Digital White Papers

LITIGATION AND PRACTICE SUPPORT 88 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER You Do What, Now? : Building a Method to Identify and Communicate Roles, Responsibilities and Solutions For Ediscovery Services Teams You Do What, Now? Building a Method to Identify and Communicate Roles, Responsibilities and Solutions For Ediscovery Services Teams by Eric Pulsipher of Baker Hostetler LLP and Joan Washburn of Holland & Knight LLP One of the most interesting challenges a manager faces is delegation. Whether you are managing a team or a complex process, understanding who does what, where the pockets of expertise lay, the costs associated with the work and how to communicate that to your users is key to a successful outcome. This is true in any industry, but the complexity of eDiscovery and the duty for competence when handling Electronically Stored Information (ESI) make it crucial to identify the right person, process and tool. Wild West No More Let's face it, when the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were first amended in 2006, eDiscovery was managed in something of an ad hoc fashion. Teams were assembled by pulling in people with peripheral skills sets - maybe an understanding of SQL or other databases, or even just knowledge of what a TIFF is. Teams were generally self- taught and most of us wore many hats, from complex, high-impact client interviews to low-grade CD burning. To keep up with demand and provide excellent customer service, teams evolved to include layers of personnel, inside and outside the enterprise. That solved some problems but opened the door to many others. Who does what task, who bills to the files, how does it all fit together and who has ultimate responsibility for the end product? What the Heck is RACI? Bill Schiefelbein, the managing director of Schiefelbein Analytics, LLC, works with law firms, governmental agencies and corporations of all sizes and problems at all levels of complexity. Part of his work is helping clients make decisions about people, processes and

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