Litigation could be right around the corner…but study finds legal professionals face e-discovery challenges
Even with new laws requiring the timely turn around of documents that could be used as evidence in a trial, studies regarding e-discovery preparedness continue to show that legal professionals are struggling with the demands of the process. Xerox Litigation Services recently sponsored a survey that polled more than 200 legal professionals to understand if the buzz around litigation had companies ready to produce a year’s worth of e-mails and other documents with little notice. Here are just some of the results:
Among the 81 percent of legal professionals involved in reviewing documents for litigation purposes, the survey uncovered concerns about current in-house review systems. Some of the issues noted were:
• slow turnaround (42 percent of respondents)
• inadequate system support (41 percent) from sources like software licensing companies
• lack of important features (41 percent), which may include expanded search options and software updates
• IT department could not support the in-house document review system (38 percent)
These findings spoke volumes to me – e-discovery readiness is not something that is easily achieved nor should it be taken lightly. When in doubt, outsourcing these requirements to experienced and skilled consultants makes good business sense. It’s tough to handle the full range of e-discovery requirements in-house -- from assessing and collecting the relevant data, to processing and extracting the metadata, to reviewing and coding the information, to producing documents quickly and accurately – done incorrectly or incompletely, your company’s brand value and corporate financial standing could be compromised.
I welcome your thoughts on these findings and how you think businesses are stacking up to the e-discovery process.
Ken Reiff
Manager, Business Development
Xerox Litigation Services