It is becoming increasingly apparent that many are solely relying on eDiscovery product(s) to dictate their discovery process.
In doing so, some vital other practices and skills can be ignored.
Sometimes I am alarmed to go into an organisation and their whole process and how they work is shaped around how the product works – not always around what they want to achieve or how they want to work.
They can be entrenched in their processes that are either doing things the same ways as always or how their eDiscovery product works, or a combination of both.
Don’t get me started on recent promoting of certifications of how to use products !
Full credit to these companies that provide certifications, increasing the importance of knowing how to use their software – genius ! I am not in anyway diminishing the many skilled people we have in the eDiscovery space, however skills do need to be more than just how a product works. It is great that we have all these fantastic eDiscovery solutions, but with these tools I fear we have lost some of the key skills that have been essential with eDiscovery.
People, process and then the technology
For me it has always been people, process and then comes the technology. Too often we can get caught up in embracing technology, believing it will solve the problem. Technology is simply an enabler – not a solution in itself.
You should never be comfortable with just one eDiscovery product, or your knowledge being solely based around how that one eDiscovery product works. With technology changing and quickly it is important to keep on top of the eDiscovery software options available. This will ensure you are enabling your organisation to be best prepared to manage your eDiscovery requirements. This also helps inform you what your competitors are doing (or are capable of) – is it giving them an advantage over you !
Don’t lose sight of other skills and practices
We need to be more creative and be able to provide solutions, not just what the product does. It is about problem solving, it is about simplifying the problem to get the outcome required.
I believe we all have a duty to bring others along for the journey. Most lawyers do not want the discovery process to be complicated, costly and let’s face it do they really want to be using their legal expertise to be doing discovery in the first place.
We need to simplify an eDiscovery process to be adaptable and open to new ways of working.
Give me a shout if you want me to help simplify your eDiscovery process.