• Execution: Execute the project and make adjustments as necessary. Keep an eye on changing specifications and deadlines as errors here can cause reputational damage and hurt client relationships. E-discovery project management solutions can automate the process of ensuring that everything on the e-discovery checklist is taken care of. E-discovery workflow management software can automate workflow contingencies that ensure each step is completed satisfactorily before the project can progress. It also serves as a collaborative platform to facilitate communication throughout the e-discovery process, from internal legal and IT teams to outside counsel, vendors, HR leaders and custodians.
• Closeout: Close out each project phase and ensure critical communication points and documentation are wrapped up and carried over to the next phase. Archive or dispose of data as needed, and ensure critical information is conveyed appropriately. A core concept of project management is “you can’t manage what you can’t measure, and you can’t improve what you can’t measure” so be sure to summarize metrics and conduct “lessons learned” activities. A postmortem on matters overall, and e-discovery project phases in particular, is essential — the answers for the next case can often be found in the resolution of the last matter.
While The Sedona Conference has just begun
their work on project management, and the EDRM has defined a framework using a traditional project methodology, the stage has been set toward a more effective and efficient methodology specifically for managing electronic discovery projects. For those of us who’ve been practicing e-discovery project management
32 Project Management ILTA White Paper
for years, alternative and innovative approaches utilizing project and process management are gaining credibility and widespread acceptance in the practice of law. The steps outlined above can provide an excellent starting point for practitioners looking to move in that direction.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT IS A MUST FOR E-DISCOVERY With cost and time pressures advancing on legal teams, it has become more natural for attorneys to seek out methods to increase efficiencies and cut costs in e-discovery. As e-discovery moves into the realm of repeatable business process, it’s clear that increasing value for clients will remain a driving factor in how attorneys approach litigation. In the coming years, e-discovery and legal project management will come into their own as recognized practice areas. In the meantime, law firms and corporate legal departments alike must strive to remain competitive by utilizing emerging best practices and the technologies built upon those tenets to deliver real value to their stakeholders. ILTA
E-Discovery Project Management Toolkit
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Case Study: How Haynes and Boone Automates its E-Discovery Processes
Webcast: E-Discovery Project Management: A Practical Approach for Law Firms
Webcast: How to Apply Project Management Principles to the EDRM
EDRM Evergreen: Project Management Framework (Now open for comment)
The Sedona Conference Commentary on Achieving Quality in the E-Discovery Process
