Peer to Peer Magazine

73 WWW.ILTANET.ORG Litigation Support Models for Law Firms FEATURES services provider (MSP) that handles all work across the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM), but most have several a la carte vendors that provide services in one or more areas of the EDRM, such as collection, processing and hosting, or trial support. To outsource litigation services, a law firm will engage service providers to complete a request for proposal (RFP) or request for information (RFI) and then perform a proof of concept (POC). The law firm selects the service provider that best meets their culture and needs. The law firm and service provider then execute a contract for the provision of litigation support services to the firm for a set period, usually under either a subscription or "pay as you go" model. Law firms choosing the outsourced model rarely have or want the resources necessary to support litigation in-house. This includes the personnel as well as the physical and technical infrastructure to host electronic data and e-discovery soware. Some firms, on the other hand, outsource because they do not want to manage soware and cybersecurity. In the early 2000s, a firm may have been able to delegate this work to paralegals, but to survive as a business, today's firms need a specialized team to handle the intricacies of litigation support and e-discovery. Three Support Models Law firms should determine how they want to approach the business of litigation support at the outset. There are three litigation support business models: Outsourced Insourced Hybrid Historically, law firms insourced most of their litigation support resources. Today, law firms are increasingly moving to outsourced and hybrid models due to the growing demand for litigation support, the increasing volume of data and security concerns associated with hosting data in-house. Litigation support involves more than just buying the right soware or hiring enough manpower. It is a complex system involving human capital, IT infrastructure and technical resources (including e-discovery soware), and cybersecurity and risk tolerance. In determining what model to choose, firms must consider their resources and willingness to expand in each area. Outsourcing Outsourcing litigation support services is the simplest model from a business perspective. In the outsourced model, law firms bring one or more service providers into their workflow. The provider completes litigation support work and provides necessary services based on a contractual agreement. Some firms have one managed 1 2 3 Litigation support has become a critical component of law firm operations over the past 15 years. With the advent of big data and the exponential growth of electronic discovery, litigation support has evolved from an elementary gathering of paper files and preparation of demonstrations into a dynamic, multifaceted process involving identification, preservation, collection, processing, review, analysis, production and presentation. RICKY BROOMAN Richard (Ricky) Brooman is a Litigation Support Specialist at Saul Ewing LLP. In this capacity, he consults internal and external clients on best practices for e-discovery and information governance and manages all phases of the EDRM for litigation matters. Ricky is also a member of ILTA's Business Management Content Coordinating Team. Contact him at rbrooman@saul.com.

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