I don’t do paid product endorsements (though I’m flattered when someone asks that I do).  So, if I sound like a shill when I come across something that helps me, it’s because I want it to help you, too.  That said, if you buy something as important and expensive as an e-discovery tool or review platform just because I use and like it, you haven’t done your due diligence.

I do freely endorse products I use and love (and I try to be as reticient as my big mouth allows concerning products I use and don’t love).  There are a handful of tools that fall into the category of “What would I do without them?”   Some are free little gems, like FTK Imager.  Others, like X-Ways Forensics or Prooffinder, are extraordinary bargains that pay for themselves in every case.  Finally, there are tools that don’t come cheap but equip lawyers, firms and companies with such powerful capabilities that they tip the scales steeply in their users’ favor in terms of getting a handle on the cost and complexity of e-discovery.  One of these is Nuix, an Australian import that I turn to almost daily to gain the upper hand with the evidence in my cases.

With that gassy preface, let me spill the beans on a little video that offers a lively perspective on data volumes in e-discovery.  It commits the cardinal sin of offering a byte equivalency for ESI, but it does it in the right way: by stating its assumptions up front and identifying the composition of the data used for the extrapolation.  Above all, I applaud Nuix’ courage in choosing beans to make its point.  Considering the well-known propensities of the musical fruit, it’s hard to conceive of a better analogue for the gusts of hype that will waft through the halls of LegalTech New York next week!  See you there!