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I L T A W H I T E P A P E R | P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T 24 new set of Project Managers have been added to your team. In short, the process needs to be defensible and it needs to be able to operate without you. To make the process defensible it needs to be clear, reasoned (you have thought about each step) and repeatable. It may take time to get to this point because all parties in the matter need to be on board with the process. Transparency is excellent for creating goodwill (and for keeping the judge on side). The point I want to make today isn't about how to create that process, but if you do build an app to track all that data let me know because I would like to download (although I probably won't pay more than $2.99 for it). The point I want to make is about what happens after you build that process. I see it time and time again (especially on the vendor side). Decent processes are in place, but rush requests, irate Outside Counsel and distracted corporate clients lead teams to take shortcuts. The budget for eDiscovery (from most clients' perspectives) is ideally zero, so when Counsel is making big demands, last minute changes and unreasonable turnaround deadlines things fall apart. In this heated environment, a robust workflow is obviously essential. Checking your work, and the work of others, however is just as important a part of the process. If you as a PM are the last person to touch a production before it becomes client facing, you need to be as confident about the deliverable as if you built it from scratch yourself. That is how hard you need to QC it. It you are getting pressure from Outside Counsel because the production is late due to last minute client changes – stop and check it again. Start over with QC if you have to. Be willing to certify that it is correct. The value you add is in the accuracy of the work product. Unless a deadline is court-ordered you probably have some flexibility (e.g. an hour) to perform an extra layer of QC. Is it good to miss an agreed upon deadline? No. Is hitting an agreed upon deadline with a product that may not be accurate okay? Also, no. When dealing with complex litigation that includes multiple jurisdictions, everyone knows you need a solid tracking system in place. But all the mobile app-sync'd trackers in the world won't help you if you send a problematic production to three different jurisdictions. Be like Santa: make a QC checklist, and make sure anyone on your team can check it twice. ILTA P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T I N 2 0 1 9 Leon Carney Senior Project Manager Lighthouse

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