Sarah Brown is Senior Manager, Communications, at Epiq. I interviewed her at Legaltech in New York about the importance of communication in formulating and executing a discovery plan.
Sarah Brown said that communication is an under-appreciated component of an eDiscovery roll-out. People get caught up in the technical aspects of the software or the ins and outs of the case itself and overlook the importance of communication.
This is a theme which has recurred in several of my discussions recently. Everyone gets excited about the technology but someone needs to synchronise the input of the various players involved in the exercise.
What makes for a good plan? Sarah Brown said that there must be a single point of contact and responsibility to manage the plan so that the team of cross-functional leaders – legal, IT, litigation support, etc – all work together. The plan itself must actually be deliverable, with a loose and flexible timeline reflecting the real world. Lastly, one must execute against that plan.
Who stands to gain from a such a plan? Sarah Brown says that it is all about risk reduction. The client naturally wants its exposure reduced with minimal room for human error. That applies also to the lawyers and to service providers like Epiq who, with the expectations set out in the plan, can deliver what it is expected of them.
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