppliers has stayed the same, there have been 12 companies leaving the Guide and 12 joining, with three name changes.  Some of the departing companies have been as a result of mergers, others have not supplied updated details and have been removed to keep the content current. The software figures reflect the removal of 11 applications and the arrival of 6 entries into the marketplace.

When it comes to coverage of the providers, the Guide is more than just a cursory listing, it’s a detailed listing that includes a detailed description of their services, providing the buyer with a terrific head start in understanding what each company does and whether their services and/or software might meet their needs.

Andrew is currently employed as the UK eDisclosure Project Manager for Squire Patton Boggs, so, as always, he makes sure to note that all opinion within the Guide is Andrew’s personal viewpoint and does not represent any views, opinions or strategies of Squire Patton Boggs.  The 445 page(!), 18 MB(!!) PDF can be downloaded directly from the Legal IT Insider website here.

So, what do you think?  Are you in the market for an eDiscovery (eDisclosure) provider or solution?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine 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 Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

As promised yesterday, I’m here to cover the results of the Spring 2019 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey, published (as always) on Rob Robinson’s terrific Complex Discovery site.  So, how confident are individuals working in the eDiscovery ecosystem in the business of eDiscovery?  Let’s see.

As always, Rob provides a complete breakdown of the latest survey results, which you can check out here.  As I’ve done for the past few surveys, I will provide some analysis and I’m continuing to take a look at all surveys conducted to look at trends over time.  So, this time, I will look at the results for all fourteen surveys to date, from January 2016 to present.

The Spring 2019 Survey response period was initiated on April 1 (no fooling!) and continued until registration of 180(!) responses last week, a record number of participants, thanks in part to support and promotion from the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS).

Law Firms Lead the Way: It’s rare when Software and/or Services Provider respondents aren’t the top group, but this is one of those times – barely.  Law Firm respondents led the way at 30% of all respondents, with Software and/or Services Provider respondents less than a tick behind at 29.4%.  Corporation respondents were third at 16.7%, a record percentage of corporate respondents and Consultancy was fourth at 12.8%.  If you count law firms as providers (they’re technically both providers and consumers), this is still a provider heavy survey with 72.2% of total respondents (but it’s the lowest since Fall 2016, which I believe was the previous highest participant count ever).  So, expanding the respondents seems to diversify the responses a bit!  Here’s a graphical representation of the trend over the fourteen surveys to date:

So, how confident is the largest group of respondents ever in eDiscovery business confidence?  See below.

Most Respondents Consider Business to Be Same Old, Same Old: For the first time ever, more than half (52.2%) of respondents considered business to be normal, considerably more than the 36% we had last quarter.  And, only 41.1% of respondents consider business to be good – the lowest number ever.  6.7% of respondents rated business conditions as bad, which is a four percent drop from last quarter.  So, does a larger group of respondents means we get more info from the companies that are not thriving as much?  Hmmm…  Here is the trend over the fourteen surveys to date:

So, how good do respondents expect business to be in six months?  See below.

Middling Numbers for Six Months From Now, As Well: While most respondents (97.8%) expect business conditions will be in their segment to be the same or better six months from now, the percentage expecting business to be better dropped 12 percent to 40%, while the percentage expecting business to be the same rose to 57.8%.   Revenue numbers were comparable to last quarter, slightly more respondents predicting higher revenue (41.7%, up .4 percent) and same (52.2%, up 1.5 percent).  Profit expectations (combined 90%) dropped 3.3 points from last quarter, but those expecting higher profits did rebound a bit to 34.4% – 6.4 percent more than last quarter’s all-time low, but still the second lowest all-time. Here is the profits trend over the fourteen surveys to date:

Will the lower future profits predictions continue?  We’ll see.

Volume, Volume, Volume!  Increasing Volumes of Data Considered to Be Most Impactful to eDiscovery Business: After two quarters as the runner up, Increasing Volumes of Data returned as the top impactful issue at 25%. Budgetary Constraints moved down a notch back to second at 20.6%, so, as has been the case most quarters, those two factors have been the top two.  Increasing Types of Data was once again third at 18.9%, followed by Data Security at 15%.  Lack of Personnel was fifth at 12.2%, with Inadequate Technology bringing up the rear at 8.3%.  The graph below illustrates the distribution over the fourteen surveys to date:

Increased volumes lead to increased costs, so it’s not surprising that Increasing Volumes of Data and Budgetary Constraints are normally one and two.

Let’s Get Tactical!: For the first time ever, Tactical Execution respondents were the clear top group at 39.4%, a record percentage by nearly 5 percent (previous high was 34.5 percent in Fall 2016).  So, again, greater turnout means a greater response from the people doing most of the front-line work.   Operational Management respondents were second at 36.1% and Executive Leadership respondents were at 24.4%, the lowest ever (previous low was 26.5 percent in, of course, Fall 2016).  Here’s the breakdown over the fourteen surveys to date:

With more respondents than ever, it’s clear that it’s not the same people giving the same answers each time.  Personally, I like the expanded respondents, more diverse survey results!  Let’s keep going Kramer!

Again, Rob has published the results on his site here, which shows responses to additional questions not referenced here including an early look at responses to three recently added questions.  Check them out.

So, what do you think?  What’s your state of confidence in the business of eDiscovery?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine 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 Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

Where is my brain?!?  I’ve forgotten to mention this before now!  In today’s era of growing data privacy concerns with GDPR and CCPA, increase in harassment claims with #MeToo and rising corporate malfeasance concerns, there are a lot of potential compliance and investigations needs with regard to discovery that organizations have today whether or not they ever lead to litigation.  Want to find out how to address these various challenges?  Tune in tomorrow!

Tomorrow at noon CST (1:00pm EST, 10:00am PST), CloudNine will conduct the webcast Discovery Isn’t Just for Litigation Anymore. In this one-hour webcast that’s CLE-approved in selected states, we will discuss the drivers and challenges facing organizations today to be more proactive in understanding their data to identify issues before they lead to litigation and address them proactively. Topics include:

• Timeframes to Act After the Case is Filed
• Challenges Posed by BIG Data and Variety of Data Sources
• Data Privacy Trends and Challenges
• Challenges from #metoo and Corporate Malfeasance
• Key Stats and Challenges Regarding Data Breaches
• Will Information Governance Bail Us Out of This Mess?
• Data Discovery vs. Legal Discovery
• Where the Technology is Heading
• Recommendations for Addressing Data Discovery Challenges

As always, I’ll be presenting the webcast, along with Tom O’Connor, who always has interesting takes on pretty much any topic eDiscovery related.  To register for it, click here.  Even if you can’t make it, go ahead and register to get a link to the slides and to the recording of the webcast (if you want to check it out later).  Believe it or not, you may not even have any meaningful litigation to manage, yet you still probably have eDiscovery challenges to address in today’s world.  Find out how tomorrow!

So, what do you think?  Are you prepared for today’s eDiscovery challenges?  If not, please join us!  If so, please join us anyway!  And, as always, please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine 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 Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

I know that working on some eDiscovery projects with difficult clients or opposing parties could get you thinking of murder, but, as I said before, I don’t know why anyone would consider committing a murder these days with DNA and all the ways we are tracked by Internet of Things (IoT) devices.  However, if you like to solve murders and are in the DC area (or plan to be in mid-May), here’s an event that’s for you.  Even better, your participation helps benefit a great cause!

Murder in the Manor is a charity fundraiser hosted by Oasis Discovery to be held May 16th at The Mansion on O Street in Washington DC (2020 O Street NW, Washington, DC 20036).  As Oasis says in their promo page for the event: “The night will be filled with mystery, entertainment, cocktails and lively conversation as we come together to bring attention to a good cause.”

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB), which is the largest public, non-profit hunger and nutrition education resource in the Washington Metropolitan Area. The mission of the CAFB is to feed those who suffer from hunger in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area by acquiring food and distributing it through their network of member agencies; and to educate, empower and enlighten the community about the issues of hunger and nutrition. Each year the CAFB distributes 20 million pounds of food, including six million pounds of fresh produce through over 700 partner agencies.

The Mansion on O, located in Dupont Circle, is noted for eccentric interior styling which includes hidden doors, secret passages, and rooms. Sounds fun, right?  The four-story historic building is over 30,000 square feet and contains 100 rooms including guest rooms, a private Social club, the O Street Museum Foundation, and a conference center.  Oasis has reserved the exclusive second floor of the mansion which has seven themed rooms: The Gallery, The Russian Room, Candle Room, Tiffany Room, Music Room, Ballroom, and secret VIP only access Speakeasy.

Speaking of the Speakeasy (say that three times fast!), CloudNine is proud to be the Scarlett sponsor of the event, so we’re running the Speakeasy!  Thanks to Oasis for including us!  Peacock sponsors include Compiled, LightSpeed and Practice Aligned.  Plum sponsors (have you figured out the sponsor naming pattern yet?) include Ankura, The CJK Group and H5.

The event runs from 7pm to 10pm on May 16th.  Ticket prices are: $75 per person to get in.  But, if you really want to maximize your experience, $125 per person will include access to the CloudNine Speakeasy, where drinks will be available and a lot of fun will be had.  And, you’ll actually get to be a character in the event (no worries, you won’t have to perform).  Trust me, you want to join us in the Speakeasy, that’s where the most fun will be!  Click here for more information and to purchase your tickets.  Remember, it’s for a great cause.

So, what do you think?  Are you going to be in DC on May 16?  If so, come join us!  If not, come to DC and then join us!  It will be epic.  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine 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 Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

Years ago, there was a TV commercial for chili where the spokesman said “Neighbors, how long has it been since you’ve had a big thick steaming bowl of Wolf brand chili?  Well, that’s too long.”  It’s been too long since we’ve provided an update of M&A+I activities in eDiscovery, so let’s fix that.  Also, I’ve had a lot of questions recently about what’s going on with the products that CloudNine acquired a year ago, so let’s provide an update on that as well.

As always, the best resource for tracking eDiscovery Mergers, Acquisitions, and Investments is Rob Robinson’s ComplexDiscovery site – after all, Rob via ComplexDiscovery has noted more than 375 M&A+I events between November 2001 and today.

Rob’s latest update is for the just completed Q1 of 2019.  His review was through March 22, but I’m not aware of any significant M&A+I announcements since then, so it’s probably good for the entire Q1.  Based on that, Rob notes five key findings for Q1 2019:

• There have been at least 14 M&A+I events in the eDiscovery ecosystem during Q1 2019.
• January was the most active month in Q1 2019 for M&A+I events with at least 11 total events. This is the most active January since the inception of eDiscovery ecosystem M&A+I pattern tracking in November 2001.
• March was the least active month in Q1 2019 for M&A+I events with two known events.
• The investment pulse rate for the three months of Q1 2019 appears to be higher than annual Q1 investment patterns. Q1 2019 is tied with Q1 2012 for the most active Q1 since the inception of eDiscovery ecosystem M&A+I pattern tracking in November 2001.
• Q1 2019 investment pulse rate appears to be slightly higher than the investment pulse rate during the same period in Q1 2018.

As usual, Rob also provides some charts to reflect the activity graphically: for 2019 (so far), a per month history since Rob started tracking in November 2001 (January is the most active month historically) and activity on a per year basis, which does a great job of reflecting how many more transactions have occurred in recent years than in the past.  To wit: Q1 2019’s 16 transactions are more than all but one year from 2001 to 2009.

Interesting stuff.  BTW, speaking of ComplexDiscovery, Rob yesterday launched his Spring 2019 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey.  As usual, the survey only takes about a minute or two to complete, so drop in and complete it if you have a minute (or two).  Rob says the survey will close around mid-April, so do it sooner rather than later to get your feedback included.

Anyway, speaking of acquisitions, it’s hard to believe that it was a year ago last week that CloudNine acquired the eDiscovery product lines from LexisNexis.  When I was at the University of Florida E-Discovery Conference a couple of weeks ago, several people asked me what was going on with the LAW, Concordance and EDA (now renamed Explore) product lines that we acquired.  So, let me address each of those (and our own CloudNine Review platform) with a brief update.

Normally, when I start to talk about CloudNine products, I preface it with a “shameless plug warning!”.  So, consider yourself warned.  And, if you want to complain that this blog post isn’t educational, remember that I started it with some interesting eDiscovery M&A+I info.  ;o)

LAW: LAW PreDiscovery is now known as CloudNine LAW and we just announced a new 7.1 release yesterday (unlike yesterday’s blog post, this was no April Fool’s Day joke).  This is our third release since the acquisition and our second in just the last two months!  The cornerstone of our 7.0 release back at the end of January was our new multi-core, multi-threaded Turbo Import ingestion engine to process and load data considerably faster than the traditional ED Loader module – with the 7.1 release now officially out, we have improved the ingestion speeds up to 12x faster compared to ED Loader.  Imagine having a super large PST file that used to take over 24 hours to process – now it can be processed in just over 2 hours.  Talk about saving time!

We have implemented several other new features and fixes over the past year and have partnered with Compiled to provide an automated link between LAW and Relativity (announced back in January).  And, we have several additional exciting features coming out over the next couple of quarters (targeting two more releases before Q4).

Explore: Also referenced in yesterday’s announcement, Explore has also seen some speed improvements and other feature additions over three releases since acquisition.  Explore has a unique index-in-place approach that also supports multi-threaded processing of large container files and the ability to distribute processing over multiple machines.  We recently partnered with a third party to conduct benchmarking of Explore and were able to index a terabyte (TB) of data in 7 hours, 15 minutes!  So, Explore is a terrific product for indexing and searching large collections of data quickly to support early data assessment, compliance on investigation needs and we have talked with a number of customers who are impressed with its speed and capabilities.

Concordance: Many people have asked what we’ve been doing with Concordance since we acquired it and we have had three software releases for Concordance as well since we acquired it.  We are currently working on brand new viewer technology to improve the experience for users of both the Concordance image viewer (e.g., support of color images, search within image) and Concordance native viewer (e.g., speed of image retrieval) that we expect to roll out around mid-year.  And, we are finalizing a link with Hot Neuron’s Clustify product to enable Concordance users to perform conceptual clustering, near dupe identification, email thread identification and predictive coding!

CloudNine Review: Our flagship CloudNine review platform is now known as CloudNine Review and we are also working on a number of new features and capabilities with that product as well.  We recently released a brand new managed review module within CloudNine Review and are currently working on several updates and improvements to the user interface overall – to provide a cleaner and even more intuitive look and feel.

There’s a lot more to say about each of these products – for example, we have doubled the size of our teams developing, testing, supporting and training on the products since acquisition – but, I try to keep our blog posts reasonably short.  Feel free to drop me a line if you want to know more.

So, what do you think?  Are investments in eDiscovery companies on the rise?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine 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 Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

See what I did there?  ;o)  While I’m speaking at the University of Florida E-Discovery Conference today, let’s take a look at a couple of articles related to Internet of Things (IoT) devices that you need to know from an eDiscovery standpoint.

In an article in Legaltech News (E-Discovery’s New Challenge: Not Ignoring Internet of Things Data, written by Victoria Hudgins), the author notes that, in addition to smartphones, items such as Fitbits, Amazon’s Alexa, self-vacuuming Roombas and internet-connected cars also fall under the IoT umbrella of items that are connected to the internet and collect and share data.

Dana Conneally, managing partner at QDiscovery and Evidox Corp., noted IoT devices may have multiple data repositories, which creates more data for attorneys to review.

“You want to know what’s on the hard drive of the device, but they are typically connected to the internet and cloud. … Now you have three different rabbit holes you are trying to chase down at the same time,” Conneally said.

Such devices represent a new source of evidence for a lawyer’s clients, but how to find value in such data can be difficult.

“Attorneys, a lot of the time, haven’t been trained how to do that,” said Cozen O’Connor eDiscovery and practice advisory services group chairman Dave Walton. “What are the types of evidence out there? We need to know to win in this environment.”

Walton said attorneys are “overwhelmed” by IoT devices in e-discovery, and they usually reason that it’s not practical to assess such devices. However, Walton suggested lawyers should always evaluate if their client’s legal matter warrants obtaining information from an IoT device and make proportional requests for the data, an approach that also governs other types of discoverable content.

“You have to be proportional about how you go about the evidence. The more you know about the evidence, the better you know about alternatives” and efficient ways to obtain the evidence, Walton said.

Smartphones aside, while I have seen several criminal cases involving IoT devices (including this one, this one and this one), I haven’t too many civil cases involving IoT devices (yet).  But, I expect to see more over time.

But, that’s not all!  Earlier this month, the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) announced the release of the CSA IoT Controls Framework, its first such framework for IoT which introduces the base-level security controls required to mitigate many of the risks associated with an IoT system operating in a range of threat environments. Created by the CSA IoT Working Group, the new Framework together with its companion piece, the Guide to the CSA Internet of Things (IoT) Controls Framework, provide organizations with the context in which to evaluate and implement an enterprise IoT system that incorporates multiple types of connected devices, cloud services, and networking technologies.

Utilizing the Framework, user owners will assign system classification based on the value of the data being stored and processed and the potential impact of various types of physical security threats. Regardless of the value assigned, the Framework has utility across numerous IoT domains from systems processing only “low-value” data with limited impact potential, to highly sensitive systems that support critical services.

The CSA IoT Working Group develops frameworks, processes and best-known methods for securing these connected systems. Further, it addresses topics including data privacy, fog computing, smart cities and more. Individuals interested in becoming involved in future IoT research and initiatives are invited to visit the Internet of Things Working Group join page.

Hat tip to Rob Robinson’s Complex Discovery blog for the info on the CSA IoT Controls Framework.  Here’s the press release with more information.  Dealing with IoT devices is inevitable, so don’t be idIoTic and get informed!  ;o)

So, what do you think?  Have you had to deal with IoT devices in your eDiscovery projects?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine 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 Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

It’s Valentine’s Day!  I hope you all have a special someone with which you can share Valentine’s Day.  As you can guess from the picture for this post, I do!  Regardless of that, I hope you all love what you do as much as I do.

Most people know me because of the blog, and you have to love eDiscovery to write about it every day.  I’ve always been a writer in my career, even when I started as a “Big 8” consultant years ago with Price Waterhouse (years before they became PwC).  Yes, it was that long ago.  Even back then, I wrote an article here or there.  I once wrote an article about CAR systems back in the mid-80s – Computer Assisted (microfilm) Retrieval (good luck finding that article today) – and it seemed like the wave of the future back then.  Our company wrote a program that interfaced with microfilm reader printers (does anybody remember those?) where you could search a database to identify documents you wanted to retrieve, then export out the document numbers into our program, which would identify the microfilm cartridge that the operator needed to load into the microfilm reader printer and, once loaded, the program would automatically advance to the selected pages and begin printing.  Then, the process would repeat for each additional microfilm cartridge in the document set.  It was really cool – when it worked right.  ;o)

Today, of course, I write (most) every day for this blog and, while it can sometimes be a bit of a burden, it also pays considerable personal benefits.  Before the blog, I would do a decent job of keeping up with industry trends – until I got really busy on a client project.  Then, I would let that industry research slide, unfortunately.  Now, because of the blog, I am forced to keep up with trends and that has paid considerable dividends in keeping me informed regarding trends in eDiscovery, cybersecurity and data privacy.  As Martha Stewart would say, “it’s a good thing.”

Believe it or not, however, the blog is only part of my job.  My “day job” is as VP of Products and Services with CloudNine, coordinating activities and roadmap for our LAW™, Concordance©, Explore™, and Review™ products (shameless plug warning!).  We just had a great summit meeting with our product team to talk about how to better manage feedback from customers to lead to product improvement.  We have a great team, which makes my job a lot easier!

I recognize that having a job that you truly love is a blessing and I feel truly blessed to love my job!

Of course, my true love is my wife Paige!  She’s the beautiful woman at the top of this blog and the love of my life.  I could write many descriptive blog posts just about her and why she’s so great, but this is an eDiscovery blog, so I’ll leave it to tell her in person today just how great she is and how much I love her.  :o)

So, what do you think?  Do you love eDiscovery?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine 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 Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.