Small and mid-sized law firms face unique challenges when managing eDiscovery. Data volumes that seem manageable to a larger firm may be overwhelming to a boutique firm or sole-practitioner.

Unlike most larger firms, small and mid-sized firms often do not have the in-house technologies, capabilities, or expertise required to manage the collection, processing, hosting and review of eDiscovery matters internally. Many assume that in order to both compete against these larger law firms and effectively advocate for their clients, or engage in litigation on matters involving electronically stored information (ESI), a large investment in software, hardware, and training is required.

For some, the solution to this challenge and remaining competitive has been to employ the services of an outsourced eDiscovery provider to collect, host, and process relevant ESI. But how is a sole-practitioner to review all of those documents, while still providing services to other clients? There are only so many hours in a day! 

Even using the services of an outsourced document review provider, which are typically more cost-effective and efficient than in-house review, can still be cost-prohibitive and contrary to the principle of proportionality.

The Solution? Review Analytics.

Small and mid-size firms can harness the proven capabilities of Technology-Assisted Review (TAR) (a.k.a. “predictive coding”) and other advanced analytics tools to make the entire document review process quicker, more accurate and, significantly less expensive than traditional methods. By utilizing a technology-driven approach to review, small and mid-size firms can elevate themselves to the same competitive sphere as larger regional and national firms. They can easily take on document intensive files that once appeared daunting.

By employing review-centric analytics, legal teams gain earlier insight into their case and spend their billable time more strategically, accessing and reviewing only the relevant documents in their dataset. The result is a more informed approach to developing case strategy. Not only do review analytics deliver a better value proposition for clients from a cost-perspective – but they can provide your legal team with an increased ability to provide effective advocacy through more informed negotiation and strategic litigation.