The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/480238
PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE OF ILTA 46 THE 800-POUND GORILLA: E-DISCOVERY In 2014, there were more acquisitions of e-discovery companies than in the previous two years combined. The aggressive roll up typically reflects one of three scenarios: 1. A smaller company has stagnated in growth and is acquired by a larger company for its loyal client base 2. A company has a unique piece of technology or service that will scale faster by joining a larger brand missing that component 3. The acquisition gives a growing company immediate market penetration in an untapped geography The acquisition of legal technology companies will continue to trend well into 2015, but will slow late in the year as the industry recalibrates and redefines itself. Many companies doing the buying were much smaller just a few years ago. Some middle-market legal technology vendors have experienced rapid growth, but others have struggled to expand their revenues and are feeling the pressure of continued price commodification and evaporation of historical cases or clients that supported previous business growth. MARRIAGE, NOT DATING: MANAGED SERVICES Managed services is an old concept, and many legal IT professionals find it ironic that e-discovery is finally maturing to a FEATURES While many of these disciplines have been well-established for years, their viability as widespread career options has been limited. Predictive coding experience and skills are valuable, but still not widely used in the legal world. Clients want to offer consultative services for information governance, but this offering does not yet require volumes of talent the way e-discovery does. While these skills hold a premium, the jobs will be scarce in 2015 — except for cybersecurity, which will be in high demand with an abundance of job opportunities, particularly at a junior level. Cybersecurity is absolutely the greatest concern for firms and corporations in 2015, and the social awareness and media coverage of 2014's cyber-folly will lead to job demand and career mobility for legal technology professionals able to transition to that field. 2014 proved to be a dynamic year for the e-discovery and legal technology communities. The outsourcing of managed services combined with a changing relationship among corporations and their outside counsel and service providers led to radical shifts in hiring practices and compensation metrics for employees across all sectors. Acquisition has been aggressive, tool standardization formidable and revenue streams for both law firms and vendors have adjusted because of evolving business models. Here is a brief recap of core trends from 2014 and a resulting forecast of staffing and compensation trends for 2015. STAYING MOBILE: GROWING AREAS OF EXPERTISE To bolster long-term career growth, legal technology professionals would serve their careers well by getting deeper into these areas of expertise: • Information governance • Predictive coding • Cybersecurity • Privacy consulting 2015 HIRING PREDICTIONS E-Discovery and More!