Managed Document Review: A Growing Legal Service

Online communication, business, and legal activity has made managed document review a huge growth industry in modern litigation services

. More and more, the biggest to the smallest legal practitioners are turning over a huge chunk of e-discovery labor to outside specialists.

Attorneys specialize in performing managed document review on a contract professional basis for established law firms and their colleagues. This is a form of Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO); outside, and sometimes even foreign, specialists provide managed document review services from e-discovery to trial preparation. Companies who offer these services make sure their attorneys are thoroughly versed in the relevant legal subspecialties before contracting them out. These consultants also become well trained in using e-discovery softwares.

The process, sometimes referred to as Attorney Document Review or Automated Document Review (ADR), depends on efficiency and accuracy for its success. More than 70 percent of the cost of litigation today accumulates during this stage of the process.

Engaged as contract professionals, document review consultants form a team with in-house counsel to engage in the process. Consultant attorneys may work primarily on-site, at the offices of the client law firm, or perform the service off-site -- in some cases even overseas.

Document review systems are designed to catch and eliminate non-responsive, duplicate, or irrevelant materials early on, prior to close study of the evidence. At the second level of examination, reviewers will classify documents as "hot," confidential, possibly privileged, or merely relevant. Excellent managed document review services will provide accurate and pithy summarizations of relevant evidence for the benefit of the clients and primary counsel.

Opposing party documents are also digested in this process. In complex cases, there may be discovery from multiple parties. That means hundreds of thousands of further documents will need to be evaluated for responsiveness and relevance. Some may include foreign language content, depending on the client's line of business, and that will require translation.

Defensibility is an essential feature of managed document review services. Providers must create a full and accurate history of the process for the benefit of in-house counsel and their clients. This record should include a road map of the collection and review process, and a complete index of all the documents that changed hands and/or were analyzed. Properly generated, this history will provide solid documentation that the process was properly and diligently handled.

Consistent management of LPO providers by the in-house attorney(s) is one area where the managed document review process can suffer setbacks. Trusting a consultant to handle everything can be a relief, if the contract professional is worthy of that trust. Managed document review providers may have to rely on a record of dependable performance to maintain their reputation; positive referrals from past client law firms are often the basis for future engagements.

Some companies that specialize in managed document review offer alternative fee structures. Law firms accustomed to by-the-hour compensation might also consider the relative advantages of fixed-fee-per-document contract. Additional charges may involve staffing, data storage, web hosting, and special management fees.

by: raseltiffin96

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