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Process Is the Key To Success When Applying Legal Technology To Discovery
The litigation industry is awash with technology. According to consulting firm Gartner, law firms, corporations and service providers spent almost $2 billion in 2014 buying or licensing e-discovery software, almost none of which existed just 10 years ago. See, 'Magic Quadrant for E-Discovery Software.' Why? The primary driver has been the explosion in the amount and variety of discoverable data in the world. Without software, litigators today simply cannot get their job done, and corporation spend on discovery would be unfathomable. So far, so good ' our industry has made progress.
Yet there remains a significant challenge. In November 2013, Legal Tech Newsletter's ALM sibling, Law Technology News, published an article with the byline: 'Humans Are Still Essential in E-Discovery.' The article summarized results from an extensive study conducted by the Electronic Discovery Institute and involving two leading Stanford statistics professors. The study compared the results of 19 technology assisted review providers with an entirely human review of a 1.7 million document data set. The headline conclusion was 'software is only as good as its operators.' The article included a chart that ranked the 19 providers' performance as 'optimal,' 'average,' and 'low' for each of three reviews (responsive, privilege and hot documents). The range of performance was dramatic. Only one provider scored 'optimal' in all three categories, while five others scored 'optimal' in two of the three categories. Four scored 'low' in all three categories. And many used the exact same software. The range of spend was equally wide, with one provider's total cost under $50k and another's over $1.5 million, a 30x difference.
The conclusion that a product is only as good as its operator is not a revolutionary one. The same could be said for daily life functions, like driving a car. And yet, in litigation, the complexity and stakes are especially high. Demand is unpredictable. Many of the operations are complex. Everything needs to happen fast. The range of potential outcomes is very wide. Deadlines are critical. Atul Gawande, in his outstanding book The Checklist Manifesto, describes how checklists created dramatic improvement in results in the emergency healthcare industry, an industry which has many commonalities to litigation discovery.
Yachts, Jets, Horses & Hooch: Specialized Commercial Leasing Models
Defining commercial real estate asset class is essentially a property explaining how it identifies — not necessarily what its original intention was or what others think it ought to be. This article discusses, from a general issue-spot and contextual analysis perspective, how lawyers ought to think about specialized leasing formats and the regulatory backdrops that may inform what the documentation needs to contain for compliance purposes.
Hyperlinked Documents: The Latest e-Discovery Challenge
As courts and discovery experts debate whether hyperlinked content should be treated the same as traditional attachments, legal practitioners are grappling with the technical and legal complexities of collecting, analyzing and reviewing these documents in real-world cases.
Identifying Your Practice's Differentiator
How to Convey Your Merits In a Way That Earns Trust, Clients and Distinctions Just as no two individuals have the exact same face, no two lawyers practice in their respective fields or serve clients in the exact same way. Think of this as a "Unique Value Proposition." Internal consideration about what you uniquely bring to your clients, colleagues, firm and industry can provide untold benefits for your law practice.
Risks and Ad Fraud Protection In Digital Advertising
The ever-evolving digital marketing landscape, coupled with the industry-wide adoption of programmatic advertising, poses a significant threat to the effectiveness and integrity of digital advertising campaigns. This article explores various risks to digital advertising from pixel stuffing and ad stacking to domain spoofing and bots. It will also explore what should be done to ensure ad fraud protection and improve effectiveness.
Turning Business Development Plans Into Reality
This article offers practical insights and best practices to navigate the path from roadmap to rainmaking, ensuring your business development efforts are not just sporadic bursts of activity, but an integrated part of your daily success.