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Last-minute Gifts for the e-Discovery Colleague in Your Life

Ann Marie Lane

It’s that time of year when children rush to open presents and everyone delights in secret gifts revealed. While you’ve been busy searching for that perfect gift for loved ones, have you forgotten your e-discovery friends and colleagues? Don’t panic.  

While you can’t wrap a partridge in a pear tree or deliver something truly fanciful—like 12 additional days on a production deadline—there’s still time to offer a small token of your appreciation. Let our guide help you out—there’s sure to be something here to satisfy the inner e-discovery nerd in each of us.  

For the Attorney:

  • New Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: On December 1, several amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect—just in time for the holidays. These new rules are a must-have for every litigator in 2016. Get an early jump and make sure you’re prepared for the impact the new rules will bring to areas such as proportionality, spoliation, and sanctions.  Free; available at the Legal Information Institute.
  • Mobility Metrics: Are Law Firms Prepared for a Portable Future?: Ring in the year of the mobile lawyer with Ari Kaplan’s latest report. It includes data from interviews with 25 law firm partners on how they use and perceive mobile technology. Don’t be surprised if your colleague starts using terms like ‘bring-your-own-device’ and ‘MiFi’ after just one reading. Free; available here.
  • Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time: Cooperation and collaboration are key to navigating the increased emphasis on proportionality in the revised Federal Rules. Never Eat Alone is a real-world guide on how to build relationships that result in personal and professional success and may even help make meet and confers more effective$20; available at amazon.com.    
  • Donate to Plant a Billion Trees: Is your colleague a firm believer in life after paper? Thanks to the advent and adoption of e-discovery technology, there is light at the end of all those banker’s boxes. If your colleague is experienced enough to recall years of paper-cluttered workspaces, they’ll appreciate a charitable donation to the Plant a Billion Trees foundation. No minimum donation required; donate at plantabillion.org.  

For the Litigation Support Professional:

  • A Guide to Regular Expressions: Voted one of the best sessions at Relativity Fest 2015, “Regular Expressions for Beginners” is a must-see for the whole litigation support family. Described as “Excellent,” “Informative and entertaining,” and “Hands down the best presentation,” by Relativity Fest attendees, this session will make regular expressions a staple in your search toolbox. Pretty soon you’ll see phrases like “d[a-z]{2}” popping up everywhere. Free; available here.  
  • Tickets to a Broadway Show: Treat yourself and your colleagues to something fun to do before or after LegalTech New York this February. From Hamilton—a hip-hop musical about one of the most controversial founding fathers—to singing and dancing Jersey Boys, there are plenty of options to choose from. Prices vary; available at broadway.com.
  • An Introductory Guide to e-Discovery Data Visualization: Is big data bringing you big headaches? We have the cure. This e-book describes how to take data for what it’s worth, visualize it from different angles, and extract those nuggets of insight. Free; available here.  

For In-house Counsel:

  • The Role of Remediation in Information Governance: Keep it, delete it, move it? We have the ideal gift to make sure your friends don’t get run over by data policies. Produced by the Information Governance Initiative and kCura, this paper outlines how and why to address the data your organization is currently storing. Free; available here.
  • A Guide to e-Discovery Collection: How teams perform e-discovery collections impact downstream expenses for processing and review. Do you know someone who has made a resolution to better understand the whole collection process? This guide can help them get started. It walks through two common collection methods and how you can use them to defensibly reduce data volumes. Free; available here.
  • 20 Most Common IT Terms: Effective communication between in-house counsel and their technical teams is essential to creating compliant data remediation practices. Get the low down on cloud computing, disaster recovery, and more, including what they are and why they’re important to your IT colleagues. Free, available here.


Ann Marie is a senior manager of product marketing for text analytics and review in Relativity, working closely with the product teams to understand customer needs and strengthen the platform. She has nine years of experience marketing for the technology and software industries.

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