Home
All Resources
Consilio Advanced Learning Institute

ED105 – Clearing the Fog of War: ECA Fundamentals

Written by admin

Updated: Sep 29, 2022

Authors

Matthew Verga, Esq.

Director of Education

About Author

Matthew Verga is an attorney, consultant, and eDiscovery expert proficient at leveraging his legal experience, his technical knowledge, and his communication skills to make complex eDiscovery topics accessible to diverse audiences. A fifteen-year industry veteran, Matthew has worked across every phase of the EDRM and at every level, from the project trenches to enterprise program design. As Director of Education for Consilio, he leverages this background to produce engaging educational content to empower practitioners at all levels with knowledge they can use to improve their projects, their careers, and their organizations.

More from the author

Summary

The fog of war is apt shorthand for the state of uncertainty that exists early in a new legal matter. Whether you are gearing up for litigation, an agency enforcement action, or an investigation, you are faced with potential conflict and liability shrouded in a fog of uncertainty: What are the facts? What are the risks? What evidence exists, and what does it show? Early case assessment (ECA), fundamentally, is the process of trying to clear some of the fog of uncertainty around the answers to these questions and others like them. As litigation has evolved in the eDiscovery era, however, so too has the scope of what’s included in ECA.

Today the term encompasses three connected-but-distinct goals related to different areas of uncertainty, which can make the ECA phase of an eDiscovery effort a confusing one for practitioners. In this free Practice Guide, Consilio Director of Education Matthew Verga, Esq., reviews the fundamentals that legal practitioners need to know about performing effective ECA in the context of eDiscovery to help you see through the fog.

In this Practice Guide

  • The Three Goals of ECA
  • Available Tools and Techniques
  • How to Align Your Approach with Your Goals

Key Insights

  • How to Find What You Don’t Know to Seek
  • How New Visualization Options Can Help
  • How CAL Can Reveal the Right Things Quickly

Summary

The fog of war is apt shorthand for the state of uncertainty that exists early in a new legal matter. Whether you are gearing up for litigation, an agency enforcement action, or an investigation, you are faced with potential conflict and liability shrouded in a fog of uncertainty: What are the facts? What are the risks? What evidence exists, and what does it show? Early case assessment (ECA), fundamentally, is the process of trying to clear some of the fog of uncertainty around the answers to these questions and others like them. As litigation has evolved in the eDiscovery era, however, so too has the scope of what’s included in ECA.

Today the term encompasses three connected-but-distinct goals related to different areas of uncertainty, which can make the ECA phase of an eDiscovery effort a confusing one for practitioners. In this free Practice Guide, Consilio Director of Education Matthew Verga, Esq., reviews the fundamentals that legal practitioners need to know about performing effective ECA in the context of eDiscovery to help you see through the fog.

In this Practice Guide

  • The Three Goals of ECA
  • Available Tools and Techniques
  • How to Align Your Approach with Your Goals

Key Insights

  • How to Find What You Don’t Know to Seek
  • How New Visualization Options Can Help
  • How CAL Can Reveal the Right Things Quickly

Fill out the form below to download the complete insight.

United States
United Kingdom
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Sign up for Consilio updates

Discover, learn and grow with the latest insights from Consilio
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
By clicking Subscribe you are confirming that you agree with our Privacy Policy
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.