Starting the Small Case: Technical Considerations

Introductions
Windy Brown– Litigation Central
codeMantra, LLC
Presentation
Questions and Answers
Contact Information
© 2010 codeMantra - Confidential Information Agenda

About Windy –
Litigation Central ( http://litigationcentral.com ) knows the frustrations of managing technology and the practice of law, particularly when it comes to coordinating multi-party, multijurisdictional litigation. If you're looking at mass data, deadline, people management in the legal arena, we can help. As a matter of fact, international arbitration is quickly becoming our specialty. If one doesn't but we have remote access, well, then... we're there electronically. We can relieve your pain by:
Reining in your costs with predictable pricing
Streamlining your workflow processes
Using applied technology judiciously
Providing industry insiders to smooth your way
Addressing your issues holistically, not piece-meal
About Robert –
Brings over 20 years experience in the legal market. He was work with local and national litigation and document management companies, from operations, project management and sales.
codeMantra, LLC ( http://www.codemantra.net ) is an international provider of comprehensive litigation support, document management and technology solutions. Our client base consists of fortune 500 corporations, AM Law Top 250 law firms, and national and international document management and service providers.
Our solutions include legal process outsourcing, software development, programming, data conversion, data mining and our online document review platform (cP-DocRev).
© 2010 codeMantra - Confidential Information Introduction

The small case usually starts with a few emails and a couple of paper documents. Perhaps there’s a voice mail that was saved. Seems simple…
Questions to answer:
How did the client transfer the email to you? Did they forward the pertinent emails to you at your office email? Did they download them as .msg files for you? Perhaps you were lucky enough to get a pst?
Will you need to ask others for their emails too?
What format is the voicemail in- mp3, wav? How did the client send it- tape, cd?
Can you scan the paper? Even better- do you know how to OCR the scan?
Do you know the drawbacks of each transmission method for all these information sources?
Do you know if you have all the information you need yet? You should always plan on getting more data than you originally estimate.
© 2010 codeMantra - Confidential Information Starting The Small Case

I just want to look at it. I’ll open it on my computer and see if it’s what I need.
Things to consider:
Will you significantly alter the file by “just looking at it”? (spoliation) Rooting around in your client’s laptop, cell phone, or voicemail system to “look” at it is likely to cause major file metadata alteration. Resist the temptation.
If you don’t know, do you have a backup copy just in case?
What is the drawback to just having the client forward his responsive email?
“ I just opened the emails in my Outlook and printed them out to read and produce. Why is my name at the top of the printout now? “ Ever heard of an Outlook profile? What you don’t know might hurt you.
Keep in mind that the stuff you are “just looking at” may be the evidence you wish to use to win your case. How are you going to authenticate the information if you’ve altered it and not your client?

How do I review it without messing it up?
Software/hardware considerations:
Do you have an agreement on how you will produce this information if it is relevant- does the agreement require metadata fields or specific production methods? If yes…
You may wish to consider specific litigation support review software. It accommodates for electronic data preservation, speedy review, and multiple production methods.
What volume of data do you expect to get? If you can’t answer that, then how many people will need to access the data to review it? Do any of them need to access it remotely?
How updated are the computers in your firm? Do you have a technical person with whom you can confer to be sure the software will run well? (Litigation support software is not always optimized for all system software- beware Vista, for example)
How’s your network and server setup? If, for example, everything is accessed by remote desktop, you may wish to reconsider configurations.

Just one copy…
Litigation support software requires training and someone to maintain it. One copy of the software is fine, but eventually, you will likely want access for more than one person.
What do you have to spend? Consider the reduction in price that comes with a package of licenses.
Be sure you have a bit of money set aside to train someone to be your “go-to” lit support person. Lit support review software is often a combination of a database and an imaging program- they need to learn to use both.
Research and contract with a local lit support vendor to serve as a backup. Ask around about their performance. The copy shop that brings you cookies may or may not be your best option.
Download demos where possible. Trial software is available for many of the common lit support software suites mentioned. Make sure you install both the database and imaging portions, if they are separate.
What about a hosted solution- is that easier?

My vendor can handle it for me…
What will you ask your vendor to do? Process native data for loading into a database? De-dupe and de-NIST? Run searches? Host the results?
What is your budget and can they work within it?
How qualified are their employees to manage your data? Is anyone very experienced in or even certified in your particular software?
Have they got a copy of your favored litigation support software in-house to test your data on before they send it to you? If not, will they willingly re-process data that is problematic for you?
What services do they usually provide in-house and which ones do they need to outsource? Outsourcing to a specialist is not a bad thing- just something you should know they are doing.
Plan on talking to the production manager if you know you’ll have complex needs. The production manager can tell you what is actually possible within their environment, while the sales people may sometimes tell you what they wish were possible… ;-)

Wow, this got big…
What are the drawbacks of handling the no longer small case with local software installs?
Desktop software subscription pricing increases
Capital costs for IT hardware and software expansion to handle increased data volumes and upgraded lit support software (extra SQL licenses, etc)
Need for increased headcount to handle increased data volume security and maintenance
Multiple software programs and licenses may be needed to manage basic cases
Specialized knowledge needed to run extra programs (processing, imaging)
Increased complexity in producing data per court order
© 2010 codeMantra - Confidential Information In-House Pain Points

Wow, this got big…
What are the drawbacks of handling the no longer small case with transfer to a hosted solution?
Conversion of data between systems
Possible need for learning a new system
Lack of control over your own database or data in standard SaaS offerings
Extra costs with SaaS solutions for project managers, consultants, database design
Cost for tiffing or production either in-house or with SaaS solutions
Project management communications issues
Data management and error tracking for court
Getting your data back if the vendor/client relationship ends
© 2010 codeMantra - Confidential Information Hosting Pain Points

cP-DocRev differences in the SaaS world…
Simple interface and ease of use – have your teams up and running in no time
Placing control in your hands – No charge to set up and return data – First 5 users are free
Universal Native file viewer – compatible with both PC and Mac environments
Search Capabilities – Boolean, Semantic, Fuzzy and full highlighting of search terms
Unicode complaint - Foreign language support – 50 languages
SaaS 70 Certified Environment
Load file and e-data import- new case or transfer one from your Concordance or Summation
Automated e-data de-dupe and processing
Tiffing/pdf creation for production
Data and image export
Compatibility with Concordance, Summation, Ringtail, general XML load files, csv, and raw text
Advanced review and assignment tools
Workflow tracking
© 2010 codeMantra - Confidential Information cP-DocRev

To request a one on comphresive one on one demo of cP-DocRev http://codemantra.net/Small/cPDocRev/index.html or to learn more about the service offerings of codeMantra, LLC; please contact – codeMantra, LLC - http://codemantra.net Robert Grande [email_address] 610-940-1724 To learn more about Litigation Central, please contact: Litigation Central LLC – http://www.litigationcentral.com Windy Brown [email_address] 720-984-2091 Thank you for your time and interest! © 2010 codeMantra - Confidential Information Contact Information

Starting the Small Case: Technical Considerations

by Muruga J on Aug 25, 2010

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

Statistics

Starting the Small Case: Technical Considerations — Presentation Transcript