In his new article entitled “E-Discovery for Everybody: the EDna Challenge” [PDF], award-winning columnist and certified trial lawyer Craig Ball asks those of us in the e-discovery industry if we can shift our “gaze from the golden calf” to the other “85% of the potential market for desktop discovery tools”. Mr. Ball thinks we should, and offers the readers an informative survey of the tools, best practices, and practical advice to follow if one decides to head in that direction. Among his recommendations or those he cites from a good dozen experts in the field is the use of dtSearch, Aid4mail, Adobe Acrobat, Quick View, Trident Lite or Vound Software; he includes Microsoft Office Access and Outlook but cautions against the corruption of metadata when using them to review case files. Experts who weighed in on the question gave a broad range of advice, from a suggestion by John Simek of Sensei Enterprises in Virginia to “budget an hour of a consultant’s time” for help developing a work plan; and Dominic Jaar of Ledjit Consulting, Inc.’s “doleful” though sage admonition “to stay far away” from cheap e-discovery solutions — better to spend one’s small budget on “coffee and malpractice coverage”; to Floridian forensic examiner David Kleiman’s humorously irreverent quote to budget for “alcohol and amphetamines” when faced with a small budget and the “toil ahead”. A quick summary of Mr. Ball’s advice: 1. Make a working copy of the data (before processing). 2. Generate an inventory of all files and their metadata. 3. Divide the components of the collection into a logical scheme. 4. Expand files that hold messages and other files. 5. De-duplicate the files. 6. Don’t process and review Electronically Stored Information (ESI) in a vacuum. Follow this link to read the full article [PDF]. Many thanks to Mr. Ball and to all who participated in the survey. Let’s see if the advice proves true for the underserved teeming masses and to invalidate the “mistaken belief that e-discovery is just for the country club set.”