This year I was invited to a New Year’s Eve party by an old college friend. Being the introverted person that I am, I dread these types of social gatherings. Still, in hopes of turning over a new leaf, I decided to go.

At the party, I knew only a handful of people, so I was forced to do the question dance for most of the night. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, it usually goes like this:

Q: So what do you do for a living?
A: I’m a teacher.
Q: That’s great, what do you teach?

This question-answer-question format is the staple for new interactions. It provides commonality between the two parties and offers a platform to branch off into other areas of discussion. This pattern is as old as time. If you could go back a million years you would see two cavemen awkwardly standing around a fire asking, “So you hunter or gatherer?”

Unfortunately, for those of us in e-discovery, it is never that simple.

Q: So what do you do for a living?
A: I work in electronic discovery.
blank stare

While I received a few different responses at the party, “blank stare” was definitely the most common. My favorite though was, “So is electronics discovery like when you help people find their lost remote control?”

Throughout the night I came up with numerous definitions to explain what I do. Each time though, my definition was a conversation stopper. Later that evening, I thought about what was I doing wrong.

Turning My Answer from What I Do to Why I Do It

I realized that professions such as teacher, police officer or doctor elicit some type of emotional response that goes beyond just understanding what they do. If you liked school, you would have fond emotions when hearing that someone is a teacher. If you got a speeding ticket on the way to the party, hearing that someone is a police officer would send chills down your spine. Whatever your response, though, it would have propelled the conversation further.

At the party, I told people about the technical aspect of what I do. I never talked about why I do it; why I think it is important. I never mentioned how it makes a difference in this world. Without that, each conversation was doomed for failure and I was left nursing a beer by the TV.

So why do I work in this field? I believe in the legal system. Sure it may have its flaws but at the heart of it, the system is set up so that the playing field is level for all parties involved.

While adversarial in nature, the U.S. legal system hinges around the idea of full disclosure. Other than privileged information, parties are required to provide all information that would be applicable to the matter at hand. It is through full disclosure that a level playing field is created and issues can be won on their merits, not on who holds what cards.

It is this element of fairness that draws me to what I do. Though I am employed by one side of the case, my ultimate goal is to get the relevant data to the surface as quickly and efficiently as possible. I don’t have to take sides, I don’t have to posture, I just find facts—facts that allow both parties to effectively present and defend a case.

That is much more interesting explanation of what I do. From now on, my response to, “So what do you do for a living?” will be different:

I am a truth seeker. There are no good guys or bad guys in my world, only relevant or irrelevant. I dive deep into mounds of data only to emerge with what matters. I am the essential cog that keeps the modern legal system moving.

Or I could just say, “I work in computers.”