The State of the e-Discovery and Data Privacy Job Market: Pre and Post COVID-19 – Part 2

Part One of "The State of the e-Discovery and Data Privacy Job Market: Pre and Post COVID-19" drew attention to overarching patterns across all legal technology disciplines including an undeniable pause in hiring domestically in much of late March and April followed by an almost instantaneous shift in staffing modality from add-to-staff direct hire to as-needed replacement contract hiring. Most importantly, the pandemic has given corporations, law firms, and the alternative legal service providers (ALSPS) that service them opportunity to recalibrate internal staff, right-size, and begin to adjust human capital strategy to profit in the post-pandemic economy. For data privacy and protection professionals, see Part One for a deep dive into the privacy job market; but, take note of what is happening in the e-discovery job market as this community's maturation may reflect a potential future state for the data privacy community.

e-Discovery Trends, Pre and Post COVID-19

In January of 2020, before COVID hit the U.S., TRU made several annual predictions for 2020 that were pointed squarely at the e-discovery community: a return to customer service and success; growth options for ESI Project Managers; remote work-from-home augmentation will reach 33% by 2021; and contract augmentation could reach 50% by 2021. Surprisingly, all these predictions remain mostly true despite the dynamic effects of COVID-19. The e-discovery industry has been on such a steady trajectory for so long that the intrinsic organic growth trends for professionals in the space have remained almost unaffected. What has changed, and dramatically, are the number of available positions for professionals in the space. On March 13, TRU was engaged in over one hundred ESI-related searches. By April 1, that number dropped to only twelve active searches, mostly sales. It wasn't until mid-May that the e-discovery industry began rebuilding and hiring again.

The PPP Effect on ESI

The PPP (Payroll Protection Program) had a remarkable impact on the late second quarter and early third quarter 2020 hiring patterns in e-discovery. While large e-discovery vendors and many Am Law litigation support departments had either RIFs, furloughs, reductions in salary, or freezes in hiring, small businesses in e-discovery took advantage of government loans and went to market to hire talent. In Q2 2020, TRU received three job orders from e-discovery vendors under $100 million in annual revenue for every one role in vendors grossing more than $100 million annually.