Technology gives legal professionals the option to collaborate via apps, work remotely and better manage the information needed for their cases.
Cloud-based solutions make it easier to collect important information through streamlined workflows while decreasing litigation costs.
New trends in eDiscovery demand greater flexibility, scale, workspace customisation, cyber awareness, strengthened data privacy, automation and an ability to augment outsourced resources with team capabilities better utilised to increase the likelihood of winning cases.
Let’s explore several of the most important trends in eDiscovery.
RISE OF DATA TYPE COMPLEXITY
Each year the eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey provides insights into the confidence of those working in eDiscovery. Each survey highlights that data type complexity has one of the most significant impacts on people in eDiscovery. For several years, the volume of data has been a substantial obstacle; however, data complexity is now as least as big a challenge for eDiscovery.
Several other insights were also reported; The percentage of respondents viewing the impact of increasing types of data as a top business issue increased markedly over the last quarter and is now one of the leading concerns regarding eDiscovery business performance. The impact of increasing volumes of data continues to be one of the top issues impacting business performance.
WORKFLOW AUTOMATION ADDING VALUE THROUGH SAVED TIME
Legal teams will increasingly rely on automated tech to accelerate time-consuming processes as Workflow Automation becomes a crucial part of discovery. These solutions help save law firms and in-house counsel time on cumbersome tasks enabling a focus on more important matters.
Automated Workflows leverages the scale and flexibility of the cloud to eliminate many manual processes. Global eDiscovery vendor RelativityOne customers have, over the past six months, seen an average of over 5,500 clicks saved, and got over 160 hours of work time back by leveraging Automated Workflows.
Some of Law In Order’s law firm clients have been able to focus on high-value advice from the time saved in evidence management and case setup. Some legal departments have retained more work in-house from the time and money saved using automated workflows and templates. AI and workflow automation will continue to assist legal decision making and give legal teams much of their time back.
THE INTERSECTION OF CYBER SECURITY, PRIVACY AND EDISCOVERY
In a recent interview, AI Visionary Kelly Friedman outlined her views regarding the intersection of eDiscovery, data privacy and cyber security. She explained that the widespread use of AI in our daily lives creates more data to be analysed and can become significant evidence.
“I started to learn about e-discovery in the early days because I realised that the facts were soon going to be largely found in digital information. It was clear to me that some of that information was always going to be personal information and that you could not become an expert in dealing with digital evidence issues without privacy expertise,” said Kelly.
eDiscovery service providers cannot simply practice in one area while ignoring others. Practitioners must demonstrate expertise in cybersecurity with integrity and respect for information and its privacy implications.
THE EMERGENCE OF A FULL SPECTRUM “END TO END” APPROACH TO EDISCOVERY
While AI, Automation, data volumes and complexity have been well-documented trends in eDiscovery, there is also the emergence of an end-to-end approach to eDiscovery or an “e2eDiscovery” approach. Many application vendors only provide silo technology solutions, and some managed legal service providers may lack the breadth of expertise needed to augment all the needs of a legal team. We are seeing the emergence of outsourced Consulting, Forensic and Review providers able to provide the best balance of end-to-end solutions across the spectrum of investigations to discovery.
In addition to expertise, it is an ability to augment legal teams by providing a balanced-resource approach where you consume only the resources you need according to a skills/resource’s matrix aligned to the strengths/gaps of the legal team. This scalable, flexible approach is a more efficient way to leverage eDiscovery technology and human resources to maximise a positive outcome for your case.
Building on the growth in data and automation of recent years, the future of eDiscovery will witness the overlapping of innovation with privacy and cyber security and driven by an end-to- end approach to technology and advisory services. Balancing these trends while embracing new technologies will further take advantage of remote working and other recent trends that will drive even greater success through efficiency if appropriately managed with the right outsourced partner.
Linda Fernandez, Chief Client Officer, Law In Order
