A young Houston Police Department CSI with a table of evidence, my how the years have flown

My apologies for going dark over the holidays. My favorite client asked for an intervention, and I have been back in the trenches running Purview searches and meeting unmovable deadlines. You will benefit from a lot of anonymized lessons learned when I have caught up on sleep. After skimming a couple of peers 2024 look backs, it struck me how little discovery has changed over my 35+ years in the hot seat. The technology has evolved to tackle much larger collections, but counsel still wants eyes on every document in production.

On a personal note, 2024 has had me researching and brainstorming with peers on how to stay relevant and valuable in the AI age. You have little time to consume news, perspectives and caselaw. The newest generation of eDiscovery practitioners seem to want curated sound and video bytes more than well researched practice and technology how to’s. I have been publishing my solo consulting research and perspectives for ‘free’ since we shut down our formal market analyst practice. This recent matter has reminded me how much I enjoy problem solving under the production deadline. So do not be surprised if eDiscovery Journal evolves this year. In the meantime, enjoy this adaptation of the Talking Heads Once in a Lifetime brought to you by Copilot and yours truly.

And you may find yourself, buried in a mountain of paper
And you may find yourself, in another endless discovery request
And you may find yourself, behind the wheel of outdated software
And you may find yourself, in a beautiful office, with a beautiful view
And you may ask yourself, well…How did I get here?

Letting the cases go by, let the data hold me down
Letting the cases go by, data flowing underground
Into the archives again, after the budget’s gone
Once in a lifetime, data flowing underground

And you may ask yourself, how do I manage this?
And you may ask yourself, where is that new technology?
And you may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful office
And you may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful view

Letting the cases go by, let the data hold me down
Letting the cases go by, data flowing underground
Into the archives again, after the budget’s gone
Once in a lifetime, data flowing underground

Same as it ever was… Same as it ever was…
Same as it ever was… Same as it ever was…
Same as it ever was… Same as it ever was…
Same as it ever was… Same as it ever was…

Data dissolving…and data redacted
There is data at the bottom of the server
Under the data, metadata in the slack space
Remove the hidden data behind the documents

Letting the cases go by, let the data hold me down
Letting the cases go by, data flowing underground
Into the archives again, into the silent data
Under the rocks and stones, there is data underground

Letting the cases go by, let the data hold me down
Letting the cases go by, data flowing underground
Into the archives again, after the budget’s gone
Once in a lifetime, data flowing underground

And you may ask yourself, what is that beautiful settlement?
And you may ask yourself, where does that thread go to?
And you may ask yourself, is it relevant?…is it spam?
And you may say to yourself, my God!…What has counsel done?!

Letting the cases go by, let the data hold me down
Letting the cases go by, data flowing underground
Into the archives again, into the silent data
Under the rocks and stones, there is data underground

Letting the cases go by, let the data hold me down
Letting the cases go by, data flowing underground
Into the phones again, after the budget’s blown
Once in a lifetime, data flowing underground

Same as it ever was… Same as it ever was…
Same as it ever was… Look where my coffee was
Time isn’t billable, time is a write off
Same as it ever was… Same as it ever was…
Same as it ever was… Same as it ever was…
Same as it ever was… Same as it ever was…
Same as it ever was… Yeah, the twister comes
Here comes the twister, same as it ever was…

Greg Buckles wants your feedback, questions or project inquiries at Greg@eDJGroupInc.com. Book a free 15 minute ‘Good Karma’ call if he has availability. He solves problems and creates eDiscovery solutions for enterprise and law firm clients.

Greg’s blog perspectives are personal opinions and should not be interpreted as a professional judgment or advice. Greg is no longer an investigative journalist and all perspectives are based on best public information. Blog content is neither approved nor reviewed by any providers prior to being published. Do you want to share your own perspective? Greg is looking for practical, professional informative perspectives free of marketing fluff, hidden agendas or personal/product bias. Outside blogs will clearly indicate the author, company and any relevant affiliations. 

Greg’s latest nature, art and diving photographs on Instagram.

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