However you want to say it, paralegal or legal assistant, these guys/gals are “IT” as far as litigation support goes. They are the future. And they are “It” without being IT professionals, first and foremost. How so?
As with any position, you have to find the right person regardless of background. There is a window of opportunity here to create a career path that fosters industry-specific technical growth and expertise for paralegals so the right ones can move into the ever-changing and complex world of Litigation Support. In doing so, even the ones who won’t go in the more technical direction of Litigation Support will only be that much better at what they do.
Let’s face it, only a very specific type of IT professional can potentially excel in the world of Litigation Support. Will that person ever truly understand why electronic data discovery is being done and what these vast document productions are all about? Will that person have the ear of the lead attorney and associates on the case? Will that person be accepted as a biller by the client? Bottom line, is that IT professional connected enough to the business process that determines the technical process for case management?
Paralegals manage cases. For decades, they’ve managed obscene volumes of paper. So, as the world has become digitized, it’s only natural that they adapt to the medium that contains the potential ‘smoking gun’. Not only is it natural, but it’s essential. Ask any litigator and he/she will tell you that their assigned paralegal must understand the issues of the case, must be connected to the discovery process, and the reasons behind it. In order to manage it, they now have to be able to understand the technology involved—the ways of harnessing vast amounts of electronic data, the complexities of email data, and chain of custody. In addition, they have to know how to handle hybrid cases of electronic data and traditional paper documents that predate electronic storage and are too fragile to be scanned. The ones that are ready to take that understanding to the next level make the most natural litigation support specialists. These are the ones who can leverage their experience in running a case and make the best decisions about electronic data discovery. EDD is so much more than the technical processes behind the computer forensics and data management.
It’s all about the details
Whether you go the route of IT professionals or paralegals to staff your Litigation Support department, you better have individuals who extremely precise, detail-oriented, thorough, and who operate with a sense of urgency with the ability to remain poised under pressure. And don’t forget the value of their interpersonal skills.
Remember, just like with a reprographics center, you can always hire the technical talent to do the underlying work - just as you would for copying and scanning. Only this time, you’re calling in people with higher technical credentials to link databases with images or to use an ASP to turn out vast amounts of email for review.
Finally, many paralegals don’t want to go to law school and don’t want to be a lawyer.
Imagine if there was a forward thinking firm that could offer a career track to these highly talented employees.
