Extract from Epiq’s article “Antitrust and Global Investigations: The Era of the Legal Technologist Has Arrived”
The marriage of technology expertise with the license to practice law is in high demand and essential to the efficient handling of large-scale and complex antitrust and white-collar investigations and litigation. This is no longer a discretionary skill set designed to benefit those who respond to ESI requests, but rather a necessary proficiency needed to navigate the eDiscovery landscape. As electronic communication volumes grow and litigation and investigations continue to increase, the efficacy of conducting a linear style document review becomes highly questionable. Faced with a costly and time-consuming process, the option to engage a “legal technologist” who can quickly get answers and efficiently identify the most critical records will shape a new frontier. Attorneys committed to the practice of law and adverse to technology can remain firmly entrenched in their preferred practice and rely upon experts to drive the technology and analytics component. Any firm responding to a discovery request should develop a trusted partnership with a provider that can supply this critical service. This relationship rises above simply “contracting” out, due to the significance and value of the role. These legal technologists are not just outsourced resources, but valued consultants who should be vetted not only for their legal acumen but also for their knowledge of analytics and cutting-edge tools.
One trend that is gaining steam as part of the effort to cut the cost of legal services and to improve overall results is the creation dedicated teams of attorneys who are employed by the outsourced provider but who work exclusively for a corporate client.
