Introduction
Many industries need to keep up with the increasing digitization of documents. This can be anything from hospital receipts to tax forms. Because of the growing trend to go paperless, the amount of electronically stored information (ESI) has become more common in legal cases, which is why many companies and law firms are adapting to eDiscovery legal services.
eDiscovery technology is offered by various eDiscovery vendors, making it a highly competitive market for law firms to navigate. Like any partner you will onboard to your firm, it is important to distinguish which providers merely offer software and which ones provide expert assistance and support.
In this article, we will help you identify the right eDiscovery partner to help your legal firm adapt and thrive in today’s digital landscape.
What Is an eDiscovery Service?
eDiscovery, or electronic discovery, is an essential technology used by many legal professionals in today’s fast-paced digital-first economy. Receiving litigation support from an eDiscovery partner is a means for legal departments, law firms, and other service providers to collect and process digital evidence in preparation for a case.
Many attorneys conduct eDiscovery at the early stages of a lawsuit up until its ultimate conclusion. While it may seem like a straightforward service, finding the right eDiscovery platform to subscribe to is harder than it looks. This is why it is vital to find the right service that matches your firm’s needs.
5 Trust Signals To Look For in an eDiscovery Legal Service Provider
Not all eDiscovery legal services offered by partners are designed the same way. Besides the differences in the platform they use, you must also consider various compatibility factors that fit your niche, budget, and professional work arrangement.
Here are five trust signals you should look for in an eDiscovery legal service partner:
1. Years of Experience and Expertise
Take the time to vet your prospective partner’s website, social media page, and published articles covering their work to look for relevant experiences related to your firm’s needs. Check if they have handled data mapping, forensic collection, and more. Many partners that provide eDiscovery services also offer other functions that can help your firm in building a case, such as trial support and paper document management.
Tied to an eDiscovery firm’s years of service is its reputation among past and current clients. Look for reviews not just on the company’s website but also through third–party platforms. Make it a point to get insights from other legal experts who have used their services by asking about their personal experience working with the eDiscovery partner.
2. Reliability of Platform Used
Different partners will have their individual preferences when it comes to the eDiscovery software they use. Although there are many options in the market, what is more important is that your prospective partner knows why their platform is best for the service they provide.
When working with different kinds of clients, you need to be sure that you are collecting, organizing, and collaborating on documents with ease. Check if your prospective partner’s eDiscovery software provides essential features such as data evaluation, de-duplication, tagging, and search indexing.
It is a plus if their platform allows you to convert documents such as thread emails and transcriptions into accessible formats. These next-level supports help you adapt to potential contingencies you may need to develop as more evidence is gathered and more research is needed to develop a strong case.
3. Ability To Handle All Review Formats
Most electronic review services use TIFF or PDF files to be converted into an image. Your chosen partner should be able to meet your production requirements based on your overall strategy. Many vendors can help collate your documents and transform them into data image TIFFs and PDFs, but there are other processes that require file formats for specific litigation support databases.
Additionally, vendors can help you link to the data of these collated images in their native format. This allows you to retain documents in their native application instead of converting documents to an image file. Keep in mind that vendors who offer these services must retain the integrity of the native file to avoid spoliation of the underlying native file.
4. Cost-Effectiveness
Outsourcing your eDiscovery functions to another firm is a necessary investment so that you can dedicate more time to developing a strong legal defense. However, many law firms are still reluctant to look at the tradeoff of adding another layer of upkeep to their operations on top of employee salaries and utilities. When choosing the right eDiscovery partner, you should consider how much value they bring to your firm without compromising service quality.
Although it might be enticing to look for a service that provides the cheapest offer, you need to assess if you are getting your money’s worth. To ensure that your budget is aligned with their service offers, check what the client terms are. Do they offer bi-annual contracts? What are their minimum and maximum data volumes? Identifying their pricing models and service packages can help you compare one provider to another in terms of their value proposition.
5. First-Hand Experience
Setting up an initial meeting with your prospective eDiscovery partner is one way to find out what they are like to work with. While it is important to measure a firm’s portfolio, it is always better to meet the people you will work with.
Some of the qualities you cannot read in a partner’s website are their responsiveness, accuracy, competency, and continuity. You need to gauge if your partner will be invested in taking a proactive role in working with your firm and helping you scale your operations long-term.
Conclusion
Ideally, it is best to try out a few vendors first before committing to one service. This trial period helps you compare their services and see the quality of their work firsthand. During this time, make sure that you are taking notes about what features one service offers better than the other.
If you want to start your search by staying informed with the right legal guidance and expertise, you can work with our team at Warp9. Our dedicated team of professionals utilizes industry-leading software to make sure you have court-ready data to prepare and present your case. Check out our eDiscovery legal services to reinforce your legal defense.
