by Clinton Sanko | May 29, 2020
On May 15, 2020, I sat down with David Dobson, the Chief Executive Officer of Epiq, and discussed a wide range of topics via WebEx. With COVID-19 challenges, the legal industry is faced with a situation where litigants will need to do more with less. This is simultaneously an opportunity for differentiation and a strategic challenge. I asked David about the eDiscovery industry generally, and responding to the COVID-19 crisis specifically.
David joined Epiq about a year ago after spending his entire career in leadership positions for technology-related companies. As part of that experience, David was in a leadership role at a large technology company through the Great Recession, which, coupled with his industry experience, provides him with a unique perspective on the current environment. (more…)
by Clinton Sanko | May 29, 2020
We are Disney lovers at my house. My wife and I have made many trips to Walt Disney World. A few years ago, the two of us went celebrating an anniversary, and proudly wore our Disney pins announcing it. On one of our park days, we were walking by a food stand. The cast member called us over and wished us a happy anniversary and gave us each a free churro.
What do you remember about your last document review project? As we get ready to cover the people, process and technology aspects of the review, we want to start with the top things that we strive for in our document review projects. Great customer experience (CX) provides more than you expect. On our Disney anniversary trip, my wife and I were given what we expected when we went to the park and rode the rides. Neither of us remember that. We remember the churro. (more…)
by Clinton Sanko | May 22, 2020
We are excited to announce a new video interview series: Sitting with the C-Suite. In each segment, I will be talking with a chief executive officer of an eDiscovery company. We will explore how each is addressing the COVID-19 crisis, what clients are doing to manage through the crisis, and generally covering the past, present and future. Naturally, as we are dealing with the pandemic, we will be doing this via remote interviews to comply with any applicable social distancing mandates.
The pandemic means companies are doing more with less and dealing with case delays and tightening budgets. Now more than ever, it is critical to understand the eDiscovery industry generally (and your partners specifically). This video interview series will help anyone start to explore the eDiscovery industry from the perspective of its top leadership. (more…)
by Clinton Sanko | May 20, 2020
One of the last trips that my wife and I made prior to the social distancing guidelines was to Franklin, Tennessee. We had lunch at The Grilled Cheeserie, a restaurant devoted to gourmet grilled cheese melts. The components and options for a grilled cheese—bread, cheese and add-ons—are not complex. Depending on your preferences, mood and dietary restrictions, execution will be the difference between an adequate and excellent experience. (Our experience was excellent!) A production protocol is very similar. The component parts are simple, but how you put them together in a matter makes a big difference.
Document productions are a culmination of the various steps taken to that point throughout your eDiscovery processes. This is a key point in any lawsuit. For the larger matters, with a significant volume of ESI, the keys to a document production are stability and a good overall fit in how you match the ESI Stipulation to the actual matter requirements. (more…)
by Clinton Sanko | May 15, 2020
While the focus of our blog recently has been to identify immediate large matter cost reductions in response to the “new normal” brought on by COVID-19, we wanted to take a quick detour and address an important topic. Specifically, we do not want any reader to think that we focus only on the large data matters, or that we are not in touch with the more standard cases that practitioners must manage. In fact, the vast majority of all discovery matters are fairly routine in terms of their size and complexity.
Managing eDiscovery, then, is not a one-size-fits-all proposal. However, the goal is always the same: get to the merits through a final, defensible production. How you accomplish that goal varies depending on many factors. The average eDiscovery case has minimalistic support needs. While substantial immediate cost savings are best found in cases with more expansive eDiscovery needs, the long-term opportunity for cost savings and efficiencies can also come from incremental cost reduction on the “everyday” cases. (more…)
