eDiscovery Software: A Presumption of Ignorance

eDiscovery Software: A Presumption of Ignorance

Author: Eric Everson, MBA, MSIT-SE. J.D. Candidate 2013*

Over the past five years, the cost of eDiscovery has skyrocketed.  With litigation support services and software in this area proliferating, a lack of technology sophistication among attorneys has become the keystone of what might be seen as price gouging. 

Taking a quick survey of the eDiscovery software market, it is easy to see that there are an abundance of software vendors fighting for market share.  With vendors taking a multitude of approaches to achieve supremacy in this niche, these companies are lining their pockets by preying on a lack of technology sophistication in the legal profession.

How can lawyers keep the costs of eDiscovery under control?  Here are three first steps that will help keep the costs of eDiscovery manageable: 

Learn the Lingo:  Anyone who has spent any time in the IT department knows that computer people speak their own language.  In order to optimize the expenditures of technology spending, it is paramount to understand fundamental concepts that are driving the eDiscovery environment.  Comfort with terms like SaaS (Software as a Service), COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf), Gigabytes, Terabytes, Predictive Coding, Freemail and Social Media Collection, Culling, Hash Values, Filetype, and many more are paramount to navigating this environment successfully.  eDiscovery presents the chasm where cutting edge technology intersects the practice of law.  Taking the time to learn this new language today is the key to winning the cases of tomorrow.                  

Ask More Questions:  What separates good attorneys from the rest is often their ability to ask the right question to the right person.  Software sales hinge on selling miracle solutions, but it is by identifying the limitations of software that we expose its true value to our business.  To begin with, understand that there is no one size fits all eDiscovery software.  It is not uncommon to use several different software tools in the execution of an eDiscovery project.  Make sure the questions you are asking fit the needs of your eDiscovery team.  Start getting familiar with the terminology and see what charges apply to which services.  Start frame cost negotiations through the lens of cost per gigabyte, rather than by document or word count.  Start asking about the entering variables of the software algorithms; if you understand how the software works you can better gauge its value to your organization.

Embrace the Technology Law Department: The term “technology law” is confounding to many attorneys because it sounds like such a broad concept.  The truth is that the most effective organizations are going to be those that embrace a technology law department in their organizational structure.  Technology law is the umbrella that various tech-focused teams fall under.  Some of the teams that you may see within a technology law department might include the following teams: eDiscovery, Privacy Compliance, Intellectual Property, Social Media Governance, Cyber Crime, eBusiness Transactions, and more.  Fundamentally, the most productive technology law departments are those organized as profit centers rather than cost centers to the organization.  By adopting a technology law department, law firms centralize the technological expertise and consolidate the technology expenditures of the organization.  With centralization, there is more opportunity to leverage technology costs that law firms face considering a future hinged upon technology competence.   

Remember also that the eDiscovery market is full of vendors and they are willing to fight each other for your business.  There is no one size fits all eDiscovery solution, so do not hesitate to ask for trial versions and cost quotes that you can compare against others in this niche.  Buying the right eDiscovery software for your law firm is like buying a new car; it can be a sizable investment, but the more informed you are the more leverage you have to negotiate.  The vendors prevail in a market where a presumption of technology ignorance overwhelms. 

#eDiscovery #infosec #bizlaw #ITLaw #TechnologyLaw #IPLaw #software

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About the Author:  *Eric Everson is a 3L law student at Florida A&M University – College of Law.  He currently serves on the Board of Governors for The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Law Student Division and is the President of the Electronic Discovery Law Student Association at Florida A&M University – College of Law. Prior to law school he earned an MBA and Masters in Software Engineering while serving ten years of executive leadership in the U.S. telecommunications industry.  The views and opinions presented in this blog are his own and are not to be construed as legal advice.  Follow @IntleDiscovery.