Inside eDiscovery

Inside eDiscovery Digest – Weekly Top 3

Must see eDiscovery articles for the week of July 7:

Firms Beginning to Take Flat-Fee Model to eDiscovery by Gina Passarella. The simultaneous meteoric development of eDiscovery and its effects on legal practice along with the contracting impact of the recent recession is forcing law firms to re-imagine billing for “non-substantive” tasks and processes. Many firms struggle to justify costs for eDiscovery and technology services and we often see internal conflict regarding whether to pass along these costs to clients or absorb them as “the cost of doing business.” In addition, competition from legal service providers has enhanced pressure to sort out a profitable eDiscovery model. Passarella’s article explores an old concept that is slowly gaining some momentum; an eDiscovery managed services model within the law firm setting.

For Law Firms It's Not If But When a Cyber Breach Occurs by Kiffin Hope. I have had a number of eDiscovery insiders tell me lately that cyber-security is emerging as a “trend” in the legal industry. In my mind, cyber-security policies and best practices logically fit under the data/technology umbrella that incorporates big data, information governance and eDiscovery. Hope’s article predicts further integration and adoption of data protection measures and safeguards in law firms.

Demystifying Analytics in eDiscovery: The Facts You Need to Succeed and Thrive in an Electronic World by Steven Toole. The data analytics (predictive coding and the like) conversation has been front-and-center in eDiscovery for a few years and in its early marketing, there was substantial industry peer pressure regarding its adoption from wonks, “thought leaders,” and vendors. Despite the “hype,” integrating analytics into practice in law firms has been slow and more deliberate and many managed review providers tell the same story. However, with information governance, we are seeing a more complete picture regarding how these tools may be used in more holistic, institutional formats. Toole’s article (and associated white paper) is the best that I have seen lately on data analytics that champions and instructs.

Inside eDiscovery Digest - Weekly Top 3

Must see articles for the week of June 29:

Revealing Survey Shows Upheaval in Law Firm eDiscovery Billing Practices by Anju Khurana. Khurana does a great job of describing the challenge that eDiscovery attorneys and managers face in law firms. There remains very little consistency in practice and within law firms regarding how tasks performed along the EDRM are billed, how practitioners and staff are described and marketed to clients and how legal service providers are impacting (and cannibalizing) clients. More generally, this reflects an industry-wide failure to define how eDiscovery is integrating into modern practice.

Looking beyond the Gartner Magic Quadrant for eDiscovery Software by Chris Dale. Interesting commentary on the Magic Quadrant analysis of eDiscovery services and software.

Bursting Biglaw's Bubble by Nicole Black. Black’s perspective on technology and big law is understandable…law firms are slow to change and their failure to “quickly” adapt (and adopt) to emerging technology outdates them and raises concerns with respect to their representation of clients’ technology issues and responsibilities. As an eDiscovery attorney, I find myself conflicted with this commentary. On one hand, I completely agree and I fear that practitioners fall short of meeting increasing professional expectations regarding technological expertise. However, more importantly, I think that a hallmark of legal practice (and the business of law), founded in precedence, is to be cautious and to rely on tested practices that avoid risk where possible while meeting industry standards. I explored these issues in my post, Is the Legal Technology Conversation Encouraging a Cart Before the Horse Mentality?