Make no mistake, today’s e-discovery environment is complex and rapidly evolving. Without the right vendor, performing e-discovery services can be a costly and risky venture. But partnering with a trusted, sophisticated litigation support provider that specializes in e-discovery services can turn a risky venture into a smooth process.
Change Is the only Constant: Don’t Be Left Behind.
The e-discovery market is constantly changing. Every year, there is a new a class of e-discovery technology focused on addressing some section of the EDRM. These technologies can become outdated quickly. Case in point, judges have accepted technology-assisted review of data only recently. See Da Silva Moore v. Publicis Groupe, Civ. No. 11-1279 (ALC)(AJP), 2012 WL 607412 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 24, 2012); Global Aerospace, Inc. v. Landow Aviation, L.P., Case No. CL 61040 (Vir. Cir. Ct. April 23, 2012); In re Actos (Pioglitazone) Prods. Liab. Litig., 2012 WL 3899669 (W.D.La. July 30, 2012). But it is anticipated to become the norm quickly in 2013.
Invest in an expensive limited solution in-house, you may end up with quickly outdated and unsupported technologies. Partner with an e-discovery vendor who uses cutting-edge e-discovery technology and knows the ins and outs of e-discovery services, save your capital investment and the time and effort otherwise spent in constantly trying to optimize it.
In-Sourcing May Be Inefficient and Expensive.
In-sourcing expenses add up quickly. Starting an in-house e-discovery department includes the time and expense of finding, training and attempting to keep qualified employees; purchasing or leasing equipment and consistently updating your chosen e-discovery tool — not to mention spending a considerable amount to license it. You also will need to improve your equipment to keep pace with the latest e-discovery technology requirements. All this for a service you may not even use on a consistent basis.
With outsourcing, you only pay for e-discovery services when you need them. Moreover, vendors offer alternative fee arrangements that may help keep down litigation costs.
It should be noted that a majority of law firms and corporations, at the very least, outsource data hosting. With its concomitant installation, maintenance and security issues; firms do not have the bandwidth nor the resources to deal with the hassles of data hosting.
Outsourcing Leverages E-Discovery Expertise . . .
E-discovery services are technical and require expertise and know how. At a trusted vendor, highly-skilled e-discovery specialists perform e-discovery work every day and have seen and solved the gamut of e-discovery issues. Last year, most e-discovery sanction cases resulted from corporations committing errors resulting from their inability to deal with voluminous data. A sophisticated vendor is an expert in dealing with large volumes and has established workflow and protocols in place to avoid such costly errors.
Centralized discovery management also provides the benefit of reducing the errors and costs typically associated with transmitting data.
. . . And Robust Security.
At this year’s LegalTech conference, an expert in law firm data security noted that “law firms are the soft underbelly” to their clients’ data. He explained that cyber-criminals do not even dispatch their best to hack into law firm data. Evan Koblentz, “LegalTech Day One: Relativity 8, Statistical Sampling, Law Firm Security,” Law Technology News, January 30, 2013, http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/PubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1202586212889&thepage=3. Firms may minimize the risk of compromising their clients’ sensitive data by partnering with a vendor who employs a rigorous data security protocol that has been audited and certified by a recognized independent third party.
Such a trusted vendor, with its expertise, efficiency and security, may ease navigation of a constantly changing data world.