Lighthouse Blog

Legal operations and process improvements can be tough if you are not speaking the same language. Does the following sound like something you would say? “I'm new to legal operations having come from a business background. Legal has a completely different mindset and even getting people to recognize that we have processes, let alone that we need to improve them, can be difficult. How do I speak to lawyers about process improvement?”If so, you’re in good company. This comment represents a theme I have heard at various legal operations conferences that I have attended. My background as a lawyer turned executive puts me in the position of speaking both lawyer and business professional. Here are some things that, in my experience, have been helpful for legal operations or business professionals entering the world of legal, to know.First, know that the need for a process is not a presumption. Often in the business world, there is general agreement that things should follow a process. That is not the same in legal. There isn’t a presumption for, or against, a process. It isn’t something that is thought about very much and since legal work is different for each matter (i.e. each contract is unique, each litigation is unique), there is a predisposition to thinking things should be done uniquely each time. This predisposition can be overcome but it does warrant an explanation, which is different from the status quo in the business realm.Second, recognize that many lawyers think in terms of risk and not just traditional financial ROI, as many business professionals are taught. For example, a change in a process can be seen as risky because it represents the unknown, so there may be hesitation to change despite a clear financial benefit. The way to overcome this is to consider and quantify the risks of any current process and changes to that process. Much in the way that you would traditionally quantify a financial ROI of anything you’re doing (or not doing), add in the risk factors and mitigations. Third, many lawyers like to see the world in steps from beginning to end – not with a whole bunch of uncertainty in the middle. So, laying things out in a detailed methodical way (e.g., how you will get from where you are now to the final result) will resonate with lawyers. If you do not know all the steps, at least showcasing what you have thought through or when you will have more details will be helpful in overcoming any skepticism.Finally, make sure you’re using a shared language. The meaning of words is very specific in the legal world. How a term has been defined in a contract can be the subject of an entire lawsuit and can make or break a business, so lawyers take definitions very seriously. Making sure everyone is on the same page with respect to the business language you are using can go a long way in avoiding unnecessary confusion. legal-operationslegal-ops, blog, legal-operations-legal-ops; bloglighthouse

Let’s begin by setting the stage. You’ve evaluated the ways a self-service, spectra eDiscovery solution could benefit your organization and determined the approach will help you boost workflow efficiency, free up internal resources, and reduce eDiscovery practice and technology costs. You’ve also researched how to ideally implement a solution and armed yourself with strategies to build a business case and overcome stakeholder objections that may arise.You’re now ready to move on to the next step in your organization’s self-service, spectra eDiscovery journey: selecting the right solution provider. When it comes to selecting a solution provider, one size does not fit all. Every organization has different eDiscovery needs—including yours—and those needs evolve. From how attorneys and eDiscovery teams are structured within the organization and their approach to investigations and litigations, to the types of data sources implicated in those matters and how those matters are budgeted—there’s a lot to be considered.The self-service, spectra solution you choose should be able to adapt to your changing needs and grow with your organization. Below, I’ve outlined four key considerations that will help you select a fitting self-service, spectra solution for your organization.1. Is the solution capable of scaling to handle any matter? ‍It’s important to select a self-service, spectra eDiscovery solution capable of efficiently handling any investigation or litigation that comes your way. A cloud-based solution can easily, swiftly scale to handle any data volume.You’ll also want to ensure your solution can handle the type of data your organization routinely encounters. For example, collecting, processing, and reviewing data generated by collaborative applications like Microsoft Teams may require special tools or workflows. The same can be said for data generated by chat messages or cellphone data. Before selecting a self-service, spectra solution, you’ll benefit from outlining the types of data your organization must handle and asking potential solution providers how their platform supports each.Additionally, you may be interested in the ability to move to a full-service model with your provider, should the need arise. With scalable service, your team will have access to reliable support if a matter become too challenging to manage in house. With a scalable solution bolstered by a flexible service model, your organization can bring on help as needed, without disruption. 2. Does the solution drive data reduction and review efficiency across the EDRM?‍Organizational data volumes are increasing year after year—meaning even small, discrete internal investigations can quickly balloon into hundreds of thousands of documents. Collecting, processing, analyzing, and producing large amounts of data can be costly, complicated, time consuming, and may open up your organization to legal risk if the right tools and workflows are not in place.Look for a self-service, spectra solution capable of managing data at scale, with the ability to actively help your organization reduce its data footprint. This means choosing a provider that can offer expert guidance around data reduction techniques and tools. Ask potential solution providers if they have resources to address the cost burden of data and mitigate risk through strategies like defensible data collections, effective search term selection, or crafting early case assessment (ECA), and technology assisted review (TAR) workflows.The provider should also be able to deliver technology engineered to reduce data resource draw, like processing that allows access to data faster, tools to cut down on hosted review data volume, and AI and analytics that provide the ability to re-use attorney work product across multiple matters. In short, seek a self-service, spectra solution that gives your organization the ability to defensibly and efficiently reduce the amount of costly human review across your organization’s portfolio. 3. Will the solutions’ pricing model align to your organization’s changing needs? Your organization’s budget requirements are unique and will likely change over time. Look for a solution provider that can change in accord and offer a variety of pricing models to fit your budgetary requirements. Ask prospective providers if they are able to design pricing around your organization’s expectations for utilization. Modern pricing models can be flexible yet predictable to prevent unexpected charges or overages, and ultimately align to your organization’s financial needs.4. Is the solution’s roadmap designed to take your organization into the future? When selecting a self-service, spectra solution it’s easy to focus on your current needs, but it’s equally important to consider what a self-service, spectra solution provider has planned for the future. If a vendor is not forward thinking, an organization may find itself being forced to used outdated technology that’s not able to take on new security challenges or process and review emerging data sources.Pursue a provider that demonstrates the ability to anticipate market trends and design solutions to address them. Ask potential providers to articulate where they see the market moving and what plans they have in place to update their technology and services to reflect what’s new. It can be helpful to question if a provider’s roadmap aligns to your organization’s direction. For example, if you know your company is planning to make a systematic change, like moving to a bring your own device (BYOD) policy or migrating to the cloud, you’ll want to confirm the self-service, spectra solution can support that change. Asking these types of questions before selecting a provider will guarantee the solution you choose will be able to grow with both your organization and the eDiscovery industry as a whole. With awareness and understanding of the true potential offered in a self-service, spectra solution, you can ultimately choose a provider that will help you level up your organization’s eDiscovery program. ediscovery-review; ai-and-analyticsself-service, spectra, blog, ediscovery-review, ai-and-analyticsself-service, spectra; bloglighthouse

When it comes to storing organizational data in the Cloud, a few phrases come to mind: the train has left the station; the ship has sailed; the horse is out of the barn, etc. No matter how you phrase it, the meaning is the same – the world is moving to the Cloud, with or without you. It is no longer an oncoming revolution. The revolution is here and your organization needs to prepare for dealing with data in the Cloud, if it hasn’t already. With that in mind, let’s talk cloud logistics – namely, security and cost.First up to the Plate – Cloud Security You might have heard the analogy circulating in technology forums recently that storing your data within the Cloud is akin to storing data on someone else’s hard drive. Unfortunately, from a security perspective, that’s not quite an accurate analogy (although life would be much easier if it were true).Don’t get me wrong - a significant benefit of moving to the Cloud is that it allows an organization to transfer much of the day-to-day security management to a technology company with the resources and expertise to handle that risk. Thus, if you are moving to a private cloud (i.e., renting data center space for your equipment), you can ease security concerns by ensuring that the hosting company maintains widely recognized security attestations/certifications and has a demonstrated commitment to data center security in accordance with strict vendor management risk processes. And of course, there’s always the reassurance when moving to a public cloud (Microsoft’s Azure or Amazon’s AWS) that you’re entrusting your data to companies with seemingly infinite security resources and expertise. That all certainly helps me sleep better at night.However, working within the Cloud still poses unique internal security challenges that will only amplify any of your existing security weaknesses if you’re not prepared for them. To put it another way: ISO certifications from cloud service providers cannot protect you from yourself. Risk, governance, and compliance teams will need to identify, plan for and adapt to internal security challenges. To do so, be sure to have a change management and review approval process in place (ideally before moving to the Cloud, but if not, as soon as possible once you’ve migrated). Also, ensure that your company has someone on hand (either through a vendor or within your IT staff) with the expertise needed to manage your internal cloud security who can stay abreast of all updates and changes.Next up – CostTo plan for a cloud migration, all stakeholders (including Legal Operations, Finance, DevOps, Security, and IT) should have a seat at the table and a plan in place for scaling up in the Cloud. Each team should understand the plan and process, as well as the role their team plays in controlling cost and risk for the company.Cloud Security and Costs Best PracticesTo plan for security risk in the Cloud, companies should ensure that:All cloud service providers are fully vetted, security certified, and have the requisite posture in place to fully protect your data.Company internal processes are evaluated for security risks and gaps. Have a change management and review approval process in place and ensure that you have the experts on hand to manage your cloud security practices and stay abreast of all updates and changes.To plan for costs, companies should ensure that:All stakeholders (including Legal Operations, Finance, DevOps, Security, and IT) collaborate and have a plan in place for scaling up within the Cloud when needed.Each team understands the plan and process, as well as the role their team plays in controlling cost and risk for the company.data-privacy; information-governancecloud-security, cloud-migration, blog, data-privacy, information-governancecloud-security; cloud-migration; blogmarcelino hoyla

Given the proliferation of data and evolving variety of data sources, in-house counsel teams are beginning to exhaust resources managing increasingly complex case data. self-service, spectra eDiscovery legal technology offers a compelling solution. Consider the impact of inefficiencies faced by in-house counsel, today - from waiting for vendors to load data or provide platform access, to scrambling, to keeping up with advancing technologies, and managing data security risks - it’s a lot. The average in-house counsel team isn’t just dealing with these inefficiencies on large litigations, they’re encountering these issues in even the smallest compliance and internal investigations matters.self-service, spectra solutions offer an opportunity to streamline eDiscovery programs, allowing in-house legal teams to get back to the business of case management and legal counseling. It’s understandable we’re witnessing more and more companies moving to this model.So, once your organization has decided it is ready to step into the future and take advantage of the benefits self-service, spectra eDiscovery solutions have to offer, what’s next? Below, I’ve outlined three best practices for implementing a self-service, spectra eDiscovery solution within your organization. While any organizational change can seem daunting at the outset, keeping the below tips in mind will help your company seamlessly move to a self-service, spectra model.1. Define how you leverage your self-service, spectra eDiscovery solution to scale with ease.One of the key benefits of a quality self-service, spectra solution is that it puts your organization back in the eDiscovery driver’s seat. You decide what cases you will handle internally, with the advantage of having access to an array of eDiscovery expertise and matter management services when needed, even if that need arises in the middle of an ongoing matter. Cloud-based self-service, spectra solutions can readily handle any amount of data, and a quality self-service, spectra solution provider will be able to seamlessly scale up from self-service, spectra to full-service without any interruption to case teams.Having a plan in place regarding how and when you will leverage each of these benefits (i.e. self-service, spectra vs. full-service) will help you manage internal resources and implement a pricing model that fits your organization’s needs.2. Select a pricing model that works for your organization.Every organization’s eDiscovery business is different and self-service, spectra pricing models should reflect that. After determining how your organization will ideally leverage a self-service, spectra platform, decide what pricing model works best for that type of utilization. self-service, spectra solution providers should be able to provide a variety of licensing options to choose from, from an a la cart approach to subscription and transaction models.Prior to communicating with your potential solution provider, define how you plan to leverage a self-service, spectra solution to meet your needs. Then you can consider the type of support you require to balance your caseload with team resources and prepare to talk to providers about whether they can accommodate that pricing. Once you have on-boarded a self-service, spectra solution, be sure to continue to evaluate your pricing model, as the way you use the solution may change over time.3. Discuss moving to a self-service, spectra model with your IT and data security teams .Another benefit of moving to a self-service, spectra model is eliminating the burden of application and infrastructure management. Your in-house teams will be able to move from maintaining (and paying for) a myriad of eDiscovery technologies to a single platform providing all of the capabilities you need without the IT overhead. In effect, moving to a self-service, spectra solution gives your team access to industry-leading eDiscovery technology while removing the cost and hassle of licensing and infrastructure upkeep.A self-service, spectra model also allows you to transfer some of your organization’s data security risk to a solution provider. You gain peace of mind knowing your eDiscovery data and the supporting tech is administered by a dedicated IT and security team in a state-of-the-art IT environment with best-in-class security certifications.Finally, to ensure your organization can realize the full benefit of moving to a self-service, spectra solution, it’s imperative that your IT team has a seat at the table when selecting a solution platform. They can help to ensure that whatever service is selected can be fully and seamlessly integrated into your organization’s systems. Keeping these tips in mind as your organization begins its self-service, spectra journey will help you realize the benefits that a quality self-service, spectra eDiscovery platform can provide. For more in-depth guidance on migrating to self-service, spectra platforms, Brooks Thompson’s blog posts discussing tips for overcoming self-service, spectra objections and building a self-service, spectra business case.ediscovery-review; ai-and-analyticsself-service, spectra, blog, ediscovery-review, ai-and-analyticsself-service, spectra; bloglighthouse

Your team is facing a wall of mounting compliance requirements and internal investigations, as well as a few larger litigations you fear you may not be able to handle given internal resource constraints. Each case involves unwieldy amounts of data to wade through, and that data must be collected from constantly-evolving data sources—from iPhones to Microsoft Teams to Skype chats. You’re working with your IT team to ensure your company’s most sensitive data is protected throughout the course of all those matters.All of this considered, your team is faced with vetting eDiscovery vendors to handle the large litigation matters and ensuring those vendors can effectively protect your company’s data. Simultaneously, you are shouldering the burden of hosting a separate eDiscovery platform for internal investigations with a legal budget that is already stretched thin. Does this sound familiar? Welcome to the life of a modern in-house attorney. Now more than ever, in-house counsel need to identify cost-effective ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their eDiscovery matters and investigations with attention to the security of their company’s data. This is where adopting a cloud-based self-service, spectra eDiscovery platform can help. Below, I’ve outlined how moving to this type of model can ease many of the burdens faced by corporate legal departments.1. The Added Benefit of On-Demand Scalability‍A cloud-based, self-service, spectra platform provides your team the ability to quickly transfer case data into a cutting-edge review platform and access it from any web browser. You’re no longer waiting days for a vendor to take on the task with no insight into when the data will be ready. With a self-service, spectra solution, your team holds the reigns and can make strategic decisions based on what works best for your budget and organization. If your team has the bandwidth to handle smaller internal investigations but needs help handling large litigations, a scalable self-service, spectra model can provide that solution. If you want your team to handle all matters, large and small, but you worry about collecting from unique sources like Microsoft Teams or need help defensibly culling a large amount of data in a particular case, a quality self-service, spectra provider can handle those issues and leave the rest to you. In short, a self-service, spectra solution gives you the ability to control your own fate and leverage the eDiscovery tools and expertise you need, when you need them. 2. Access to the Best eDiscovery Tools – Without the Overhead Costs A robust self-service, spectra eDiscovery solution gives your team access to the industry’s best eDiscovery tools, enabling you to achieve the best outcome on every matter for the most efficient cost. Whether you want to analyze your organization’s entire legal portfolio to see where you can improve review efficiency across matters, or you simply want to leverage the best tools from collection to production, the right solution will deliver. And with a self-service, spectra model, your team will have access to these tools without the burden of infrastructure maintenance or software licensing. A quality self-service, spectra provider will shoulder these costs, as well as the load of continuously evaluating and updating technology. Your team is free to do what it is does best: legal work.3. The Peace of Mind of Reliable Data Security In a self-service, spectra eDiscovery model, your service provider shoulders the data security risk with state-of-the-art infrastructure and dedicated IT and security teams capable of remaining attentive to cybersecurity threats and evolving regulatory standards. This not only allows you to lower your own costs and free up valuable internal IT resources, but also provides something even more valuable than cost savings—the peace of mind that comes with knowing your company’s data is being managed and protected by IT experts.4. Flexible, Predictable Pricing and Lower Overall Costsself-service, spectra pricing models can be designed around your team’s expectations for utilization—meaning you can select a pricing structure that fits your organization’s unique needs. From pay-as-you-go models to a subscription-based approach, self-service, spectra pricing often differs from traditional eDiscovery pricing in that it is clear and predictable. This means you won’t be blindsided at the close of the month with hidden charges or unexpected hourly fees from a law firm or vendor. Add this type of transparent pricing to the fact that you will no longer be shouldering technology costs or paying for vendor services you don’t need, and the result is a significantly lower eDiscovery overhead that can fit within any legal budget. These four benefits can help corporations and in-house counsel teams significantly improve eDiscovery efficiency and reduce costs. For more information on how to move your organization to a self-service, spectra eDiscovery model, be sure to check out our other articles related to the self-service, spectra eDiscovery revolution – including tips for overcoming self-service, spectra objections and building a self-service, spectra business case.ediscovery-review; ai-and-analyticsself-service, spectra, blog, ediscovery-review, ai-and-analyticsself-service, spectra; bloglighthouse

Legal operations change management is one of the biggest challenges that professionals face according to a poll at the most recent CLOC conference. This isn’t surprising given that organizational change management is an often analyzed topic with a plethora of opinions about ways to accomplish it. There is no magic bullet to force a change in your legal department, however, growing your influence across legal operations and your organization can certainly help. Here are five steps to grow that influence and get people to modify their behaviors.Step 1: Get Clear About the Problem & Root CauseWhether you are tired of hearing about the myriad of issues with your contract lifecycle management or e-billing tool or you have been tasked with centralizing outside counsel selection and management, the first step remains the same. You must get clear in your own mind about what it is that you’re trying to change – both the problem complained about and the root cause of said problem. When starting out you should brainstorm and be liberal with your ideas, jot down anything that comes to mind, both problem and potential causes, and then ask others for their thoughts. Getting various opinions will help you to clarify the issue in your own mind. Once you have a page or two of related ideas, review all the notes and come to a final conclusion about the problem you are trying to solve and its root cause. Write this down in a succinct 1-3 sentence statement.Step 2: Create Your HypothesisThis second step also involves brainstorming. Go through the same process as step one by jotting down any ideas to solve your succinct problem statement. Again, you may want to ask a legal operations colleague (or two) for their thoughts. You may also want to observe people completing the task(s) you’re trying to change so that you can come up with some ideas of ways to solve the problem you have identified. For example, if you are targeting changing the matter management tool, you will want to understand the nature of the matters involved, understand what people are using the tool for, and create a hypothesis around the new tool you want to implement. Once you have your list, cull it down to 1-3 potential solutions to test.Step 3: Test Your HypothesisNext, take your 1-3 potential solutions and test them out. The first way to test is to reach out to other legal operations professionals and/or service providers outside your organization to see if the solution has worked for others. Next, if you can, test it out yourself in your organization. This doesn’t necessarily mean you will implement a sample of a new tool, but that you will demoing the tool and get an understanding of what you would need to implement this solution at your organization.Step 4: Create and Deliver Your PitchNow that you are the expert on the problem and have a well thought out solution, you need to convince others. The best way to do that is to tell a story that includes the following:what you saw (the problem);how pervasive the problem is (# of people impacted);the cost of the problem (time/money);the proposed solution;the benefit of this solution;why this solution over the other 2-3 good solutions; and what is needed to implement this solution. Once you have this together, determine who you will have to convince. Start with your boss, any budget owners, and any leaders whose teams will be directly impacted. Before you share the presentation, make sure that you understand what each of these group’s reactions may be so that you can tailor your verbal commentary to address their comments. If you don’t know the attendees’ potential reactions, you should consider doing some due diligence beforehand. The most effective way I have found to do this is to start with your boss. Share the general ideas of your presentation with them and ask them how others will react. If they are not sure, you can start with a peer in legal or another department or have informal conversations with the attendees before the actual presentation. Investing time in these “pre-pitches” will ensure a successful end result. Make sure you incorporate any feedback from these pre-pitches into the ultimate presentation.Step 5: Brag About Your ResultsAfter a successful presentation, procurement, and implementation, don’t forget to share the wins of your project. Specifically, share with the same people you pitched at the outset but also share the results with anyone whose behavior you have already or are still trying to change. Sharing any wins will reinforce the new behaviors you are trying to implement. Tie those wins back to the original presentation and the results you were anticipating. This showing of success (and of credibility of your original pitch) will have a positive impact on your reputation and ability to influence future change. You will develop a reputation for getting positive results and people will be excited to try what you have up your sleeve. legal-operationslegal-ops, blog, legal-operations,legal-ops; bloglighthouse

Co-authored by Hannah Fotsch, Associate, Lathrop GPM; Samuel Butler, Associate, Lathrop GPM; and Casey Van Veen, Vice President Global eDiscovery Solutions, Lighthouse2020 has been an incredibly tough year for many businesses, with companies big and small shuttering at a record pace due to COVID-19 restrictions and significant reductions in customer travel and spending. But there is one surprising business type that many people seem to want to continue to invest in despite the pandemic: the franchise business model.For example, both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business.com recently highlighted franchise-model businesses that were not only surviving the pandemic and associated lockdowns, but thriving. And in fact, one of those thriving franchise business types called out by the authors was franchise consulting businesses (consultants that help match aspiring franchise owners with franchise opportunities). Apparently, the pandemic has actually increased investment interest in franchise opportunities.There may be a few different reasons why people are looking to the franchise business model during an economic downturn. Many franchise businesses have the benefit of a widely known name brand and market presence. Many have the benefit of leveraging a fully baked business model ‚Äì one that has presumably already been proven successful. Many also have more support than solo businesses in a variety of key business development areas, including marketing, advertising, and training. In short, the franchise business model may have more appeal during this economic upheaval than a solo business model because people trust the support it can provide in times of economic trouble.However, there are still several common pitfalls that can drag profits down and slow economic growth, leaving the franchise model just as exposed to failure as a solo business model in this time of economic uncertainty. One of those pitfalls is litigation and internal investigations, and the resulting eDiscovery challenges those two can raise. Not only do businesses operating within a franchise model face the same types of litigation and employee workplace issues that all other businesses face ‚Äì they may also have to deal with added litigation that is unique to the franchisor-franchisee relationship. All of this means increased cost and overhead, especially when it comes to preserving, collecting, reviewing, and producing the required data during the discovery phase.In this article, we discuss the legal eDiscovery challenges and the primary legal issues that we see affecting franchise businesses, large and small. We‚Äôll also provide best-practice tips that can help keep eDiscovery costs down and enable franchise businesses to utilize their advantage and continue to survive and thrive during this trying time.Legal eDiscovery ChallengesThere are four main challenges we see affecting franchise businesses currently: (1) the explosion of data sources; (2) the increased frequency of internal investigations and compliance matters; (3) the lack of a playbook to ensure discovery is managed in a low risk, low-cost manner; and (4) big data challenges.Explosion of Data SourcesWalk through any franchise store, restaurant, or facility today and you will be amazed at the number of devices and systems that must be contemplated in discovery.Fixed systems on property: Video security, card key access, time clock, email, and desktop computersCloud-based systems: Many of the above systems can also be found in the Cloud along with M365 and Google Suite of business documents, email, collaboration tools, and backupsEmployee sources: Personal email, cell phones (video, app chat, texts), iPads, and tabletsCorporate maintained systems: Marketing documents, HR systems, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs), proprietary training, and competitive analysis documentationMoreover, employees at different franchise businesses may often choose to communicate on different platforms, which can exponentially diversify data sources. This amount and variety of sources can pose a myriad of challenges from an eDiscovery perspective.The duty to preserve data begins as soon as litigation is ‚Äúreasonably foreseeable.‚Äù Thus, once an allegation that may lead to litigation surfaces, the clock begins ticking, not only to effectively respond to the allegation but also to ensure that evidentiary data at issue is preserved. And once discovery begins, that preserved data will need to be collected. All of this can present challenges for the ill-prepared: How do you collect data from employees‚Äô personal devices? What are the local state and federal rules regarding the privacy of personal devices? How does collecting the data differ from Apple device vs Android devices? The need to be aware of platforms that create data and the possibilities for collecting that data from them must be addressed before litigation begins, or businesses risk losing data that could be essential to litigation.Key takeaway: Know your data sources as a standard course of business. Make sure that you know where data resides, how it can be accessed, and what can and cannot be collected from data sources.Internal Investigations & Compliance MattersThere has been a drastic increase in internal investigations and compliance matters with franchise clients recently. Hotline and compliance phone line tips, allegations around employee theft, and suspected fraud are on the rise. The key to resolving these types of investigations quickly and cost efficiently is speed. Attorneys and company executives need to know as soon as possible: is there truly an issue, how far does it go, how long has it been happening, how many employees does this effect, and what is the exposure (financially, socially). It is important to develop workflows and tools to help decision-makers and their legal experts sift through the mountains of data quickly.To understand the importance of this, consider this example. A company sales representative leaves the business and does not disclose their next line of work. A tip line reveals they the representative may have left for a competitor. Shortly thereafter, business deals that were executed and even ones in the pipeline suddenly disappear to a competitor. The former employer quickly conducts a forensic investigation on the representative‚Äôs laptop computer. Despite their attempt to hide their activity, the investigation reveals that the representative had downloaded proprietary customer lists, price sheets, and other valuable IP during their last week of employment and had also moved large chunks of confidential information from the company‚Äôs servers to thumb drives and utilized their personal email to store work communications. Without a strategic plan in place laying out how to quickly execute a forensic internal investigation in this type of situation, the company would have lost substantial revenue to a competitor.Companies that are particularly concerned about former employees stealing proprietary information can even go further than creating an effective investigatory and remediation strategy ‚Äì putting a departing employee forensic monitoring program in place can prevent this time of abuse from happening in the first place.Key takeaway: Have a program in place to certify that departing employees leave with only their personal belongings and not proprietary company information.Lack of an eDiscovery PlaybookPlaybooks come in many forms today: user manuals, company directives, cooking instructions, and recipe guides. A successful playbook for the legal department will establish a practical process to follow should a legal or compliance issue arise. Playbooks, like a checklist for a pilot about to fly a plane, ensure that everyone is following a solid process to avoid risk. These documents also prevent rogue players from recreating the wheel and going down potentially expensive rabbit holes.Repetitive litigation situations are particularly well suited for acting according to playbooks, and standardizing the response to these situations helps to ensure the predictability of both outcomes and expenses. For example, these documents can be as granular as necessary but typically include a few key topics such as:The process for responding to a 3rd party subpoena, service, or allegation of wrongdoingThe company‚Äôs systems that are typically subject to discoveryIT contacts that can help gather the information/dataA list of service providers/trusted partners to assistStandard data processing and production specifications (i.e. time zone, global deduplication, single-page TIFF images 400 dpi, text, and metadata fields)Preferred technologies to search, review, and produce documents (i.e. Relativity)Key takeaway: Playbooks can shave days off of the engagement process with outside counsel and data management companies. Having a repeatable process and plan on day one will save time and money as well as reduce risk.Big Data ChallengesFranchisors face issues in litigation that are unique to the industry, from vicarious liability claims involving the actions of franchisees or their employees to the sheer unpredictability that comes from extensive business relationships involving franchisees of a breathtaking range of sophistication. An increase in litigation leads to an increase in data. Even a run-of-the-mill dispute can lead to the need to gather (and potentially review) more than 100,000 documents. Add one or two more small disputes, and the amount of data quickly becomes unmanageable (and expensive).Fortunately, there have been impressive advances in the field of advanced legal analytical and artificial intelligence (AI). These innovative eDiscovery tools can help legal professionals analyze data to quickly identify documents that are not important to the litigation or investigation (thereby eliminating the need to review them), as well find the ‚Äústory‚Äù within a data set. For example, some analytical tools can help identify code words that an employee might have used to cover up nefarious actions, or analyze communications patterns that allow attorneys to identify the bad actors in a given situation. Other tools now have the capability of analyzing all of the company‚Äôs previously collected and attorney-reviewed data, which substantially reduces the need for attorney review in the current matter.All of these tools work to reduce data burden, which in turn reduces costs and increases efficiency.Key takeaway: Take the time to learn what eDiscovery solutions are available on the market today and how you can leverage them before you are faced with a need to use them.To discuss this topic more, please feel free to reach out to me at CVanVeen@lighthouseglobal.com. ediscovery-review; ai-and-analyticscloud, ai-big-data, compliance-and-investigations, ediscovery-process, blog, ediscovery-review, ai-and-analyticscloud; ai-big-data; compliance-and-investigations; ediscovery-process; blogcasey van veen

A recent conversation with a colleague in Lighthouse’s Focus Discovery team resonated with me – we got to chatting about TAR protocols and the evolution of TAR, analytics, and AI. It was only five years ago that people were skeptical of TAR technology and all the discussions revolved around understanding TAR and AI technology. That has shifted to needing to understand how to evaluate the process of your team or of opposing counsel’s production. Although an understanding of TAR technology can help in said task, it does not give you enough to evaluate items like the parity of types of sample documents, the impact of using production data versus one’s own data, and the type of seed documents. That discussion prompted me to grab one of our experts, Tobin Dietrich, to discuss the cliff notes of how one should evaluate a TAR protocol. It is not totally uncommon for lawyers to receive a technology assisted review methodology from producing counsel – especially in government matters but also in civil matters. In the vein of the typical law school course, this blog will teach you how to issue spot if one of those methodologies comes across your desk. Once you’ve spotted the issues, bringing in the experts is the right next step.Issue 1: Clear explanation of technology and process. If the party cannot name the TAR tool or algorithm they used, that is a sign there is an issue. Similarly, if they cannot clearly describe their analytics or AI process, this is a sign they do not understand what they did. Given that the technology was trained by this process, this lack of understanding is an indicator that the output may be flawed.Issue 2: Document selection – how and why. In the early days of TAR, training documents were selected fairly randomly. We have evolved to a place now where people are being choosy about what documents they use for training. This is generally a positive thing but does require you to think about what may be over or under represented in the opposing party’s choice of documents. More specifically, this comes up in 3 ways:Number of documents used for training. A TAR system needs to understand what responsive and non-responsive looks like so it needs to see many examples in each category to approach certainty on its categorization. When using too small a sample, e.g. 100 or 200 documents, this risks causing the TAR system to incorrectly categorize. Although a system can technically build a predictive model from a single document, it will only effectively locate documents that are very similar to the starting document. The reality of a typical document corpus is that it is not so uniform as to rely upon the single document predictive model.Types of seed documents. It is important to use a variety of documents in the training. The goal is to have the inputs represent the conceptual variety in the broader document corpus. Using another party’s production documents, for example, can be very misleading for the system as the vocabulary used by other parties is different, the people are different, and the concepts discussed are very different. This can then lead to incorrect categorization of documents. Production data, specifically, can also add confusion with the presence of Bates or confidentiality stamps. If the types of seed documents/training documents used do not mirror typical types of documents expected from the document corpus, you should be suspicious.Parity of seed document samples. Although you do not need anything approaching the perfect parity of responsive and non-responsive documents, it can be challenging to use 10x the number of non-responsive versus responsive documents. This kind of disparity can distort the TAR model. It can also exacerbate either of the above issues, number, or type of seed documents.Issue 3: How is performance measured? People throw around common TAR metrics like recall and precision without clarifying what they are referring to. You should always be able to tell what population of documents these statistics relate to. Also, don’t skip over precision. People often throw out recall as sufficient, but precision can provide important insight into the quality of model training as well.By starting with these three areas, you should be able to flag some of the more common issues in TAR processes and either avoid them or ask for them to be remedied. ai-and-analytics; ediscovery-reviewanalytics, ai-big-data, tar-predictive-coding, blog, ai-and-analytics, ediscovery-reviewanalytics; ai-big-data; tar-predictive-coding; bloglighthouse