E-discovery and Legal Outsourcing New Trends and Services Offered in Litigation Support

Transcription

1 E-discovery and Legal Outsourcing New Trends and Services Offered in Litigation Support 28 Jan 2013

2 Speakers Michael Lew Director & Head - Digital Forensics Chio Lim Stone Forest Singapore MichaelLew@stoneforest.com.sg Gina M. Sansone Manager - Litigation Support Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP USA gms@avhlaw.com

3 Successful Legal Outsourcing Start to Finish Conduct extensive due diligence before selecting your vendor and start developing long-term relationships. If you don t know what to look for, find someone who does. Understand what services each vendor has to offer at a very granular level. Despite offering similar services or soup to nuts, vendor expertise can vary drastically. Understand how they will staff your matters and ask for specifics about their protocol for enforcing internal control. AXINN VELTROP HARKRIDER LLP

4 Successful Legal Outsourcing Start to Finish (cont.) Ask for references and ask the right questions! Understand the vendor s internal employment practices. Screening process and background checks Conflict checks and confidentiality agreements Work conditions Inquire about security measures. Have any breaches occurred in the past and what steps were taken to address the issues. Present a case hypothetical to a few finalists and ask each to estimate pricing. AXINN VELTROP HARKRIDER LLP

5 Successful Legal Outsourcing Start to Finish (cont.) Negotiate terms of agreement. Confidentiality Subcontracting Payment terms Liability limitations Recourse if vendor fails to reasonably perform After selection, communicate expectations and deadlines. Define scope of responsibility for all stakeholders. Conduct a feedback session where you give and receive feedback on the overall process. AXINN VELTROP HARKRIDER LLP

6 What are key steps for successfully employing and managing E-Discovery and Legal Outsourcing from start to finish? Understanding the various E-Discovery and Legal Outsourcing Models ED & LO partnership with Law Firms ED & LO partnership with Lawyers (Sole Practitioners) ED & LO partnership with Counsels (Corporations) ED & LO partnership with Other Service Providers

7 What are key steps for successfully employing and managing E-Discovery and Legal Outsourcing from start to finish? The understanding that the workflow process is not a one size fits all Focus on both the Quantitative returns as well as Qualitative measures Our experience in applying the following 3 key steps

8 What are key steps for successfully employing and managing E-Discovery and Legal Outsourcing from start to finish? ITERATIVE PROCESS: START SMALL, IMPROVE AND GRADUALLY SCALE UP

9 Legal Outsourcing Challenges Licensed attorneys must adequately supervise work. (ABA Model Rules 5.1 and 5.3). Regular meetings Daily reports with helpful metrics Decision logs Client s information must be kept confidential. (ABA Model Rule 1.6). Client consent Conflict checks Data security Bill for outsourcing reasonably. (ABA Rule 1.5). AXINN VELTROP HARKRIDER LLP

10 What are some challenges you will face in E-Discovery and Legal outsourcing? E-Discovery and Legal Outsourcing Scenario in South East Asia

11 What are some challenges you will face in E-Discovery and Legal outsourcing? Recent Developments in Southeast Asia Influx of foreign law firms and foreign lawyers Introduction of best practices and best of the breed legal technologies from abroad Judicial push to adopt legal technologies in the legal processes Most larger law firms has offices / affiliation around Southeast Asia Adoption of document management systems, case management and electronic discovery platforms by practicing lawyers

12 What are some challenges you will face in E-Discovery and Legal outsourcing? Some Challenges When Dealing with Non-English Documentation Getting the RIGHT resources in a multi-lingual & multi-jurisdiction environment Getting a legal staff who is well-versed in X language + English competency Getting a legal staff who is well-versed in X + Y Asian languages Getting a legal staff who is well-versed in X language + Z area of law Getting a legal staff who is well-versed in X language + Z area of law + qualified in C jurisdiction Shortage of contract lawyers in Asian countries such as Japan, HK & China Demand tends to be sporadic and small in volume (Difficult to keep resources) Besides language capabilities, local know how is important (Cultural aspects) Not all native speakers can perform translation for evidentiary purposes

13 What are some challenges you will face in E-Discovery and Legal outsourcing? Challenges = Lessons Learnt in Southeast Asia Ability to handle a greater variety of legal work Building up trust through bite size work Understanding the clients needs Offering bespoke services and not one size fits all Enhance responsiveness with a realistic timeline Strong emphasis on quantifiable quality output

14 Some common software used in E-Discovery and Legal Outsourcing

15 Some common software used in E-Discovery and Legal Outsourcing What can we learn from Gartner s Report on Magic Quadrant for E-Discovery Software (May 2012) E-discovery market landscape has shifted dramatically End users have begun to demand more complete E-discovery functionality. Vendors are responding with broader end-to-end functionality. New products, acquisitions and shifts in buying patterns have led to a radically altered picture

16 Some common software used in E-Discovery and Legal Outsourcing The Impact of Cloud Computing on E-Discovery A firm s discoverable data hosted in the Clouds ediscovery Review Tool hosted in the Clouds Download Upload

17 Some common software used in E-Discovery and Legal Outsourcing The Impact of Cloud Computing on E-Discovery A firm s discoverable data hosted in the Clouds ediscovery Review Tool hosted in the Clouds Download Upload

18 Technology and Legal Outsourcing LPO s employ more sophisticated technology to: QC work product Provide adequate security over personal information Increasing opportunities for oversight by lawyers supervising work. Nonlegal vendors. Forensic remote collections Advanced ECA and review technologies Technology Assisted Review Licensed review and production platforms AXINN VELTROP HARKRIDER LLP

19 Technology and Legal Outsourcing (cont.) Cloud computing. Three variations Evaluating cloud providers so that you: Understand where your data is kept Ask about ediscovery capabilities Make sure you have full control over your data Understand your client s cloud so you can competently render legal advice AXINN VELTROP HARKRIDER LLP

20 Reasons for Legal Outsourcing Cost savings. Document reviews Litigation technology Minimize Risk. How does a party recoup costs for time fixing errors? Vendors have the competency and expertise. ediscovery is highly technical and easy to make mistakes Conflicts of interest. AXINN VELTROP HARKRIDER LLP

21 Why you should consider Legal Outsourcing and why now? The Cost v Benefit Analysis BENEFITS COST SAVINGS ABILITY TO SCALE FOCUS ON HIGH VALUE ADDED WORK IMPROVING QUALITY HIGH PRODUCTIVITY COSTS LACK OF CONTROL ACCURACY ISSUES CONFIDENTIALITY RISK CONTAMINATION RISK LACK OF ACCOUNTABILTY 22

22 Why you should consider Legal Outsourcing and why now? Quantifying the Value Proposition of Legal Outsourcing FORMULA: VALUE = BENEFITS - COSTS IS LEGAL OUTSOURCING A SHORT, MEDIUM OR LONG TERM PLAN? HOW WILL YOU RUN OUR BUSINESS / DEPARTMENT IF HAVING THE RIGHT RESOURCES IS NOT AN ISSUE? WHAT IS MY OPPORTUNITY COST FOR NOT DOING THIS? HOW CAN I MAINTAIN SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WHILE USING LEGAL OUTSOURCING? HOW CAN I GET MORE BUSINESS / REVENUES? 23

23 Questions From the Audience For queries, at +1-(562) , Website:

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