How to Avoid the Seven Pitfalls of Current E-discovery Tools

By Juliana Kenny

The litigation discovery process has never been as costly, complex and critical as it is today. The sheer volume of electronic data to be culled and analyzed for each and every discovery production has grown exponentially over the last two decades, and that pace is not slowing. Gartner predicts that in a four-year span, revenue in the e-discovery market will nearly double. Yet, even as computing power increases to meet data volume, legal professionals are frustrated with their current e-discovery platform’s performance.

1. UNRELIABLE SOFTWARE

Legal professionals using outdated platforms are often frustrated by system crashes as multiple users log on. Such platforms were built utilizing old technology and have been cobbled together over time, making the underlying technology overly complex and, in turn, unreliable. Outdated platforms are not well equipped to handle the uploading of additional files and the consistent need for system refreshes as new data emerges. The infrastructure of today’s systems must be backed by robust technology with the scale to support the increasing volume of data and high demand for a nonlinear process that matches the nonlinear nature of litigation. When considering a new solution, legal professionals should demand guarantees around system performance and up-time.

2. UNPREDICTABLE PRICING

Law firms and in-house legal teams are under immense pressure to contain litigation costs. Existing e-discovery tools often rely on complex pricing structures that charge users piecemeal for common tasks or additional users, resulting in unpredictable costs. E-discovery solutions with a predictable and transparent pricing model will allow firms to better plan for and manage costs. Inquiring upfront about how a vendor handles new data and potential overage charges can help legal professionals properly manage budgets and expectations with clients. The bottom line is important to all parties involved.

3. INACCURATE SEARCH RESULTS

Law firms and legal professionals put their reputations on the line with every discovery production. Too often, existing software prioritizes speed over comprehensive and reliable accuracy. When results are not complete or accurate, legal professionals running the search may need to complete significant extra work or they face the risk of missing information. An advanced system should not only ensure speed, but the full set of relevant results – each time a search is conducted – so users can be confident in their findings.

4. SLOW SEARCH FUNCTIONS

The other side of the “speed vs. accuracy” coin is that some platforms cannot deliver accurate results quickly, leading to unacceptable slow-downs in the e-discovery process. The old adage is true: time is money. A search in an e-discovery platform should be intuitive to how attorneys think and work. When selecting a platform, purchasers should ask the provider if the system uses a distributed-server architecture, which provides scale and ensures search speed is the same regardless of whether the dataset they are searching is 1GB or 100TB.

5. COMPLEX USER INTERFACE

As mainstream consumer technology becomes increasingly user-friendly, legal technology has failed to keep up. The importance of e-discovery to today’s legal process cannot be understated, so it is critical that solutions are easy for users to navigate. Legal professionals can determine this quickly by looking at the software’s interface. If navigating the interface’s system without help is a challenge, it will be difficult for the rest of the team, as well.

6. LACK OF SECURITY FEATURES

Some newer e-discovery platforms tout streamlined interfaces and speedy search capabilities. However, these platforms often lack the powerful infrastructure and critical security features of more traditional (and, unfortunately, less streamlined) solutions. These features are critical, especially amid growing concerns over cybersecurity, and an advanced system should make these features available in a streamlined package.

7. INADEQUATE SUPPORT

Legal professionals do not have time to wait on hold for their e-discovery solution’s support team to resolve an issue, nor do they have the time to bring inexperienced case managers up to speed. An easy-to-use system backed by a consistent, ACEDs certified support team who can work around a litigator’s schedule and needs ultimately saves time and resources.

Legal professionals deserve a platform that addresses all of their needs with none of the pitfalls that too often come with existing e-discovery solutions. By partnering with a provider that understands their needs, legal professionals can regain confidence and control over the discovery process, protecting their reputations and better serving their clients.