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. Check out these questions and answers:
Transformative Moments
David Dobson, CEO of Epiq, addresses his thoughts on how to get more value and eliminate waste on litigation spend.
Attributes of Successful Teams
David Dobson, CEO of Epiq, discusses his process for building a successful playbook and team across multiple industries.
eDiscovery Opportunities/Trends During COVID-19
David Dobson, CEO of Epiq, explains what he sees his clients doing well in managing their litigation portfolios and eDiscovery expenses through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Innovation Opportunities and Trends
David Dobson, CEO of Epiq, discusses what he’s hearing from operations teams on the innovative services/technology options that are being underutilized that present significant opportunities for cost savings and quicker defensible results.
Epiq is a worldwide provider of legal services, serving law firms, corporations, financial institutions and government agencies—helping them streamline the administration of business operations, class action and mass tort, court reporting, eDiscovery, regulatory, compliance, restructuring, and bankruptcy matters. Their corporate clients span banking, insurance, pharmaceuticals and consumer products.
A private company with approximately $1 billion in sales, Epiq has 6,000 employees worldwide. Its business is divided primarily into three segments. The legal solutions segment is the largest segment and provides services around forensics, information collection, eDiscovery technology, and document review. Epiq has a team of 100 information governance consultants, and they have around 3,000 document review attorneys available. The other two business lines are administrative services around class actions, remediations, mass torts and bankruptcies, which is a large growth area, and global business transformation solutions (GBTS), which provides outsourcing services to law firms.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at csanko@bakerdonelson.com. I would love to hear from you.
LeanDiscovery: Sitting with the C-Suite is a series of interviews designed to provide in-house legal counsel with a birds-eye view of the eDiscovery marketplace, particularly its various technology and service providers. A key component of great eDiscovery management and execution is having a great supply chain. Sitting with the C-Suite is a forum to hear directly from the C-Suite of various eDiscovery providers about the marketplace history, current and future service offerings, and expectations of things to come. This is not an advertisement or endorsement of any of the speakers, or the companies, services and technology that they represent, by either the interviewer or Baker Donelson. The views expressed are those of the speaker. Baker Donelson’s eDiscovery team seeks to provide the best client value throughout the eDiscovery life cycle. If you have any companies or speakers that you would like to see featured, please feel free to reach out to us at LeanDiscovery@bakerdonelson.com.
