Bells and whistles are for bikes, not e-discovery solutions

All too often, decisions on what e-discovery solution to implement are based on flashy sales presentations and vague explanations of how the systems function. Rarely does the end result surface in the decision making process.  More often than not, the bells and whistles of the product tip the scales.

While a good user interface and flexibility in creating search criteria help to improve the usability of a product, there are other aspects of the product that are equally important, such as:

• The ongoing operating costs – even if the software is purchased outright, that cost needs to be amortized over the life of the product. Many systems have annual maintenance fees that can add up to 25% yearly to the cost of the product. Some products come with a volume fee as well. Since e-discovery vendors are generally much more efficient (due to significantly larger volumes of work) than law firms when it comes to dealing with ESI, many law firms find that they can’t pass the full capital and operating costs of their in-house software onto their clients.
• IT support – law firm IT systems are set up to mainly support the storage of documents. This usually involves relatively little ESI storage space, compared with storing a client’s data during a review (which can run into the hundreds of gigabytes or even terabytes). Although adding storage space is not technically taxing, supporting that added space with the existing IT staff can be a challenge.
• Collaboration – e-discovery solutions are purchased to handle the review of large numbers of documents. This by its very nature necessitates a team approach to the document review project. While collaboration and project management features of software solutions are important, equally important are the network resources required to ensure that each reviewer has sufficient access to allow them to achieve the desired efficiency. A stellar review platform can be rendered unusable by slow network performance.
• e-discovery expertise – an e-discovery solution is just a tool. How that tool is used depends on the capabilities and knowledge of the person wielding it. Craftsmanship and expertise is just as important in e-discovery as it is in furniture building.

It’s all about the end result, not about making the journey in style.  Too often, the ultimate process that needs to be completed is not well defined, leading to decisions that don’t work or are so complicated that the new tool never achieves widespread acceptance in the workplace.

Don’t be drawn in by the rhetoric of gurus. So-called authorities all too often focus on the fluff of theory, paying more attention to the means than to the end. There are people out there who talk about e-discovery but aren’t actually working in e-discovery on a day-to-day basis. They will tell you in theory how to do things, but you’ll spend many moons actually figuring out how to do it yourself.

​When you need to get from Point A to Point B, consider whether a Chevrolet can do the job as well as a Porsche.  Wortzman Nickle can show you the way.