P2P

15 I L T A N E T . O R G As the MSP's chief contact, you might be a senior associate, a partner, a new associate, an eDiscovery manager, or a paralegal; in all cases, you'll have different reporting needs, knowledge, and experience. Does the MSP communicate that they are there to help you do your job better? The MSP should also clarify its own internal chain of command so you always have access to the expertise you need and are never left hanging in an emergency if your regular contact is not available. For this reason, in your initial meetings you should expect to do most of the talking. An MSP who dominates the conversation might not be the best listener. 7. The "excellence reflex" The concept of exceptional customer service is well known in the hospitality industry, where concierges go to extraordinary lengths to satisfy their customers' every need. Think Ritz Carlton. The hotel group is laser-focused on treating people in the way they'd like to be treated, so much so that they offer a hospitality training program to other businesses. The hospitality imperative should also apply to MSPs. They can just show up and do what they're hired to do, or they can demonstrate at every stage that they aim to excel. This is the concierge approach: an almost-heroic mindset where the service provider is always looking for opportunities to do something extraordinary – beyond what's expected or paid for – with the intention of surprising and delighting you. This reminds me of the time we were contacted by a legal colleague who wanted to provide guidance to an attorney who had an Joey Seeber is CEO of the concierge eDiscovery provider Level Legal. As a practicing lawyer, he learned the ins and outs of the profession by doing everything from tackling litigation-related discovery matters to trying cases before a jury. He also ser ved three terms as mayor of Tyler, Texas. In 2009, Joey founded Level Legal to provide an unprecedented level of customer ser vice to law firms and law departments globally. urgent, sensitive matter that couldn't be handled in-house, but also wasn't sure about the best way to approach the project. Our goal for the conversation was to share our expertise and brainstorm what would work best for the attorney's customer – not to win an engagement. Shortly after we started offering ideas about how to handle key elements of the project, the attorney decided to include his client in the call; in turn, the client's head of security and other members of our team joined the discussion. What started as a private conversation among peers emerged as a full-blown eDiscovery action plan, triggering work on the matter immediately – days earlier than our colleague's customer had expected or hoped. This is an example of what restauranteur Danny Meyer calls the "excellence reflex" in his book Setting the Table: the Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business. An MSP with the excellence reflex knows its hard work means you have less to worry about and more to focus on. How can you tell if a potential service provider has the excellence reflex? If their reference customers say things like, "This is amazing – the best we've ever seen this information presented," or "I didn't expect I would get this back so soon," or "I didn't realize how useful this context could be." If you hear comments like those, the MSP will likely provide above-and-beyond service to you. As EY's global legal managed services leader John Knox says, innovative managed service providers paired with pioneering law departments will "transform the delivery of legal services." The guidelines above will help you distinguish the great providers from the merely average and help you find firms that can be transformative for your organization. eDiscovery MSPs are a vital part of the legal process. You and your organization deserve to work with the best. ILTA

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