Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Process Is the Key To Success When Applying Legal Technology To Discovery

By Benjamin Beck and Tobin Dietrich

The litigation industry is awash with technology. According to consulting firm Gartner, law firms, corporations and service providers spent almost $2 billion in 2014 buying or licensing e-discovery software, almost none of which existed just 10 years ago. See, 'Magic Quadrant for E-Discovery Software.' Why? The primary driver has been the explosion in the amount and variety of discoverable data in the world. Without software, litigators today simply cannot get their job done, and corporation spend on discovery would be unfathomable. So far, so good ' our industry has made progress.

Yet there remains a significant challenge. In November 2013, Legal Tech Newsletter's ALM sibling, Law Technology News, published an article with the byline: 'Humans Are Still Essential in E-Discovery.' The article summarized results from an extensive study conducted by the Electronic Discovery Institute and involving two leading Stanford statistics professors. The study compared the results of 19 technology assisted review providers with an entirely human review of a 1.7 million document data set. The headline conclusion was 'software is only as good as its operators.' The article included a chart that ranked the 19 providers' performance as 'optimal,' 'average,' and 'low' for each of three reviews (responsive, privilege and hot documents). The range of performance was dramatic. Only one provider scored 'optimal' in all three categories, while five others scored 'optimal' in two of the three categories. Four scored 'low' in all three categories. And many used the exact same software. The range of spend was equally wide, with one provider's total cost under $50k and another's over $1.5 million, a 30x difference.

Read These Next
The Article 8 Opt In Image

The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.

Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws Image

This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.

Beach Boys Songs Written Decades Ago Triggered Current Quarrel With Lawyers Image

There's current litigation in the ongoing Beach Boys litigation saga. A lawsuit filed in 2019 against Nevada residents Mike Love and his wife Jacquelyne in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada that alleges inaccurate payment by the Loves under the retainer agreement and seeks $84.5 million in damages.

Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin Image

With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.

Transfer Tax Implications on Real Property Leases Image

The real property transfer tax does not apply to all leases, and understanding the tax rules of the applicable jurisdiction can allow parties to plan ahead to avoid unnecessary tax liability.