ESI Survival Guide is an online resource to help legal professionals navigate, survive and thrive in the electronic wilderness – created, curated and cultivated by Matthew Knouff, CIPP/US, CEDS, RCSP and other legal technology experts.  Originally launched in 2014, and then revamped for 2021, this resource is designed to be accessible to new explorers and expert survivalists alike. 

The intersection between law and technology seemingly creates the perfect professional storm – technologists are not necessarily known for their legal expertise, and lawyers are not generally known for their technological savvy.  However, there is  a whole new breed of professional that has responded to the challenges of the Information Age, trailblazing the digital wild and mapping the unknown.  Our goal with ESI Survival Guide is to provide a forum for these individuals to teach their craft, showcase their skills, engage in explorative dialogue and impart their knowledge all for the greater good.  We hope that through this resource, the electronic wilderness will cease to be a place where lawyers “fear to tread” (acknowledgements to the Honorable John Facciola (Ret.) United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia from O’Keefe), but rather stroll peacefully.  In fact, we would even like to see this wilderness become less wild as new travelers use this site as a guide on how to set up permanent settlements in the Information Age.