Collaboration and Trust in E-Discovery

Madelaine Lane and Scott Carvo are partners and litigators at Warner Norcross & Judd, a corporate law firm in Michigan. In this episode of BDO’s Legal Tech Talk podcast, they discuss the need to collaborate with clients and cooperate with opposing counsel in e-discovery to build trust and reach a fair outcome at the lowest cost.Hosts Jared Crafton, BDO’s Forensic Technology Practice Leader, and Daniel Gold, BDO’s Managing Director of the Enterprise E-Discovery Managed Services practice, lead the discussion.Key Takeaways:Scott says it’s important to have conversations with clients to align your goals and understand the sources of data to be collected in a case. It’s also important to reach out to opposing counsel at the beginning. Being proactive is as necessary as being reactive in e-discovery.Madelaine says civil litigators are leading the way in embracing legal technology, and the criminal bar is making strides dealing with large amounts of data, especially in major investigations.Scott says the parties involved in a case are much better equipped to arrive at a resolution than judges on the bench because they know the technology and data sources.Collaboration and cooperation are needed to build trust. The proliferation of data due to the increasing number of internet-connected devices is making collaboration more important than ever to keep costs down. Ninety percent of cases settle out of court, and it’s in the best interest of both parties to work together for a faster and fair resolution.The proliferation of data is making e-discovery increasingly more time consuming and expensive. Legal professionals are seeking ways to deal with the overwhelming amount of data they handle in litigation.Legal professionals are moving away from the framework of adversaries, demands, and opposition and moving towards regarding each other as counselors and advisors.