Ben Robbins on e-discovery engineering and the future of e-disco tech.

1. LINKED TO LEGAL
A SELF-PROCLAIMED, second-genera-
tion “computer geek,” technology is in
Ben Robbins’ blood. Without a doubt,
Robbins’ exposure to technology at an
early age helped shape his career in the
world of forensics and e-discovery, tak-
ing him from intern at the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) to his cur-
rent role with LinkedIn’s corporate legal
department in e-discovery and informa-
tiongovernance.
We caught up with Robbins ahead of
Legaltech West Coast to learn about his
greatest challenges as a discovery engi-
neer, the future of forensics, and what
he hopes to impart during his upcoming
LTWCpanel.Belowisourexchange:
LTN: Tell us about your job at LinkedIn.
What is your greatest challenge as a dis-
coveryengineer?
BR: There are ever-present challenges
when attempting to scale, or work cross-
functionally to engineer automated solu-
tions to improve manual processes, but
these are the most rewarding projects for
everyone involved. The discovery role is
always interesting because the business
isconstantlyevolvinginthewayswecom-
municate, collaborate, or generate data,
anditisourresponsibilitytofigureoutthe
best practice for managing this without
impedingproductivity.
LTN: You will be a speaker at a forensics
panel at Legaltech West Coast this year.
Whatlessonsdoyouhopetoimpartonthe
audience?
BR: Many organizations have adopted
the latest and greatest productivity util-
ities to improve always-on connectiv-
ity, communication, and collaboration.
As a result, these products often house a
significant volume of discoverable con-
tent. Collection methods for URL-based
content, underlying structured data, and
SaaSproductsfrequentlyrequireanalter-
nate acquisition approach or improved
native features based on legal/security
requirements to monitor/detect, search,
preserve, and export. Ideally, with dia-
logue, organizations using similar prod-
uctscanpushforthenecessarynativefea-
turestobedeveloped.
LTN: What predictions can you make
about e-discovery technology in the U.S.
andbeyondoverthenextfewyears?
BR: In the near term, corporations will
continue to open engineer and counsel
positions in discovery, governance, and
forensics to control costs, risks, and pres-
ervation/collection. The growth of in-
house teams will contribute, in part, to
the service and software provider aggre-
gation which is fueled by venture capi-
tal.Furtherdowntheline,I’mhopefulwe
will see reasonable maturing in end-to-
end EDRM software, machine learning,
improvements in managing non-stan-
dard content stores, a new era of enter-
prise content management (ECM), and
consolidation between civil forensic col-
lectionsandendpointsecurityplatforms.
LTN: When you were a child, did you
always want to be a discovery engineer?
Howdidyougetintothisfield?
BR: My father was a first-generation com-
puter geek and therefore I was exposed
to tech at a very young age. I learned to
type proficiently by the time I was 10 and
throughout my teenage years, I built
websites and e-commerce stores, and
repaired computers and home networks.
That changed my sophomore year at
George Washington University when I
obtained an internship at the SEC, where
Iwasfirstexposedtoforensicsanddiscov-
ery. I was witness to how forensic inves-
tigations moved cases forward from a
standstill and how without the automa-
tion and collaboration that e-discovery
systemsprovide,itrelegatesthediscovery
process to reading paper, page by page. I
knew in short order that being in the cen-
ter of the Venn between investigators/lit-
igatorsandtechnologywasmytrajectory,
whereveritwent.
Ben Robbins on e-discovery engineering and the future of e-disco tech.
BY ERIN E. HARRISON
PLUGGED IN 6 | 2016BEN ROBBINS, LINKEDIN
email: LTNpressreleases@alm.com54 | JUNE 2016 | LTN