Three years ago, Littler Mendelson president Marko Mrkonich met with 11 of his partners to discuss hiring plans for a novel position: national e-discovery counsel -- an expert who could help the firm's attorneys and clients navigate the increasingly complex process of e-discovery.
Most partners at the meeting liked the idea, but senior litigator Kevin Lilly had some reservations. "I was skeptical," says Lilly. "I wasn't sure if he'd add to the firm's bottom line; I didn't know if we needed him."
Despite Lilly's misgivings, Littler hired litigator Paul Weiner from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney as its new e-discovery counsel. And within a month, Lilly had turned to Weiner for his advice. A client with a very complicated IT system had been hit with a putative wage-and-hour class action suit and needed help with preservation strategy. "I'm a convert," says Lilly. "Paul's been a huge success."
Like Littler, many law firms have taken at least some new steps to grapple with the fast-changing world of e-discovery. Since 2006, when amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure placed greater responsibility on lawyers to preserve and produce electronically stored data, there's been a boom in the number of e-discovery practice groups or task forces. According to a recent survey by The Cowen Group, an e-discovery staffing and recruiting firm, 87 Am Law 200 firms have an e-discovery practice group or task force and 16 have full-time e-discovery partners.
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Source: law.com
By: Irene Plagianos
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