As the eDiscovery industry has evolved, the difference between skill sets of service provider technologists and law firm litigation support analysts has been blurred. This is due to the seemingly constant movement of talent from law firm to service provider and back again. Both law firms and service providers now employ highly skilled and proficient eDiscovery analysts and managers. This is a very important shift as the eDiscovery industry moves toward managed services and other data warehouse service models. These models provide clients with better cost predictability as well as the opportunity to scale their eDiscovery platforms up and down as needed.
In the past, the law firm leaned heavily on the service provider to manage all aspects of data through the EDRM while the firm focused their resources on document review. While this is still a large part of the law firm-service provider relationship, the managed services model provides another relationship avenue: empowering the law firm litigation support team through consultation and collaboration.
The value that a service provider’s expertise brings to a project or to the lifecycle of a managed services agreement is almost immeasurable. Talented project managers can leverage their keen expertise in project management as well as the targeted knowledge provided by industry certifications to empower their managed services clients to tackle a diverse array of projects with their in-house staff. This model is a win-win. The law firm has the cost predictability provided by a managed services agreement (MSA), plus the firm can leverage the infrastructure of the service provider. This includes both hardware and personnel that acts as an extension of their internal resources. Furthermore, the firm benefits from learning the necessary skill set from the service provider’s experts, allowing them to handle any project with their own staff. Some of the ways in which law firms can benefit from the training programs of a service provider are:
- Customized onboarding, implementation, and staff training program.No matter a law firm’s previous experience with the managed services platform, service providers will work with the law firm to set standards around implementing the review platform and onboarding matters. The service provider will also include as much training as is required. The training program will be built through collaboration with the firm to ensure a truly customized and comprehensive program is deployed.
- Certification training for law firm staff. Service providers are beginning to offer training programs that help their clients earn industry certifications. Knowledge transfer is an important part of the managed services relationship, because the goal is to get the law firm to take control of the eDiscovery process. CDS’s certification training program has seen pass rates in previous classes as high as 90%.
- Make eDiscovery a profit center. The goal behind such training programs is helping to make the firm a profit recovery center. The combination of robust reporting and customized training gives the law firm the necessary transparency, toolkit, and predictable cost model to recover the associated costs on a per matter basis.
There will always be firms and service providers whose relationship is contained in the more traditional service model but for those who lead by example, the question is: why haven’t you made the switch to a managed service model yet? Empower yourselves.
Empower your team. Empower your future.
To learn how Managed Services can benefit your firm, contact us for a consultation.
