In June 2014, Commonwealth Legal was acquired by Ricoh Canada as part of a broader strategy focused on the advancement of Ricoh Canada's Services transformation. The four years that followed the acquisition have been a dynamic and fruitful chapter in our 20-year history as we continued to grow and expand our presence in the eDiscovery market.

In honour of International Women's Day, we tapped a few of the female leaders in our organization for their advice to women who are trying to make a difference and help progress the legal technology industry.

This post was originally published on High Performance Counsel and has been republished here with permission.

Jennifer Johnson, Vice President of Commonwealth Legal, a Division of Ricoh Canada, discusses the evolving legal technology landscape and shares her thoughts on how human-driven technology is the future of eDiscovery in the latest High Performance Counsel "Baker's Dozen" Interview. 

Leading legal industry publication, High Performance Counsel and legal education provider, ACEDs asked 18 of the best minds and thought-leaders in our industry to share their predictions for modern law in 2018 for the #Bakers18 list.

Yesterday, I sat on a panel to discuss the recent eDiscovery Business Confidence survey results, which for the first time separated Canadian responses from those in the US. Canadians made up 20% of the respondents with 50% being law firms, and the other being made up largely of Government agencies and eDiscovery serrvice providers.

The survey results highlighted a few interesting subtleties in the Canadian eDiscovery marketplace:

Commonwealth Legal's Vice President, Jennifer Johnson, quoted on the AdvocateDaily.com.

"Many in the legal sector are at a crossroads when it comes to next-generation technology — but pioneering law firms see this as an opportunity to drive competitive advantage by delivering efficiency and value to their clients early on in the discovery process, Commonwealth Legal vice-president, Jennifer Johnson tells AdvocateDaily.com

As Johnson explains, one of the key drivers behind the adoption of new technology in law firms is the need to differentiate against competitors, and eventually, to keep up with clients."

Read the rest of the article on AdvocateDaily.com.

Commonwealth Legal's Vice President, Jennifer Johnson, quoted on the AdvocateDaily.com.

"For law firms, technology can be a powerful tool for process improvement — including the use of document management software during the discovery and review process, Commonwealth Legal vice-president, Jennifer Johnson tells Lawyers Weekly.

As Johnson tells AdvocateDaily, Commonwealth Legal is now a division of Ricoh Canada whose roots are founded in technology innovation. In 1974, Ricoh launched the world’s first high-speed office facsimile machine which brought new efficiency to business communications. The impact of the evolution of technology is relentless and will continue to inform how businesses operate."

Read the rest of the article on AdvocateDaily.com.

As Canadian law firms make the leap to next generation technology, there is a desire to balance the requirements of their average cases with the need for advanced technology that will allow them to position themselves in an increasingly competitive marketplace. This puts more pressure on technology decisions than ever before.

We sat down with Kim Taylor, COO and President of Ipro, to find out what his predictions are for the ediscovery industry, and to gain first-hand insight into how their ever-evolving suite of tools may satisfy and influence our marketplace. 

AdvocateDaily.com reaches out to Commonwealth Legal's Vice President, Jennifer Johnson, for what makes for an effective ediscovery managed services offering.

Rather than just an add-on to its main business, 'managed services' should be at the core of an ediscovery firm's offering, as expertise, flexibility and a well-established technology toolkit are key to excelling in this area, says Commonwealth Legal vice-president, Jennifer Johnson.

In the managed services area — which is a sophisticated combination of evidence management, the cloud, and reactive service needs for litigation, regulatory matters, inquiries or investigations, means that only hands-on experience and a proficient team can set you up for success.

“This is not the kind of business where you can get away with doing a satisfactory job. Infrastructure costs, security risks, an efficient approach to managing the data and enabling your clients to really master the technology is what makes us successful,” says Johnson.

“The reality is that anyone can buy a tool. But we know from experience, and law firms have learned this too as they work to evolve their in-house capabilities, that it takes a village to support these applications and the teams that are using them. There is a lot at stake and highly responsive, first-hand expertise is critical to the successful management of cases in the cloud,” says Johnson.

Read the rest of the article on AdvocateDaily.com.