The latest electronic data discovery buzz phrase is most definitely “early case assessment.” But if you examine the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (www.edrm.net), which offers guidelines and standards for e-discovery consumers and providers, you will search in vain for a box entitled ECA.
By not including one, have we missed a crucial step in the e-discovery process?
No. In our opinion, the term early case assessment is misapplied in the e-discovery context. While ECA can — and often should — address e-discovery issues, early case assessment sweeps much more broadly. To the extent ECA connects with e-discovery, the EDRM diagram already accommodates it.
[continued] Don’t Box ECA.
