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In-sourcing vs. Outsourcing eDiscovery & Litigation Support Good Idea or Bad?. Introduction. Today’s Panelists Bil Kellermann of Wilson Sonsini Mark Reichenbach of Proskauer Rose Danny Thankachan of Thompson & Knight Background on panel's Practice Support environments
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In-sourcing vs. Outsourcing eDiscovery & Litigation SupportGood Idea or Bad?
Introduction • Today’s Panelists • Bil Kellermann of Wilson Sonsini • Mark Reichenbach of Proskauer Rose • Danny Thankachan of Thompson & Knight • Background on panel's Practice Support environments • Number of people in their department
Scope of Discussion • Collection • Processing • Hosting • Post-production litigation support
Why In-Source? • Better service • Better client value • Cost containment • Risk mitigation • Efficiency • Effectiveness • Control
Why not In-Source? • Processing limitations • Handling exceptions • Capacity • Write offs • Collection might be bad • Recent rulings • Investment Cost Barrier • Cost-center budget constraints • Shared-cost • Shared risk – ringed defense • Learning curve and lack of expertise • Moore’s Law
How to In-Source Effectively? • Scope of services • Billing • Buy in • Internal Marketing • Ease of engagement • End-to-end AND point-source engagement
Specific thoughts about each phase in the scope of discussion • Level of capacity • Proper Infrastructure • Sequester data from firm • Sequester data by client • Redundancy & Backup • Staff Training & Certification • CCE • ACEDS • Do's and Don'ts
Case StudiesUnderstanding the Variables • Volumes • Processing Volume vs. • Hosting Volume vs. • Production Volume • Volumes are not linear(!) • Technical Complexity • Do we have the “know-how” to handle this kind of data? • Deadlines
Case Study 1“No Brainer” • Facts: A contract issue between businesses focused on legal issues. • Volume: “Low” • The definition of “Low” volume is specific to your environment • Technical Complexity: “Low” • MS Exchange/Outlook PST files, and MS Office documents • Deadlines: Usually pretty reasonable 11
Case Study #2 • Facts: Labor dispute where employee alleges harassment or discrimination. • Concerns: Proper preservation and collection of e-mail/workstations may be critical. (Outsource) • Volume: Low (5-10 custodians) • [Not Walmart] • Technical Complexity: Low • Deadlines: Reasonable
Case Study #3 • Facts: Oil & Gas contractual dispute • Concerns: Often high value litigation • Volume: Medium (20 – 30 custodians) • Technical Complexity: Medium • Oil & Gas work includes handling of very large maps, well logs, complex engineering materials, and old/fragile paper documents • Deadlines: Reasonable • longer lead times may be required due to the special handling required which increases deadline pressure.
Case Study #4 • Facts: Patent litigation alleging infringement in source code • Concerns: High value / High complexity • Volume: High (100+ GB to 1+ TB) • Technical Complexity: Very High • Client environment is often UNIX, creating significant processing and production challenges. • Source code compressed sizes are tiny, but expand dramatically when extracted • Deadlines: Challenging
Best Case Scenario • Facts: Client is a third party to a litigation responding to subpoena. Judge threatens sanctions and arrest, and imposes a 10 day production deadline. Very complex issue coding and privilege designations are required. • Challenge: Collect, review, and produce data from multiple custodians in 10 days. • Steps: • Client IT extracted entire mailboxes for custodians and provided them on a rolling basis • Litigation Support processed and culled on date ranges and made available for review on a rolling basis • Review team of 12+ attorneys began relevance review within 48 hours, and completed privilege review within 6 [long] days. • Stats: 350K docs / 44GB collected, 27K docs reviewed, 4K docs produced • Outcome: SUCCESS • Success Factors: • Associates were experienced on the review platform • Available resources / capacity • Assistance of firm IT to handle technical surprises
Worst Case Scenario • Surprises(!) • Changing deadlines • Increasing volumes • Challenging data • Project Creep • The ever growing case…
Wrap Up • Dispelling Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt