I am the moderator of a webinar to be run by the ACEDS UK Chapter on 7 May at 12:00 BST. Its title is Will the COVID Crisis Cure Outdated Approaches to eDiscovery?

When the lockdown was new, webinars (including one I did with EDRM) and articles concentrated on the practicalities of working from home. The working world adapted pretty quickly to the new normal, and people were soon able to pick up more or less where they left off when they tumbled out of their offices for the last time. Many found it harder, either because their work really did require physical attendance or because their domestic arrangements simply did not accommodate working from home for reasons ranging from lack to space to unreliable broadband. There was little time to plan or to devise systems which suited the employer, the staff member and, where relevant, the end client.

Time has gone by. The big debate at a political level involves a trade between reviving the economy and keeping people alive. At a business level, companies have had to consider first how to keep servicing the clients safely. It is time to look beyond getting through the crisis and on to its medium and long-term effects on the business.

In the ediscovery market, there are challenges at three levels – the technical and security points which arise when the workforce is distributed away from the centre, the wishes of the clients, and the relationship with the people who actually do the work.

The general sense is a positive one, driven in part by practicalities – if you can’t get people into work you have to get the work out to the people, and there are adjustments and compromises to be made. You might have been appalled at the idea two months ago, but times have changed, and very quickly.

For an overview of this as it affects eDiscovery / eDisclosure, we have turned to some of the people whose daily work involves getting the job done, to learn how they and their clients and staff have adapted. The speakers are:

Chantelle Jalland
Senior Manager, eDiscovery and Legal Technology
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP

Paul Birch
Head of Digital Data Collections and Investigations
BDO LLP

Ryan Hockley
Founder and Director
Jandr Legal

Melina Efstathiou
Head of Litigation Technology
Eversheds Sutherland

Our main topics for discussion are::

The practicalities of remote working for eDiscovery professionals across all aspects of the EDRM including remote collections, data transfer, secure remote access to review tools, remote document review, virtual hearings/trials, and more

What the current crisis means for the eDiscovery business – are we seeing disputes/investigations slow down? Will we see them pick up again in the future? What law firms/service providers/technology providers in the ED space stand to prosper now and in the aftermath of this?

What positive benefits does the eDiscovery industry stand to gain from this change in the world order? Greater cultural acceptance of remote working? An increasingly diverse workforce?.

You can find the registration form here.