Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Be Smart When Choosing a Litigation Support Vendor

The process of weeding out vendors that are incapable of providing exceptional technology solutions is becoming more difficult. We see so many out there trying to expand their customer base by venturing into a "marginally" related fields. For example - take a copier company that has successfully serviced their customer base for decades. They now see a new, expanding market opening up in the area of electronic discovery (eDiscovery). Many of these office machine powerhouses have decided that they could use a little more market share and they begin to market themselves as eDiscovery experts. Why not believe them, you use their copiers in your own office everyday?

Here's the problem - you trust them because they have proven themselves to provide the copier service very well. They have decades of proof with you. What makes you think they can provide that same degree of expertise in something they have never done prior? Scanning a document and processing it for collection for litigation is not the same as taking a piece of paper and duplicating it out the other end. Training and experience are what help real eDiscovery professionals correctly determine such criteria as privilege, duplicate, near-duplicate, and whether a document is responsive. Not having the background to work from puts more corporations, and firms that they used, in greater risk of facing heavy court imposed fines or being taken down with the vendor. Avoid this by using a true professional organization with a proven track record in doing EXACTLY what you are hiring them to do.

The answer is just that simple. Find a vendor that knows the pitfalls and risks. They should fully comprehend you are trusting them to protect you. Investigate their plan by asking questions to ensure you are completely protected. Get references to know they can follow through with that plan throughout the entire process. Having reports and metrics that allow you to manage the litigation on a moment-by-moment basis is a great way to ensure you have the data you need, when you need it. Being fully informed makes every decision you make that much better.

When facing litigation (and we all will at some point according to the experts), go with trusted experts that will allow you to focus on the case. Years of experience go a long way in giving you back your peace of mind. doeLegal has been supporting corporate legal departments and law firms through Litigation for decades. They are ready to show you how to lower your eDiscovery expenses while gaining greater control of the information.
The solutions are here: www.doelegal.com