Electronic Discovery is quickly approaching mainstream status in this industry. Surveys confirm that more than 90% of all documents created since 1999 were in digital form. Yet some attorneys and paralegals tend to stay away from it because of fears that it is expensive, time consuming and complicated. It is usually much cheaper to do electronic discovery over paper.
Hundreds of thousands of documents can be stored on a small external hard drive instead of having that in paper form and all over the place. Electronic documents can be searched with keywords to find documents faster. That cannot be done with paper. Redaction and bates numbering is far superior to do in the electronic age than the paper one. Structured data, such as databases can be easily queried and reports generated in little time.
Knowing where to look for help is the key to getting an electronic discovery project off on solid ground. In some cases it may be wise to hire a consultant or speak with a nationally known vendor that have solid technical people on staff. A consultant can help setup a strategy for analyzing, collection and producing the data in a timely and reasonably priced fashion.
Preparation prior to an discovery request is also key and will help minimize the potential for costly surprises. Project Setup meetings are also important before any data collection and or processing is done. Randall Consulting recommends having the forensic expert and/or service provider at each discovery meeting.
Randall Consulting comprehensive consulting services are designed to help you navigate thru the complicated world of electronic discovery. The process has not changed a great deal in the last twenty years. Only the storage mediums and review tools are different.
Whomever you choose to do your consulting, data collecting and processing make sure it is the right choice. Changing providers midway thru a project will be a nightmare. It is all about having a correct gameplan and sticking to it. A gameplan starts with detailed preparation. The end result is a solution for you.
Thinking about bringing Electronic Discovery Processing in-house? Call or e-mail us for a free consultation. We can advise you a proper strategy, train your employees on electronic discovery and even be there to walk you thru your first few processing projects.
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