4 Ways eDiscovery Software Can Help Your Team Work Better & Faster

02 February 2021 by Ross ediscovery collaboration

Takeaway: Cloud eDiscovery applications can help your team work more uniformly by giving them direct access to the same data and eDiscovery tools. Plus, they’ll have inbuilt communication channels which help reduce the amount of email your team uses.

It’s hard to meet eDiscovery deadlines, and poor communication between team members is a huge part of this problem.

It takes a lot of effort and skill to pull off a successful eDiscovery project. So, law firms and businesses often struggle with missed deadlines and rapidly growing expenses. This is where finding the right eDiscovery software becomes important. The latest generation of applications can help you work faster, more efficiently, and cut costs in the process. But an often overlooked component to the eDiscovery puzzle is that legal teams trying to learn how to use new software often struggle to stay in sync. And this breakdown in communication will inevitably slow you down.

Thankfully, there’s a solution. Find eDiscovery software that can help your team communicate well, so they can work better and faster.

Here’s how it’ll help:

1. Everyone will have direct access to the same resources.

Your team is only as good as the resources they have. This means they all need access to the same set of files and tools. Cloud eDiscovery and Software as a Service (SaaS) makes this possible. It used to be that you’d download eDiscovery software, run it off your computer, and store files on your hard-drive. Nowadays, you’ll subscribe to an eDiscovery service run by eDiscovery providers who run their software (and store your data) in the Cloud. That is, instead of using a single computer, you’re tapping into a global network of computer servers. (Learn more about Cloud computing.) This means that all your case data is stored in this central location, and everyone logs into the same software, remotely, from anywhere in the world. So, they’ll be working on the same files (changes they make are saved in real-time), using the same set of eDiscovery tools. This significantly reduces the chances of miscommunication.

2. You’ll be able to build on each others’ work

Since the Cloud lets you make real-time changes, it’s so much easier for your team to build on each others’ work. For example, your software will let you create, save, and replicate ‘advanced’ searches. I.e., searches with multiple keyword combinations. (A well-designed advanced search can let you give a complex command like, ‘Find all emails from John Anderson to Sally Nedry about a severance package, but not those from 2015.’ ) As you’d expect, it takes a long time to craft an advanced search because you’ll need to keep testing and refining it using a sample case. So, the best eDiscovery applications let you save searches (i.e., save the combination of search terms and Boolean operators) so that multiple people can work on them together. You’ll then have the option of reusing the same search structure for different cases.

3. You’ll be able to edit and categorize your data uniformly

Team members often vary in how they approach data, and this can sabotage a promising case. Let’s take the process of tagging files, for example. Think of a tag as a virtual post-it. With paper documents, you stick post-its to key pages so that you can find and categorize them easily. With electronic documents, you use tags. These tags don’t change the documents themselves, but let you pull up relevant files with a single click. And when you’re going through documents, you’ll see all the tags attached to it, which will help orient you quickly. Also, you’ll be able to set up ‘productions’ using tags – either including all files with certain tags, or excluding those files from productions. (Learn more about tags). The thing about tags is that each member might come up with a different set of tags for the same set of files – and this can complicate your review. Here’s where Cloud eDiscovery can help. Since your entire team uses the same data and software, they’ll be using the same set of tags. So, if someone creates or changes a tag, it’s changed for everyone else, too. And this keeps your team using the same strategy to categorize files. Plus, tags come with a ‘tag notes’ feature. You’ll get to write a short description of each tag so everyone knows what the tag is for and which files to use it on. These notes can be specific to a particular file’s tag or for all occurrences of that tag.

4. You can have conversations** within documents **instead of via email.

Teams often get frustrated at having so many communication channels to wade through. That’s why platforms like Microsoft Teams and Slack are so popular – because they help minimize and streamline all the messages going back and forth. Now, your eDiscovery software can help simplify your life, too. Instead of discussing things via email, you can use notes, annotations, and comments to move that discussion into the document whose content you’re discussing.

  • Notes: With a ‘notes’ feature, you get to jot down and add your thoughts to each document you review, without breaking your workflow.
  • Annotations: These let you add notes to specific parts of a document. So, you’ll be able to attach more targeted insights to particular paragraphs. And when you’re reviewing documents, you can click on the list of these annotation notes, and you’ll be taken to the corresponding page in the text.
  • Comments: This feature adds nuance to your review because you’ll be able to comment on each others’ notes and annotations.

Looking for eDiscovery software designed to help teams work better together? Try GoldFynch.

It’s an easy-to-use eDiscovery service that’s perfect for small- and midsize law firms and companies.

  • It costs just $27 a month for a 3 GB case: That’s significantly less than most comparable software. 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 charges only for storage (processing is free). So, choose from a range of plans (3 GB to 150+ GB) and know up front how much you’ll be paying. It takes just a few clicks to move from one plan to another, and billing is prorated – so you’ll pay only for the time you spend on any given plan. With legacy software, pricing is much less predictable.
  • It’s simple to use. Many eDiscovery applications take hours to master. GoldFynch takes minutes. It handles a lot of complex processing in the background, but what you see is minimal and intuitive. Just drag-and-drop your files into GoldFynch and you’re good to go. Plus, it’s designed, developed, and run by the same team. So you get prompt and reliable tech support.
  • It keeps you flexible. To build a defensible case, you need to be able to add and delete files freely. Many applications charge to process each file you upload, so you’ll be reluctant to let your case organically shrink and grow. And this stifles you. With GoldFynch, you get unlimited processing for free. So, on a 3 GB plan, you could add and delete 5 GB of data at no extra cost – as long as there’s only 3 GB in your case at any point. And if you do cross 3 GB, your plan upgrades automatically and you’ll be charged for only the time spent on each plan. That’s the beauty of prorated pricing.
  • Access it from anywhere. And 24/7. All your files are backed up and secure in the Cloud.

Want to learn more about GoldFynch?