Lawyers planning a document review project may manage it themselves, staffing the project with lawyers from their firm or outside contract attorneys. Another option is to hire an independent document review company. Either way, lawyers need to answer key questions to ensure they get the best value for their clients.
Lawyers often like to manage their own document review and pay reviewers by the hour. This allows them to control the process and keeps reviewers on the firm's premises, where monitoring their work is easy. Also, firms that hire contract attorneys can bill their clients at rates above the contract lawyers' cost, so reviews can make money for the firm.
However, while firms have every incentive to run effective document reviews, they don't always have the incentive to run efficient document reviews. Lawyers either have to become project managers or hire an outside document review company that uses them. Then, they need to do the following:
1. Put together an effective plan: No two reviews are ever the same. The lead lawyer and manager should plan for what the review needs to accomplish. If the review is related to litigation, will any of the documents ever be relevant to a different piece of the litigation? If so, will the information gathered from this review be available for use in the next review?
How can the firm leverage the knowledge gained by the dozens of lawyers looking through documents? Those lawyers will discover new facts not yet incorporated into the case. Often, they can suggest areas that need clarification in depositions or offer opinions on who may be the best witness on a particular point. Do not waste this knowledge by failing to set up a system that can capture it.
A variety of key factors will impact the review plan. Questions to consider concern the length of time available to review the documents, the number of reviewers needed and whether the lawyer can manage them, the likelihood that privileged communications will appear in the document set, and the format in which the documents will be produced and reviewed.
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Source: Law.com
By: Martin Mayne
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