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Tech Tips

E-Discovery Therapy
Technology Helps Build Strong Relationships Between In-House and Outside Counsel

It is not uncommon for relationships between in-house and outside counsel to be strained by conflicting interests in analyzing expenses and finding new ways to promote cost containment. This is not surprising, given the fact that, with respect to legal services, the profit motives of corporations and law firms are in direct conflict with one another- law firms that make money on billable hours versus corporations whose legal expenses have a direct impact on the bottom line. Many surveys of corporate counsel illustrate this dichotomy. For example, in the 2002 ACCA/Serengeti Managing Outside Counsel Survey Report, eighty-one percent of in-house counsel respondents indicated that controlling outside legal costs is the top issue of concern to in-house counsel.

Despite these sometimes-conflicting interests, it is not only possible to establish a cooperative cost-containment approach between in-house and outside counsel; it is absolutely necessary to ensure the success of their interactions. With litigation expenses on the rise nearly every year, finding a way to reduce expenses while enhancing cooperative workflow is a very appealing proposition to everyone involved.

Use of Web-based electronic discovery technology can improve the workflow between in-house and outside counsel by managing costs, facilitating communication, and improving efficiency. The following are examples of how to leverage electronic discovery tools to improve that relationship.

Manage Costs
As in-house counsel consistently cite costs as the most important concern when dealing with outside counsel, choosing to use an electronic discovery service provider (the most cost-effective per-unit method for reviewing discovery documents) is essential.
  • Save Money
    Processing electronic documents for review nearly eliminates the expenses of copying, scanning, and coding paper documents. Additionally, the document review process is streamlined to allow for more efficient and constructive review, resulting in reduced time and number of attorneys required to handle a typical discovery project. According to a report in the June/July 2003 issue of Law Office Computing, the average cost of paper discovery is $.70 per page, while the average cost of electronic discovery is only $.23 per page-a difference of $.47 per page. While it is true that electronic discovery often seems expensive simply due to the volume of information involved, these figures demonstrate that three times the number of electronic discovery documents can be processed for the price of one paper document ($.69 for three electronic discovery documents vs. $.70 for one paper document).


  • Monitor Costs
    In-house counsel can gain a better understanding and level of control over the costs associated with the review process through technology. An electronic discovery project bid typically includes all the anticipated costs for the project up front. What can seem like a large expenditure at first glance is actually much less expensive than traditional discovery processes on a per-page basis. An accurate assessment of the size and needs of the case will put the team in the best position to effectively manage project costs. Additionally, the case management functionality built into Web-based document review systems enables in-house counsel to monitor the volume of documents processed, the speed of outside counsel review, and anticipated timelines for production.
Facilitate Communications
With assistance from an electronic discovery service provider, there are many ways in-house and outside counsel can improve communications. Deadlines are typically very short during the review phase of a discovery project. Law firm attorneys may not have the time necessary to effectively communicate the status. Any lack of communication can cause serious anxiety on the part of in-house counsel who needs regular updates on the status of the project.

  • Real-Time Case Status
    An online review application should include automated reporting features. Using Applied Discovery's application, for example, any authorized user can quickly get a real-time snapshot of the progress of the review including:
  • Number of documents for each custodian,
  • Number of documents reviewed or not yet reviewed,
  • Number of documents marked as "hot," "privileged," or placed into various user-defined collections.
  • Custom Reports
    In addition to real-time snapshots available online, most service providers offer customized reports. At the beginning of every project, customized reporting options should be discussed.


    • Some popular custom reports include:
  • Weekly audits of review progress,
  • Production media reports.
Improve Efficiency
Electronic discovery technology enables a new level of collaboration between in-house and outside counsel that dramatically increases the efficiency of the review process.

  • Collections & Annotations
    During the review process, users have the ability to sort documents into one or more standard document collections (such as hot, privileged, reviewed, etc), or an unlimited number of user-defined collections. Outside counsel can create custom collections to direct attention to selected documents that require feedback from in-house counsel and vice versa.

    Additionally, both in-house and outside counsel can utilize online annotations to add comments to individual documents where necessary.
Conclusion
Although electronic discovery technology may seem like an unlikely place to start, the opportunities for lower costs, enhanced communications, and increased efficiencies can go a long way to building a strong relationship between in-house and outside counsel.



This issue's Tech Tips column was written by Jennifer Blue, Account Manager in the award-winning Client Solutions Group at Applied Discovery. If you have a technical issue you'd like to see addressed in this column, send a message to edstandard@applieddiscovery.com.
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