Litigation Support Staffing : The Cowen Group : Ediscovery Recruiters, Candidate Search, Practice Support, Position Placement

You know that old saying “95 percent of life is just showing up”?  Well, I couldn’t disagree more.

When you’re talking about your career, just showing up is not good enough.  You’ve got to be prepared, do your homework and be proactive.

This mandate applies to industry events and conferences as well.  Just showing up is not enough.  You must take active steps to make your conference experience meaningful and productive.

Here are a few tips for making the most of every conference you attend.

1. Develop clear goals.  Never attend a conference without clear goals as to what you want to accomplish, who you want to meet and what you want to learn.  This will help you maximize your time and get the most out of every event.
2. Do your homework before you arrive.  Review the conference agenda and speaker list.  Chose five speakers that you want to meet and research each speaker’s background to determine any common backgrounds or interests you may have.  Based on your research, prepare a short list of talking points or questions to ask. By doing your homework on who you want to meet, you can obtain meaningful and relevant information that will be helpful to you.
3. Greet and thank the speakers.   I’m always amazed at how few people greet the speaker or thank him (or her) after the session.  Talking to the speakers is a great opportunity to exchange ideas with thought leaders in the industry and forge new relationships. Most speakers are thrilled to talk to the audience after their presentation. 
4. Introduce yourself to at least 5 other people daily. I make it my business to meet no less than five people a day at every conference. As you soon as you realize that everyone is as self-conscious as you are, this process becomes easier. Conferences present an excellent opportunity to exchange information and ideas.
5. Take advantage of mealtime.  When you sit down to breakfast, lunch and dinner, introduce yourself to everyone at the table.  Make sure you get one or two business cards per meal.  I’m not talking about networking for networking’s sake or collecting business cards to market a service.  That is so 1980’s.  I’m talking about building relationships with the people around you and taking advantage of the opportunity to engage one-on-one with leaders in the industry. 
6. Listen more than you speak.  This is a concept that my father instilled in me when I was seven and has served me well at conferences.  Listening more than you speak allows you to ask intelligent questions, be genuinely interested and learn from the speaker.

Leverage each conference and industry event so that you are getting more than just a quick education on the latest tips, tricks and tools of the trade. Use these as platforms to drive your personal and professional development to a new level. I guarantee that once you start reframing these events as career advancement opportunities, you will not regret it.

I’ll be attending the Georgetown E-Discovery Institute Conference on November 19-21.  Feel free to stop me and introduce yourself. 

 

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With growing job opportunities and salaries ranging from $75,000 to $150,000+, the exploding litigation support field is attractive to many paralegals and IT professionals (for more information on litigation support salaries see The Cowen Group Litigation Support Salary Survey).  I receive, on average, three to five calls a week from professionals who would like to get into this space but don’t know where to begin.

When the litigation support field began to grow, it seemed logical that AmLaw 200 firms would aggressively train their paralegals, para-technical and IT staff for much needed litigation support positions coast-to-coast.

That is just not happening.

Law firms and vendors are too busy to train.  They want seasoned talent who can hit the ground running.  They want knowledgeable professionals who are already up to speed on best practices and technology.

So how can a paralegal or IT professional break into this space? By reading prolifically.

By getting educated. By investing time and money to learn this business.

Below are six steps you can take today to position yourself for a lucrative career in the litigation support industry.

1.      Remain Current on Industry News.  Set your Google news reader for e-discovery and litigation support and read for 10 to 15 minutes every day.

2.      Read Prolifically.  Review litigation support websites, blogs and webinars.  A great place to begin is Litigation Support Today and Legal Technology News.

3.      View Webinars.  Sign up for webinars such as those offered by The Association of Litigation Support Professionals (ALSP)  and those your learn of through your Google news reader.

4.      Attend Industry Conferences.  The litigation support/e-discovery industry offers many conferences throughout the year including LegalTech in February; the ABA Tech Show in March; Litigation Support Today’s Leadership Conference in May; and ILTA in August.  These conferences are usually one to five days in length and cost between $500 and $3,000. Yes, you may have to pay your own way but it is certainly worth the investment. (Stay tuned for next week’s blog on how to get the most out of every conference).

5.      Attend Networking Events.  Attend industry events offered by organizations such as ALSP and Women in eDiscovery to forge new contacts and learn more about opportunities in this space.

6.      Join Online Social Networking Sites.  Join LinkedIn and other web-based social networking groups.  Participate in the discussion groups or just listen and watch the dialogue.

Breaking into litigation support is not easy.  You will need to invest both time and money in educating yourself for this career. The good news is, you don’t need three years of law school to break into this space.  Follow the steps above and start working towards your future today. 

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We’re instilled with the belief early on that we can accomplish anything as long as we work hard, work long, and work to deadline. However, in this more service-oriented work environment, understanding and incorporating the thought processes of those above you is just as important to the future of your career your own production.

If you are one of our clients or candidates you have heard this from us on an ongoing basis. Relationships are the fuel powering every day transactions. Developing alliances throughout your firm, not just your direct departmental contacts, will provide you the support you need to learn and master the political climate that you’ll navigate. But the most powerful and influential compatriot to have on your side is your boss. By understanding your boss’s point of view, as well as assimilating it into your style, you are signaling to them that you’re ready for advancement. What will come across is that you have the ability to think and strategize beyond your current position.

This is the process of Managing Up.   

Here are some helpful questions you can ask yourself to assist yourself into isolating what exactly is imperative to your boss:

• What details does your boss pay attention to first and foremost?
• What is expected from the people in positions you want to move into?
• What questions do they ask of their direct reports and why?
• What is their leadership style and how do they make decisions?
• By which methods do they prefer to be informed of status updates (email, phone, in-person, etc.)?
• How does your boss’ management style differ from yours? And what can you utilize in your own dealings?

The last query is the most critical. The real test to pass for the promotion you desire is if you are flexible and perceptive enough to adapt to your boss’ needs. What is important here is to remember that it is your job to develop a relationship with your boss, not the other way around, while demonstrating to them that you have the ability to function at a higher level...

…their level!  

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Bear Stearns, falling dollar, collapsing housing market and a presidential election year.

No doubt about it, this is a tough year to be making career decisions.

Last year, there was little or no risk when making a move for more money, new opportunity or expanded sales territory. This year, not so much.

Despite a significant shortage of talent in the eDiscovery-litigation support space, law firms and vendors are growing increasingly selective when interviewing candidates. Companies are looking for prospective employees with solid backgrounds of two plus years. Job hoppers need not apply.

Marquee companies such as LexisNexis, FTI and Thomson West want to invest in people that will be with them for the long haul.

If you have jumped employers in less than two years, you have used-up your "Get out of jail free" card for now.

I don't recommend that anyone risk a career jump for money alone. This year especially, I support a more conservative career path. If you have made one or two jumps in the last two to four years, stay put if possible.

If you absolutely must make a move, be sure it is with a tier one organization.

This is not Vegas folks. This is your career

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The number of people employed in Litigation Support has grown 400% in the past year, and the demand for talent continues to accelerate, both in number and in professional quality. So you can’t sit back and complain that no one is training you. You must be an active participant in the development of your department -- and your career.

Where once titles and salaries were handed to people simply because they could understand the evolving technologies, now seismic shifts in the needs of major firms have raised requirements. Premium new hires now must understand technology methodology too. The tectonic movement to fill higher level positions is producing demand for staffers that have a firm grasp of the process-- the "What, How & Why" behind E-discovery and Litigation Support.

This is where you can separate yourself from the throngs of new analysts, specialists, and project managers flooding the Litigation Support space. Understand the process, and you'll be sitting in the driver's seat of your career, with the keys to your success in hand.

Here, for example, is an article on how to limit the scope of discovery. This is the kind of outside information that you can pass on to the attorneys above you, even though initially they may resist you. If you are able to draw connections between that article and the attorneys' cases at hand -- ie, between what you can offer in Litigation Support, and its specific benefit to their cases -- you will prove yourself to be "mission-critical" to the success of those cases, to client billing and, ultimately, to the firm.

So be proactive about the process. Develop and nurture lines of communication among all departments that rely on Litigation Support.

When gray areas arise, ask questions. Keep up on industry developments outside of your office. Develop your own knowledge base and your professional credibility, and take a leadership role. Get in the driver's seat. Because the "What, How & Why" are the Keys to your Success!

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Seth Godin wrote a great piece recently for Monster.com about the wisdom behind changing companies every few years or so. 7+ years is too long and I call that career suicide in 90% of the cases I see.

In his article, “When Is It Time to Go?”, Godin makes the obvious point:

"Doug needs to leave for a very simple reason. He's been branded. Everyone at the company has an expectation of who Doug is and what he can do. Working your way up from the mailroom sounds sexy, but in fact, it's entirely unlikely. Doug has hit a plateau. He's not going to be challenged, pushed or promoted to president. Doug, regardless of what he could actually accomplish, has stopped evolving -- at least in the eyes of the people who matter."

This is very common with admin staff and paralegals, but is equally true in regards to Litigation Support talent. I call it, "Up or Out".

Godin’s advice to his friend, and I agree-- Get out ASAP!

Find a new challenging opportunity. Statically, tactically, and politically you need to continue to grow and advance. A new job means new opportunities, a new set of challenges, and a new salary scale.

The litigation support market is evolving at a furious rate. After all the years you’ve put into your career, you owe it to yourself to keep pace.

Good Luck!

*Note that I advocate a move after 5 – 7 years, not 1-3.

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