My new book, released in late November 2016, is called e-Discovery for Everyone. The Foreword is by Judge Paul Grimm. This book is just as the title would suggest, an entry level, informal book on e-discovery, but one that includes some deep comments for experts too. e-Discovery for Everyone can be purchased online directly from the publisher, the ABA. You can also call ABA Customer Service at 800-285-2221 Monday-Friday between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM ET. ABA members get a big discount. It should be available on Amazon in May 2017, but in the meantime, the ABA has the exclusive.
This book is written for everyone with an interest in e-discovery. It is an introductory to intermediate level book. I tried to make it a fun-read that will hold your interest and still have meat on the bones. My regular blog readers, who are nearly all advanced practitioners and experts, will already know the content and recognize many of the stories from the blog. Still, even you, the elite, might want to have a copy in your collection to cite from time to time (please!). Chapter Six on the 2015 Rule Amendments especially lends itself to that. I also have some good ethics chapters to cite to in references to the conduct of opposing counsel.
You might also want to buy several copies of e-Discovery for Everyone to give to your clients, customers, employees, associates, clerks, paralegals, students, colleagues and yes, even some of your friends (well, maybe not your good friends, more like your Facebook only type friends). It is a good way to explain to those outside of the bubble what it is you actually do for a living. It might even motivate newcomers into our fast-growing field. I hope so. I tried to make this an introductory book, but, at the same time, maintain the integrity and inherent complexity of the subject. My typical feeble efforts of humor and idealism are also included.
Foreword by Judge Paul Grimm
I was honored to have Judge Paul Grimm write the Foreword. I hope you will read his Foreword in full (hint – you will have to buy the book for that). He talks about the whole subject of e-discovery, new rules, digital explosion, the Bar, TAR, et al. The first half of Judge Grimm’s Foreword literally sets the stage for his two closing paragraphs about the book itself:
Enter Ralph Losey and the ABA with e-Discovery for Everyone, an introduction to e-Discovery that avoids over-technicality, without being substantively superficial, and manages to be interesting and at times even amusing. Ralph has been writing his e-Discovery Team blog since 2006, and e-Discovery for Everyone assembles many of his most helpful and recent blog posts in a collection that will be of value to newcomers to e-Discovery as well as seasoned practitioners. The book is written in a conversational style, and is divided into short chapters easily read in a relatively short sitting. Sprinkled throughout are very helpful references to cases, secondary sources and other materials that give the book depth beyond its relative brevity. A quick look at the table of contents shows an impressive inventory of the most important e-Discovery topics of the day: new methods of search and review, a discussion of the 2015 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, practical advice on litigation holds, how to evaluate the reasonableness of e-Discovery vendor bills, the advantages of transparency in selecting how to design a search for digital information, why cooperation during the e-Discovery process is essential to success, ethical issues associated with e-Discovery, and how to confront and control e-Discovery abuses.
e-Discovery for Everyone provides a welcome addition to the literature on e-discovery. Like a well-designed website, it is easy to navigate, informative, interesting, comprehensive without being overwhelming, and enjoyable.
I blush just reading it. Hopefully those comments alone persuade you to go ahead and click now to order a copy of e-Discovery for Everyone. (By the way, in case you wonder about my motives, and these days, you should wonder about everyone’s, my total royalties for this book, if it becomes a best seller, would just about pay for a nice steak dinner. These books are labors of love my friends, not profit, and I have no say in setting the price.)
What Other Experts Say
I am happy with how the book turned out. The ABA has some great editors that cleaned up my usual errors. But who cares about my narcissistic thoughts? What do the real leaders in the field think? Here is my short, totally unbiased sample of reviews by a few people whom I admire greatly.
John M. Facciola, Chief Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (retired); Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown Law School, shrugged his shoulders after I begged him for a review and had this to say:
Litigating lawyers must envy estate lawyers. When was the last time the rule against perpetuities changed? Since, these days, all discovery and litigation is electronic discovery and litigation, the poor litigator has to absorb technological and rules changes, new cases, and the very definition of their competence and ethical obligations. It is a good thing they have Ralph Losey and this collection of his blog posts. Ralph is utterly fearless and, unlike too many of his colleagues, welcomes technological changes and insists that their often drastic implications for the courts, the lawyers, and their society be considered soberly and realistically. He is as comfortable with the insights of social psychology, philosophy and mathematical reasoning as he is with metadata. And, the man refuses to be dull. His posts are full of song lyrics, truly corny jokes, and clever drawings; the man insists that we enjoy his work and our own and that we not be intimidated by our own future. Over the years he has forced us to look beyond our narrow concerns and try to see where all this change is taking us. He is a welcome man and this is a most welcome book.
That is my best review of all time. Thanks John.
Judge Ronald J. Hedges, Senior Counsel for Dentons (retired U.S. Magistrate Judge) was also persuaded to add a nice zinger:
Ralph Losey is an acknowledged “early starter” yet continuing thought leader in EDiscovery and all the complexities that go into that phrase. Anything he does is well worth the read!
Kenneth J. Withers, Deputy Executive Director, The Sedona Conference® has this typical erudite and highly original review. (If you figure out what it means, please write and tell me, but it does seem pretty good, aside from the whole itchy and scratchy whole cloth thing.)
I read the whole book yesterday afternoon and I think it’s a great anthology. I’d recommend it to anyone designing a training program for lawyers (and non-lawyers) or any individual who wants a solid introduction to the field.
If there were an award in the legal profession for ‘most creative iconoclast,’ I’d be honored to present it to Ralph Losey for his short, entertaining, and provocative lessons in e-discovery. In 19 easy-to-read essays, Ralph adroitly weaves pop culture, science, technology, and astute case law analysis into the warp and weft of ethical responsibility and justice. All of us should wear the resulting cloth every day in our practice, if for no other reason than it itches, which is a good thing.
Jason R. Baron, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Information Governance and eDiscovery Group, who was previously the Director of Litigation at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, is never at a loss for words. He had this to say, which includes his usual quasi-arcane literary references that keep Google so busy.
Ralph Losey has done it again: he is the Thomas Paine of e-discovery, with another excellent set of essays making the case that lawyers should follow “common sense” principles when dealing with the brave new world of electronically stored information. These principles include, first and foremost, litigators working as a team with e-discovery lawyers and outside specialists to ensure that discovery obligations are met. Second, they include lawyers recognizing that the newly amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure emphasize that opposing counsel are expected to work cooperatively together to narrow areas of disagreement, and that lawyers should keep in mind that discovery should be proportional to the matters at stake in litigation. And third, lawyers should maintain competence on technical subjects such as how to search through large volumes of digital data. This book is an easy (and fun to read) introduction to some of the most important topics in e-discovery. There is no better “explainer-in-chief” of e-discovery writing today!
Mark R. Williams, CEO & President of Kroll Ontrack, Inc., had this to say about e-Discovery for Everyone . The fact that my firm is a customer of Kroll Ontrack is, I am quite sure, completely irrelevant to his comments, at least under revised Rule 26(b)(1).
Attorneys can no longer claim to be confused by e-discovery! This book is a tremendous resource that makes e-discovery accessible for any legal professional, no matter past experiences with technology and the law – this is a “must-have” for any professional in the e-discovery industry, or trying to learn the industry.
John Tredennick, Founder, CEO of Cayalyst Repository Systems, and past Chair of an ABA Law Practice Management Section, also handed me a good one-liner, for which all I can say is, well, at least I try.
Losey is a master at making e-discovery accessible and even fun.
Thank you one and all for the kind remarks. The usual sized checks are in the mail.
Conclusion
Please give my latest book a try, e-Discovery for Everyone. I hope you will like it, and, if not, well …. you can always give it to opposing counsel. Suggest you tell them that the master plan for the case is in there, somewhere. Although the book is too lightweight for a doorstop, it is excellent to carry on a flight. Just pull it out and pretend to read it and the guy next to you will shut up instantly.
This is my fifth book on e-discovery, by the way. My first four books were:
- Adventures in Electronic Discovery (West Thomson Reuters, 2011).
- Electronic Discovery: New Ideas, Trends, Case Law, and Practices (West Thomson Reuters, 2010).
- Introduction to E-Discovery: New Cases, Ideas, and Techniques (ABA 2009).
- e-Discovery: Current Trends and Cases (ABA 2008).
As you can see, the ABA won the bidding war for my book this time (I had to pay them less). Believe it or not, I think all of these prior books are still in print and can be ordered too. The last ones in 2010 and 2011 are thick enough for paper weight status.
Want more information on e-Discovery For Everyone? Here is the Table of Contents:
About the Author
Foreword by United States District Court Judge Paul Grimm
Introduction
Chapter 1 We are at the Dawn of a Golden Age of Justice
Chapter 2 e-Discovery Team Commandos: the e-discovery side of the story of the Bin Laden raid
Chapter 3 Perspective on Legal Search and Document Review
Chapter 4 There Can Be No Justice Without Truth, and No Truth Without Search
Chapter 5 New Methods for Legal Search and Review
Chapter 6 The 2015 e-Discovery FRCP Rule Amendments and a Goldilocks Era of Proportional Discovery
Chapter 7 Spilling the Beans on a “Secret” of Many Trial Lawyers
Chapter 8 Four Secrets of Legal Search
Chapter 9 On Common Sense and Litigation Holds
Chapter 10 WRECK-IT RALPH: Things in e-discovery that I want to destroy!
Chapter 11 Confessions of a Trekkie
Chapter 12 Courts Struggle With Determining Reasonability of e-Discovery Vendor Bills
Chapter 13 $3.1 Million e-Discovery Vendor Fee Was Reasonable in a $30 Million Case
Chapter 14 Party Ordered to Disclose Where and How It Searched for ESI: You Can Expect This Kind of Order to Become Commonplace
Chapter 15 The Ethics of e-Discovery: An Overview of the Problem
Chapter 16 Judge David Waxse on Cooperation and Lawyers Who Act Like Spoiled Children
Chapter 17 E-Discovery Gamers: Join Me In Stopping Them
Chapter 18 Attorneys Admonished by Judge Nolan Not to “Confuse Advocacy with Adversarial Conduct” and Instructed on the Proportionality Doctrine
Chapter 19 The Increasing Importance of Rule 26(g) to Control e-Discovery Abuses
Index
