e-Discovery Team Training
Introduction ClassStudy at you own time, your own place, your own pace.
Advice from Ralph Losey
Before you begin this journey of advanced legal studies, it would be a good idea to ponder your reasons for doing so. This is a difficult undertaking and you will need a strong start to make it through. Certainly economic incentives are important, but the best students have additional motivators at work to help drive them to excel. The short video below by Ralph points out four reasons to study e-discovery. You can probably think of a few more. We begin the course with Professor Losey’s thoughts on e-discovery, followed by a couple of his animated cartoons. The class concludes with study advice from students who have already completed the course.
(If your Internet connection is not fast enough for these streaming videos, try pausing to let the stream get ahead, and then play.)
More Reasons to Take This Course
The new field of electronic discovery law is one of the fastest growing in the country. There are opportunities for professionals of all kinds to get in on what is still the ground floor of this rapidly evolving field. Here is quote from a 2011 article in Corporate Counsel:
Cohen said most firms have historically taken the approach that e-discovery is an integral part of litigation and all litigators should be experts in the area. Those firms might create an e-discovery committee, but don’t have a practice focused on the issue. It’s not a crazy approach, he said, but one they quickly find out is a little too complicated to expect every litigator to become an expert.
The best way to protect clients and save them money is to have a dedicated practice, Cohen said, but the problem is there are few experts in the field to create these practice groups. …
Because so few firms have dedicated e-discovery practice areas, the leaders of these groups — which are often the founders of the groups — seem to be in high demand. …
“All firms should be advised to increase their expertise in this area rapidly if they don’t have it,” Deutchman had said. “Litigation firms in no small part will be distinguished going forward between those that have a good solid grasp of e-discovery and those that don’t.”
The need for lawyers and paralegals with specialized knowledge in e-discovery is growing fast. This course is a good way to build and improve upon your knowledge. If you do not, you are missing a great opportunity. If you do not, you may fall behind and not be able to compete. You may have to deal for years with uninformed attorneys, or worse yet, be one yourself. In today’s fast moving world the way to get ahead is through continual learning. Everyone needs to retool and design their career anew from time to time in order to remain relevant in the job market. This course is dedicated to all those who want to try.
You really don’t want to be like the partner in the law firm shown in the animation below. He is clueless. You also don’t want to be like the lit support tech shown below having to endure this abuse. With training, litigation support professionals can move on to a better firm, one where their valuable skills are appreciated. Better yet, both attorneys and lit support experts can be trained, so that they both know how to work together as a functioning e-discovery team. In the meantime, without training, the following video animation shows an all too common scene on Friday afternoons at law firms around the world. This is one of several videos that Ralph has created as part of his creative approach to legal education.
Here is another animated short that shows a happier ending to an interaction between lawyer and tech. The partner here has a clue, and takes guidance from lit support. This is the kind of teamwork we are going for. It also introduces you to our philosophy of search. It is what Ralph calls getting your hands dirty with digital mud, actually looking at the ESI, instead of only searching conceptually in the blind.
This Course is for Advanced and Beginners Alike
Think you already know e-discovery? Maybe you do it everyday day and think training is for the other guy? Think again. This is a rapidly evolving field and more complex than you may imagine. Even the most experienced practitioner could use a little retraining now and then. For instance, how well do you know the Sedona Conference ideas and writings? Have you got Sedona Principle Two down pat? Do you know what it is? Check out this animation, the fifth in a series, called Star Trek Meets e-Discovery: Episode Five – Captain Kirk Learns About Sedona Principle Two. If Captain Kirk can get ordered back for retraining, then you can too.
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Advice from Other Law Students on How to Study and Learn e-Discovery
Click on the audios below for advice from some of the best law students on e-discovery that Ralph Losey has had the privilege to teach. They will share some pointers on how to study, what to look for, and in general share their views on what this course is all about.
An advanced e-discovery law students message to new students:
A top student gives his semi-serious top five pointers on learning e-discovery.
Another advanced student gives good advice on how to approach this subject.
More good advice from a technically savvy student and law review editor on e-discovery.
More good insights and advice from one of the top students.
Still more good pointers from a good student.
Final advice from a good student of e-discovery.
Students are invited to leave a public comment below. Insights that might help other students are especially welcome. Let’s collaborate!
Copyright Ralph Losey 2015
Love these two videos.The first video is so true!! I come across that all the time.!!
Good level-setting on all 3. The ‘clueless’ partner’s view, I’ve found, is substantially more common than the enlightened one, although many seem to “cover” well (or at least, not be so blunt and forward).
Especially appreciate the “tools are good, make sure you understand what they can & can’t do” sentiment – analogy that comes to mind is, Lowe’s (Home Depot, insert your favorite hardware store here) may have great power tools but you’ll be shocked if you think that owning one of each will provide a place to live.
“Ethical Imperative” is powerfully worded: the need for legal/IT cross-skill also jumps out. Good coverage in “Intro” session – sets the stage for in-depth content in Section Two.
Wonderful audio clip comments from students and the animated videos are a glimpse of the reality in e-discovery today. More and more often the first and second year associates are finding themselves in the middle of what the partner is asking to be done and the technology capabilities the firm has in house.
Add to that a plethora of vendor offerings in the way of technology to process data, cull it, and host it for review and you have the makings of very diffcult projects to manage.
A common misconception in areas where information technology has become a driving force is to assume that more technology is better and having good technology ensures success. There is no area where this is more fallacious than in electronic discovery. Long time information professionals know that solutions are about people and process followed by appropriate technology for the problem at hand. The beginning lecture, vignettes, and students comments set the stage for this very important theme – good job. Getting e-discovery learning off on the right foot is a key component in success in this area and focus on how to build and enable a cooperative team of professionals for the matter at hand is foundational to success in e-discovery (even when the professionals are on the other side of the table).
very wonderful
Very informative, and peaks my interest in e-discovery! Troy T. 1L NWCU
Loved the videos. The first one in particular (Clueless partner talks to Lit Support) was so on the money. Hard to believe that same conversation continues today.
I read in the Florida Bar News (June 15, 2015) that lawyers are responsible for stripping metadata from all e-filed documents. Glad I’m taking this course!!
The audio files at the end of the page are not working. I get 404 errors.
Thanks. I just fixed that. Please try again.
The audio files are still not working. I get nothing
They are working fine for me. Sorry I can’t recreate your problem. Did you try maximizing the volume? The law student comments, while interesting, are not really that important anyway.
I had the same problem. Our IT guru sent me to Chrome instead of Internet Explorer – that was the solution! Thank you for this course. I am just getting started and am already hooked.
The videos re great. I’m a beginner in this area and want to not just give it a try but do it well. Thank you for this opportunity that I do not want to miss.
I have to say Thank You for the creator of this training. I just started. The audio from the students is not working but I will try it on my Mac later. I just don’t want to miss anything.
I am a recent law school graduate (MJ from DePaul University) and would like to develop skills e-Discovery. I stumbled on this course while searching for training programs. My concern with this program is the age of the material. While I expect a lot of the information in this course will set the foundation, should I also direct my attention to up to date principles and practices.
Ive been updating it recently. I has reached a more mature stage where it does no change that much. Somewhat boring for old timers like me. I’ve moved on to AI
Thank you for the opportunity to train for what I know to be a necessary field in the practice of law.
I am not an attorney. I am a court reporter and have a diploma with Honors in paralegal.. Is this course something I would be able to take without being an attorney? Can I take this course online? Is there a certificate upon completion? If I am eligible to take this course what is the cost and how long does it take to complete. Thank you. AL
No cert and no qualification. Open to all for free. Paras with experience in e-discovery should benefit