Ever found yourself saying that you can’t do eDiscovery tasks on your own, or feeling like you need to switch tools but there are too many roadblocks? You are more ready than you think, and we’ve put together a list of five reasons you can start taking more control of your eDiscovery process right now.
5 Reasons to Consider
1. I’m not good with technology
eDiscovery software developers have made great strides in recent years by making their tools much more familiar to anyone that uses social media or file sharing sites. Dragging and dropping raw native .DAT files to these tools is trivial. Similarly, there have been great strides in automated error handling and file type detection in load files as well. Much like when you drag and drop a file to a social media site, many eDiscovery tools know what type of media it is and can suggest words to describe the content. Many eDiscovery tools can even dissect load files and suggest where data can be put to be in the right place for the user.
2. I don’t do enough eDiscovery to justify learning a new tool
eDiscovery is becoming such an important part of modern legal practice that eDiscovery tools will eventually be as ubiquitous as word processing software. With subscription offerings that aren’t tied to the number of gigabytes being hosted online, eDiscovery can be used for as many cases as possible. Although comparing eDiscovery pricing is not easy, it doesn’t take more than one or two cases to show that subscription pricing is more affordable over project-to-project costs.
3. I don’t trust myself to not make a mistake when using a review tool – I need someone to check my work
There are human-based and technology-based solutions to this problem. Most review platforms have customer support that can assist you, but there’s a difference between needing help with changing a password and needing recommendations on a better workflow. Most legal professionals understand the process of discovery, but the addition of the “e” can be intimidating. On the technology side, automatic quality control for things like missing text, document orientation, pre-production intelligence, and near-dupe have made identifying mistakes easier.
4. I don’t have time to learn a new tool
Most tools also have free and self-paced training and certification. But eDiscovery developers have made their software more intuitive for the processes that are done on a regular basis. For those times when the tool isn’t the problem, rather it’s the data - this is where the choice of a vendor with easily accessible and knowledgeable support is key. But to get started loading, reviewing, and producing your data typically doesn’t require specialized training.
5. I already have a tool (or a process) to review electronic data
There are many legacy methods such as using Outlook to review email or using Excel to list PDFs of produced documents. The automation and quality control of online tools renders those obsolete. There are two costs associated with eDiscovery: the cost of the tool and your time to operate that tool. Online eDiscovery tools are more affordable when you weigh both of these factors. Also note that if your current tool is being retired or is not releasing new updates, it’s time to shop for another solution.
