At CDS, real results matter—but it’s our people who make the real difference. Real People, Real Results, is a monthly blog series spotlighting the incredible individuals behind the work we do.
Each month, you’ll get to know one of our team members—their journey into eDiscovery, expertise, and a little bit of what makes them, well, them. Because at the end of the day, real results start with real people.
This month, meet Sue-Deelia Tang, our Client Solutions Director, a veteran of the legal technology and resident solutions architect, implementation and migration specialist.
What does it mean to you to be a woman in legal technology or eDiscovery?
Being a woman in legal technology and eDiscovery has its challenges. People question your vision, your intentions, mistake passion for aggression, and you’re typically outnumbered so your ideas can be pushed aside and brought back to life years later by someone else. However, true talent is recognized and appreciated by the right employer. CDS has allowed me to use my talent and expertise to help grow the company. Being a woman in legal technology and eDiscovery allows for diverse thoughts that drive innovation. It also helps pave the way for future women looking to expand their careers in this industry.
How do you explain what you do to family and friends?
If you ask my husband what I do now, he’ll say computer forensics. We’ve been together for 14 years, so computer forensics is an improvement from CSI which is what he used to say early on in our relationship (didn’t have the heart to tell him “crime scene investigation” has nothing to do with eDiscovery). I basically say to family and friends that my company collects evidence from electronic devices such as phones, computers, tablets, social media, and emails and we help lawyers look for evidence using technology that allows them to get through millions of records quickly. My job is to ensure that we are using technology in a way that will find their evidence faster and more efficiently.
What makes Complete Discovery Source a special place?
Complete Discovery Source (CDS) has a special place in my heart. I’ve known the team at CDS since 2007 while working in a law firm as the Director of Litigation Technology, building the litigation department from the ground up. CDS became the first vendor to be included as a preferred vendor at the firm based on thorough vetting of over 20 eDiscovery vendors. The CDS team worked with me to develop several custom solutions that are now widely used across the globe within the eDiscovery industry. After moving to the vendor side in 2008, I continued partnering with CDS until I officially joined them in 2017. There is no other team of people that I would rather work with and have my name tied to. Not only do I get to work with the best of the best, but I get to work with a team of people that I truly enjoy and am happy to call family.
How do you define success—for yourself or your team?
I would define success in a workplace as achieving goals and delivering results but also fostering a positive work environment and contributing meaningfully to the team and organization. To foster a positive work environment, I ensure my team dynamic is productive, that they are aware their contributions are meaningful and they’re making a tangible difference to the overall satisfaction of our clients and our company. If we can do great work, love what we’re doing, and feel recognized for it, then I would consider that success.
How did you land in eDiscovery?
In 1997, I joined a law firm working in the IT Department as a help desk technician. One of the tools we supported was Summation. I then moved to desktop support and eventually landed at another law firm doing network administration and later IT Manager. When the paralegal at the firm that was handling Summation ingestions and productions went to law school, the firm asked me to take over that role, which I agreed to. Never did I guess that in 2001, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were going to be amended to include electronic data. Since the rates to process data then were in the thousands per GB, I had many sleepless nights processing the data in house. This would forever transition my career to eventually hold titles such as Director of Legal Technology and Managing Director of eDiscovery Services. From then on, my career was focused solely on eDiscovery and legal technology.
What’s one thing about eDiscovery people outside the industry would never guess?
That what we do in eDiscovery has a lot of meaning for so many people. The cases that the eDiscovery teams support directly impact our nation’s economy, our government institutions, and individual people and families around the world – we help companies retain value for their workers, help governments uncover criminal activity, help identify fraud within organizations, work on cases that impact global interest rates, the stock market, and domestic price gauging, as well as, help families and small business owners fight injustices. What we do in eDiscovery extends far beyond sitting in front of a computer collecting, processing, and analyzing data.
Lookout next month as we highlight more of the real people driving real results at CDS. To learn more about CDS, reach out to us at .
