As part of one of the largest holding companies in the United States, a prominent Fortune 100 company actively manages and markets their portfolio of Intellectual Property assets and therefore has an extremely busy litigation department. They manage an average of 550 lawsuits per year and spend nearly 15% of their budget on on-line reviews alone.  

In 2007, they were faced with a growing number of cases, limited resources and extreme pressure from above to reduce litigation expenses. “Our patent portfolio went from 7 to 27 cases in one year. We got an influx the first quarter of about 10 cases that were all on the same track, very aggressive discovery schedules,” says their litigation manager. To find a better way to manage and streamline the outsourced review process for their various IP/patent matters while retaining a very hands-on approach, counsel turned to the partnership of Hudson Legal and Applied Discovery to provide experienced professionals and unparalleled quality and service through their Managed Review Solutions offering.

More efficient and repeatable review process
The corporation now benefits from the economies of scale using the Applied Discovery/Hudson Legal team on as many as 15 cases at any given time. “It’s a very cost effective and efficient way to manage a very large litigation portfolio. We get a consistent pool of experienced attorneys that understand our protocols, terminology, and what we look for in our reviews. The Hudson Legal people know the Applied Discovery platform and we don’t have to waste time at the start of each case training people on new technology and the way we do business,” explains their litigation manager. As a result, the client now has a more systematic review process that is easily repeatable from case to case. For most new cases, counsel only needs to meet with Applied Discovery/Hudson Legal case managers once to review established protocols and identify unique requirements. Almost like an extension of the their legal department, the Applied Discovery/Hudson Legal team can get set up and started on their new cases quickly, saving the company significant time and expense previously incurred when numerous matters were managed by different staffing firms and a variety of technology vendors.

Reliability and quality
Even with multiple cases and high document volumes, the litigation manager can rely on the Managed Review Solution to deliver high-quality results on a consistent basis. The high capacity, highly configurable Applied Discovery platform provides flexible processing and advanced search capabilities that enable them to optimize their strategy to best achieve review goals. For example, client is able to work with Applied Discovery case managers to design investigative searches, conduct more in-depth reviews on specific terms throughout the process, as well as create custom results reports. “The Applied Discovery platform is very robust and review process is pretty seamless. When the key words are applied, the turn around is quick, the uploading is quick, and the reviews move along smoothly. Everything seems to be painless and that’s what I look for,” attests the litigation manager. “I have total confidence in the reliability and quality of the work product and I get the results I need in a timely manner.”

Better managed resources
What’s more, the company is able to more effectively manage and utilize review staff. The Applied Discovery sophisticated project management features track individual performances of the reviewing attorneys on each project allowing Hudson Legal managers to analyze and optimize the staffing needs on each case. “The Applied Discovery productivity reports are a very big plus. A lot of providers are not able to do that,” says the client. “We are able to move reviewers from one project to another as needed. There is virtually no down time where attorneys are sitting around waiting and doing nothing.” These capabilities contribute to not only improving the quality of the work product but also drastically reducing the billing costs associated with non productive time.

Peace of mind
These days, this company’s litigation department has complete confidence that their online reviews are in good hands. The attorneys have no need to get involved in the day-to-day logistics of the reviews and can rely on the Applied Discovery and Hudson Legal case managers to deliver weekly results reports knowing that the right protocols are being implemented and that the review is being performed in the most efficient and thorough way possible. “The case managers are excellent at communicating, taking ownership and being proactive about all my cases,” expresses counsel. “They always deliver as promised. I have never missed a court deadline and I don’t have to worry about chain of custody issues or that that privileged documents are going to slip through the cracks.”

Raising the bar
The efficiencies and economies of scale of working with Applied Discovery and Hudson Legal has translated into tremendous savings in litigation expenses without sacrificing accuracy, thoroughness or control, and gained kudos from corporate General Counsel. “We were really innovative in initiating this kind of three way relationship. We now spend probably one tenth of what we would have spent if we didn’t manage it this way,” shares their litigation manager. Seeing the savings, General Counsel took notice of what they were doing and recognized the collective benefits. As of 2008, all legal departments across the enterprise are required to implement this Managed Solution concept for any cases triggering reviews.

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