Want to Bring eDiscovery In-House? 4 Things to Consider

19 October 2019 by Anith Mathai eDiscovery software
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Takeaway: eDiscovery may be indispensable, but is that enough of a reason to bring it in-house? Here are some things to consider: (1) Can you do without moving eDiscovery in-house? (2) How much do you need to move in-house? (3) Does everyone see that it’s necessary? (4) Which software should you use?

What do you need to know before moving eDiscovery in-house?

eDiscovery has changed the modern legal landscape. But should you handle it yourself or get someone else to do it for you? Bringing eDiscovery in-house can save you money and time, but it can mean some serious changes to the way your firm operates. So, before jumping in, ask yourself the following 4 questions:

1. Can you do without moving eDiscovery in-house?

Before you make any changes, ask yourself if they are strictly necessary. This means examining your bread-and-butter work. How much litigation are you involved in? Not much? Then stick with outsourcing eDiscovery and dealing with it case-by-case. It’ll be quicker and the extra costs will be insignificant. In-house eDiscovery becomes useful only when you’re regularly dealing with large volumes of litigation. And when you notice that document review is steadily getting more expensive.

2. How much do you need to move in-house?

Say you decide to move eDiscovery in-house. You still have to decide how much of it to move. For example, perhaps all you need is to hire an eDiscovery professional to teach your team the basics of collecting and handling data. And you’ll outsource the next step – data review – to experts. eDiscovery applications like GoldFynch offer a ‘managed review’ service, where a team of outside attorneys reviews documents on your behalf. The more popular teams are highly qualified, experienced, and affordable. And this sort of outsourcing lets you take on the cases you want, without having to overhaul your law firm completely.

3. Does everyone see that it’s necessary?

An important part of bringing eDiscovery in-house is to get everyone on board. If your team doesn’t see the benefit in it, they’re less likely to adapt to the inevitable changes. So, show your workforce that:

  1. It’s essential. Electronically Stored Information (ESI) is everywhere. And there’s a fundamental difference in the way you deal with paper documents, versus Word documents, PDFs, and emails.
  2. It’s faster. eDiscovery search engines can find keywords in seconds. And you can use advanced ‘Boolean’ searches to find targeted groups of files. For example, you can tell your software to “Find all emails John Anderson sent Sally Nedry, which mention the Pfizer meeting. And which were sent before 2015.” Learn more about advanced searches. Compare that with spending days reading through boxes full of paper files.
  3. You get more tools. For example: ‘Tags’ – which are virtual ‘sticky notes’ that you attach to a document, making it easier to find. And later on, it’ll take only a mouse-click to pull up all documents with that tag.
  4. You get behind-the-scenes information. When you create a document on your computer, the application you’re using (e.g., Microsoft Word) records a bunch of information about it. Things like who created it, when they created it, when it was last opened, etc. This ‘data about data’ (i.e., metadata) is a digital footprint which tracks the history of the document. And it can help you win cases.

4. Which eDiscovery software should you use?

If you’ve decided to handle eDiscovery completely in-house, the next step is to find the right software. Here are a few things to consider when choosing:

  1. Is the pricing easy to understand? Are the price charts unnecessarily complicated? Do they explain exactly how much you’ll end up paying? Unclear pricing can be a way of hiding add-on fees that you won’t know about till you get your bill. So, learn what a good eDiscovery pricing system looks like.
  2. How easy is it to sign on? Try to find vendors who put all signup information on their website. Otherwise, you’ll spend days on calls and email exchanges about things like per-seat licensing costs, processing fees, and overage.
  3. How simple and intuitive is the software? You probably aren’t a technology expert. And you don’t have time to read another how-to manual. So, if the software looks complicated and clunky, move on. As a reference, here’s how easy-to-use eDiscovery applications work.
  4. Is it tailored to our needs? This is especially important if you’re at a smaller law firm. Make sure there aren’t any unnecessary frills that’ll drive prices up. And the software needs to give you enough storage space – at least 10 GB. The best applications give you 500 GB and beyond.
  5. Is it secure? Your clients’ data is confidential, so make sure the software stores your files in the Cloud. Because the Cloud has bank-grade security that works at a number of levels.
  6. Does it have good tech support? The best way to predict response speeds is to see if the software is run by the same team that designed and developed it. That way, there’s no dead time as one team hands over problems to another.

Want software that’s perfect for moving eDiscovery in-house? Try GoldFynch.

It’s an affordable, next-generation eDiscovery application with many must-have features.

  • It costs just $27 a month for a 3 GB case: That’s much less–every month–than the nearest comparable software. And hundreds of dollars less than many others. With GoldFynch, you know what you’re paying for exactly – its pricing is simple and readily available on the website.
  • It’s easy to budget for. GoldFynch has a flat, prorated rate. With legacy software, your bill changes depending on how much data you use.](https://goldfynch.com/blog/2018/02/17/Which-Type-of-eDiscovery-Pricing-Will-Save-Money-for-My-Small-Law-Firm.html)
  • It takes just minutes to get going. It runs in the Cloud, so you use it through your web browser (Google Chrome recommended). No installation. No sales calls or emails. Plus, you get a free, fully-functional trial case (0.5 GB of data and processing cap of 1 GB), without adding a credit card.
  • It can handle even the largest cases. GoldFynch scales from small to large, since it’s in the Cloud. So, choose from a range of case sizes (3 GB to 100 GB, and more) and don’t waste money on space you don’t need.
  • You can access it from anywhere. And 24/7. All your files are backed up and secure in the Cloud. And you can monitor its servers here.
  • You won’t have to worry about technical stuff. It’s designed, developed, and run by the same team. So, its technical support isn’t outsourced. Which means you get prompt and reliable service.

Want to learn more about GoldFynch?

For related posts about eDiscovery, check out the following links.

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