Supporting Litigation Efforts with Concordance FYI

Transcription

1 Supporting Litigation Efforts with Concordance FYI By Mark Lieb, Ad Litem Consulting, Inc. On Litigation Support Today s litigation support department provides project management and technical services for hundreds of cases and thousands of databases. The work is fast paced and intense, requiring both organization and diplomacy. At any given time, there are dozens of active matters, all with their own needs, personalities and deadlines. When litigators and paralegals change review teams, litigation support must immediately update access rights for all associated databases. Clients, counsel and experts, all of whom need remote access to specific databases, also require their time and attention. Litigation support professionals load databases, generate productions and address other ad hoc needs throughout the entire discovery lifecycle. In tandem to these case-specific efforts, they also manage ongoing operational factors that impact the quality of support for all cases. These include monitoring critical indexes such as server capacity, CPU utilization and network bandwidth. There is also the ever-growing inventory of files, folders and case-related materials to manage. In an effort to organize discovery and databases for all cases in a uniform manner, litigation support often employs a client-matter hierarchy of folders and subfolders. However, simply locating the right folders is not enough. Administrators need a powerful central data repository which clearly displays the relationships between the clients, matters, databases, and user access rights, while making overall management fast and simple. In the litigation environment, success requires a powerful, yet flexible software solution that organizes information, anticipates how both the attorneys and litigation support staff will use it to achieve their goals, and helps facilitate the entire process. The faster litigation support can load data or update passwords, the more time attorneys have to review documents and prepare their cases. The fewer people needed by the firm to successfully maintain this overall system, the better. A question facing law firms today is how they can use their existing litigation support department to successfully support an ever-increasing load of complex, electronic discovery-intensive cases. The right software can address the long term problems of how to expedite review and minimize tedious administrative work, thereby helping existing staff to successfully support a larger case load.

2 Selecting the Right Litigation Support Solution When evaluating new software, an important consideration is whether it builds upon functionality that has proven successful in the past while addressing the firm s expanding needs. For example, offering only Boolean search functionality is not enough any more to meet the needs of litigation teams. New software should complement how the business currently operates, while automating routine tasks where possible. The amount of training required and time to implement are also key factors in evaluating any new software solution. Using these guidelines, Concordance FYI is an Internet server software that expands on the functionality of the industry-leading litigation support software, Concordance and Concordance Image. Designed specifically to meet the needs of current litigation support departments, FYI comes with two components, FYI Server and FYI Reviewer, which have different functions. FYI Server software is installed on a firm s in-house server. It allows secure, remote access to the firm s discovery data. The FYI Server builds upon conventional storage hierarchies by organizing data into client folders and client-matter subfolders. Administrators use a drag-and-drop interface to organize and manage the relationship between clients, matters, databases and users. This mirroring between the firm s server and FYI helps when litigation support must locate and access files directly. The FYI Core Server also provides an easy way to administer software licenses, monitor server load and network capacity. Through a scheduler feature, administrators can set the FYI Server to routinely perform many common time-consuming and repetitive maintenance tasks such as packing and indexing all active databases.

3 January 2007 Concordance TM FYI Reviewer is the Web-based, review version of Concordance and Concordance Image that runs in Microsoft Internet Explorer. It is a focused review tool, providing litigators with the core features they need to find facts fast and analyze them with precision. Regardless of location, users can access centralized case data and collaborate with the larger litigation team in real time. The intuitive interface, in the style of Microsoft Outlook, reduces the learning curve for casual and new users alike. Setup and Deployment FYI installation begins with entering and organizing all of the clients, matters, databases and users. This is done through a combination of a software wizard and a drag-and-drop window. Law firms may have hundreds of databases and as many users, so manually finding and entering all of this information is a daunting task. The FYI Bulk Registration Wizard searches network folders and subfolders for databases. FYI quickly adds each database and any users into a general inventory, retaining all user-specific security settings. With all databases identified, the administrator can then relate databases, users and cases with a simple drag-and-drop interface. To add a database to a matter, simply drag the database icon onto the matter icon. To add a user to a database, drag the user icon onto the database icon. To add a user to all databases for a matter, drag the user icon to the appropriate matter folder. In this fashion, providing a dozen people with secure access to a dozen databases takes few steps and very little time.

4 Concordance databases may contain any number of user logins, passwords and associated field-level and menu-level privileges. Whether opening a local copy of the database directly with Concordance or from a Web browser with FYI Reviewer, the user login, level of access and functionality remain the same. FYI maintains this information during the database registration process, so historical settings are not disturbed. When an employee leaves a firm, the litigation support administrator is faced with a different challenge. In the past, the administrator would have to access each individual database to completely remove the user. With centralized administration, the admin simply deletes the user from the master list and FYI immediately removes the user from every database. Of course, the admin can simply make the user inactive should the situation warrant temporary exclusion. Secure, Remote Document Review Today s users require secure, instant access to their own data from any location. They also require restricted access for those who are outside of the firm, such as the client s in-house counsel, outside experts and co-counsel. Litigation support can use FYI and Concordance security to allow co-counsel access to certain client-matter databases but remove necessary fields (e.g., internal notes ) from view. Meanwhile, firm team members enjoy total access. FYI Server incorporates a dual-level firewall to separately limit both administrative and user access to specific internal and external locations. In this manner, litigation support can restrict administrative logins to workstations in a secured area. As attorneys and paralegals log in, the application s field-level security controls which fields each user can view and modify. Because users may connect from unsecured locations, FYI encrypts all communications between the FYI Server and the remote client. This blocks third parties from eavesdropping on Internet communications. Hackers can, and do, target unsecured Internet traffic for potentially valuable information. Banks, law firms and insurance companies are good examples of prime targets. All FYI related communications login name, password, images, attachments and queries are encrypted using a protocol known as SSL. Online banking Web sites use SSL security so customers can safely access their accounts. FYI and Concordance offer a flexible and safe way for the litigation team to review case-critical discovery while the litigation support department oversees all ongoing activity from a single tool. Powerful Administrator Tools FYI helps the litigation team monitor various operational elements, such as storage capacity, server load and network bandwidth. FYI also s daily server statistics directly to the administrators. It will send s regarding various critical issues that require immediate attention and those that will soon need it. The administrator can use FYI to track all user activity, generate detailed log reports, and send instant messages to any or every user screen. Should the server stop working, a separate watchdog program will restart FYI and send s to the administrators.

5 January 2007 Concordance TM Automated administration and indexing features offer near-immediate searching to reviewers after a database is edited. Litigation support can schedule FYI to run maintenance on a single database or a whole collection with whatever frequency cases require. While FYI runs these clerical tasks and monitors server performance, the team can concentrate on consultative services, creating productions, loading databases and supporting a larger case load. Access Anytime, Anywhere Administrators use the FYI Server to control access to hundreds of databases through a single interface. Internal and external users in turn run either FYI Reviewer or Concordance and Concordance Image to access their work. Finding and opening the desired database is simple. In addition to the familiar method of navigating drive letters and network folders to open databases, the review team now has the option of simply opening an.fyi shortcut file. When users open the file, they connect to their database through the FYI Core Server, removing the need to directly access database folders. This can allow the firm to achieve a greater level of network security without impacting the review team. Litigation support can distribute the.fyi files in , via intranet, extranet or store them in a central folder along with transcripts and other case files. Although we rely on the Internet extensively, there are times when access may be unavailable, such as during trial. The legal team can still access all case materials, including discovery databases, stored on external hard drives. An attorney can find, stamp and create an exhibit during a deposition. When the team regains Internet access, they can use FYI to remotely synchronize any changes made to their satellite copy of the database with the main copy housed at the firm. If the attorneys have Internet access but no copy of Concordance, they can still review their documents with the Internet Explorer plug-in, FYI Reviewer. YO U R C O M PA N Y N E T WO R K 2 Concordance R E M OT E U S E R S 4 FYI Reviewer 1 FYI Server 2 Concordance Image 3 Concordance & Concordance Image

6 Remote Access Through a Web Browser with FYI Reviewer FYI Reviewer provides secure, remote access to a standard Web browser, without the need for shipping software or limiting end-user review abilities. FYI Reviewer installation happens automatically when users connect to the FYI Server or visit the company s Web site and download the plug-in. The great benefit of a plug-in like FYI Reviewer is that it provides the same familiar functionality found in desktop applications without the need to install and maintain software. This makes everyone s life easier. Remote team members can use FYI Reviewer to search, edit, and collaborate on discovery materials, in real time, from anywhere in the world. In addition to offering Concordance functionality, such as multi-level foldering, FYI Reviewer has Concordance Image functionality built in. Users can highlight, redact, enlarge, and print their images. In fact, FYI Reviewer is 100% compatible with existing Concordance Image files, meaning litigation support does not need to do anything special for both Web and local-area network users to begin work. Everyone, from the review team to general counsel and co-counsel, are able to collaborate and move the case forward with minor administrative work on the part of litigation support.

7 January 2007 Concordance TM The Future of Litigation Support Electronic discovery changed the scale, complexity and responsibilities of litigation support work forever. Litigation-related files have grown from hundreds of GBs to thousands. New federal rules only reinforce this trend. Firms need to address the increased workload for litigation support. For every client matter there are multiple databases, some of which reference hundreds of thousands of native files and millions of images. The number of collections and potential caches of discovery continues to grow, making management more complex. The days of the simple ten box project are gone. As the scale of cases continues to grow firms must provide greater resources to the litigation support department and litigation teams. Whether litigation teams work from a single office or multiple locations around the world, it requires secure, powerful tools that will help organize and manage each client matter in a consistent fashion. Otherwise the department risks losing control of current and historical data. The software must also expedite the review process by enabling team access to case-critical documents from anywhere and at anytime. Firms need to make the investment in software which will aid in the overall management and operations of the litigation support department, in addition to helping attorneys find, produce and exhibit key documents. The Concordance FYI software is a logical step for firms seeking to achieve a long term, scalable solution. About The Author Mark R. Lieb is the President of Ad Litem Consulting and author of the books, Litigation Support Department and Litigation Support Technical Standards. Mr. Lieb consults on case, department and firm level initiatives ranging from software upgrades to mentoring. To learn more, please visit Ad Litem Consulting at or call

8 LexisNexis and the Knowledge Burst logo are registered trademarks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used under license. Concordance, FYI and FYI Reviewer are trademarks of Applied Discovery, Inc. Other products or services may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies Concordance. All rights reserved. LO