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

Our client has an immediate opening in New York for a legal sales professional to sell electronic discovery services into top law firms and Fortune 500 corporations. They are seeking individuals with excellent relationship building skills, a strong intellect, and demonstrated closing skills that will identify and develop services and software business opportunities in the professional legal and corporate marketplace.

Qualifications include:

• Bachelor's Degree, JD degree desirable
• Minimum of 2 years legal sales and business experience.
• A sound technical understanding of the electronic discovery marketplace in the services and/or software areas
• Strong presentation skills including ability to perform software demonstrations
• Great listening skills with the ability to ask probing questions and clearly discuss business value propositions
• Excellent proposal writing skills and ability to manage complex sales engagements
• Strong follow-up and deal closing skills
• Must be comfortable with all major Microsoft Office applications
• Must desire to influence and participate in the strategic direction of the company, its services and its software products

Salary and Benefits

• Competitive salary plus commission.
• Employee Stock Option Plan.
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
• 401K with Employer Match.
• Premium Health Care, Dental, Vision, Disability and Life Insurance Benefits.
• Flexible Spending and Dependent Care Accounts.
• TransitChek.
• Paid Holidays, Sick Days, Personal Days and Vacation.
• Employee Assistance Program

The company provides an advanced offering of integrated technology-based products and services for litigation, fiduciary management and claims administration applications. Their clients include corporations, attorneys, trustees and administrative professionals who require sophisticated case administration and document management capabilities, extensive subject matter expertise and a high service capacity when working on complex legal proceedings. 

 

For immediate consideration, please send your resume to Jared Coseglia at jared@cowengroup.com For more information on how to grow your career in Litigation Support/eDiscovery visit www.cowengroup.com

 

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I don’t know many people who woke up and said to themselves: “I think I want a career in litigation support or E-discovery.”  But I do think we are lucky to be in this industry.  For all the challenges, long hours, impossible deadlines and difficult egos that professionals in legal services deal with, we have the good fortune to be in a relatively recession proof industry right now.

If you’re in banking, brokerage or financial services you are experiencing a complete meltdown and loss of jobs. Many of those jobs are in information technology, systems, and programming.  What’s more, this crisis is certain to get worse before it gets better.  We will all see the continued loss of jobs in the financial services sector and elsewhere for some time to come. This will lead to a significant number of people trying to break into the legal silo.

How will all this talent flooding the market affect the legal technology job market?

Good question. But here’s the thing -  the legal silo has historically been reluctant to hire from financial services.  Why? Because financial technologists don’t stick around after the market rebounds.

When the market goes down, tech guys  from finance come running to legal. But the moment the market goes back up, those same individuals run back to banking brokerage and financial services…. and the big year-end bonuses that go with it.  Legal Human Resources professionals know this pattern all too well. The last major meltdown occurred during the “DotCom” bust in 2000. How many Wall Street guys are still around in the legal vertical from that last talent migration?

What’s more –the technical nuances of the legal vertical are different.  Database Analysts, Project Managers, and IT Managers from financial services cannot just walk in the door and run litigation support and/or E-Discovery practice groups.

If you are in litigation support, E-Discovery or practice technology you are in extremely good shape from a career standpoint. There are well over 300 open positions across the country in our industry.  Think about it:  How many of you work for a law firm, consultancy, vendor or corporation that has an open position in litigation support or E-discovery?

Very few financial technologists will be able to fill those shoes. That’s called “Job  Security.”  And in tough economic times, I call it “sleep factor” - a.k.a. the ability to sleep soundly at night as the world melts down around you.

Pleasant dreams everyone. :)

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High end service provider sees an Assistant Manager to oversee EDD department. The ideal candidate will have steady project management experience and a desire to have a hand in streamlining overall workflow and increasing client services.

Requirements & Responsibilities:

• Familiarity with the eDiscovery/technology field
• Ability to learn, understand and explain the company’s system
• Programming experience not required.

• Candidate must have strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to coordinate with management teams in various offices
• Oversee eDiscovery work flow, future capacity, and progress of current work.

For immediate consideration, please send your resume to Jared Coseglia at jared@cowengroup.com For more information on how to grow your career in Litigation Support/eDiscovery visit www.cowengroup.com 

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Global eDiscovery firm seeks Chief Technology Officer New York City for an immediate hire. The CTO is responsible for managing the daily operations of the Technology Team and for ensuring the effective strategy, planning, implementation, maintenance and operations of information systems to support the company’s business functions. The CTO manages a technical staff responsible for network engineering and administration, technical service support, EDD Service Delivery, business systems analysis, New Product development and deployment as well service delivery, project delivery, operational continuity, and execution of IT governance.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
•    Analyzes and restructure the team and technology within the available budgets and resources
•    Works with offshore team to connect the technology platforms to make sure the offshore office functions seamlessly
•    Plans and directs the daily operations of the department. Serves as an escalation point for the IT Managers. Assists with the planning, development, implementation and management of technology assets and resources in different global locations.
•    Tracks and manages IT initiatives. Ensures priorities remain on-track and resolves any exceptions or issues related to their effective delivery.
•    Evaluates technology and recommends both hardware and software requirements for planned projects and initiatives.
•    Reviews statements of work, conducts feasibility analysis and implements new procedures to improve effectiveness and efficiency of the department.
•    Responsible for implementing security/compliance functions. Coordinates the team in preparing documentation and implementing processes related to established standards.
•    Manages enterprise systems, hardware, software, processes, procedures and documentation to maintain currency with technological progress and business needs.
•    Serves as a liaison to multiple administrative departments to resolve service escalations, communicate key issues, and acts as a departmental advocate to internal customers.
•    Manages service delivery of outside agencies, consultants and vendors.
•    Manages customer relations and delivers IS/IT services to customers.
•    Assists with contract negotiation and general administration as and when needed.
•    Directs business analysts efforts and ensures effective solution delivery to administrative departments.

For immediate consideration, please send your resume to David Cowen at david@cowengroup.com
For more information on how to grow your career in Litigation Support/eDiscovery visit www.cowengroup.com

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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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This year’s biggest merger has been between K&L Gates with Kennedy Covington. And now the current buzz surrounds a possible merger between Winston & Strawn and Heller Ehrman. 

The numbers don’t lie. So far there have been 26 new law firm mergers and acquisitions reported in the past three months.   Not to mention the 18 we saw in the first quarter of the year. Compared to last years 27 at this point – 2008 looks to add to that total. 

What does this mean to you and your career? Does this pace of merger activity reduce career opportunities? How does this affect you and your role in an organization?

If history is any indication of what will happen, there should be a consolidation and reduction in staff. 

But this is eDiscovery/Lit Support. The war for talent continues to be fierce…. And I do not see a reduction forthcoming.

There are over 250 open positions for eDiscovery professionals in Corporate, Vendor, and AmLaw 200 Law Firms. 

It’s a buyers market. 

I would hate to be selling a house in this market. But if you have talent and experience in eDiscovery – it’s your kind of market.

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I highly recommend reading Monica Bay’s article, “Can You Adapt?,” in the June issue Law Technology News.  

I too am seeing more of this new breed of techno/e-discovery lawyer.

Many firms have them in place or are looking to hire or develop them and they are discussed at every conference I attend.

Many people see this growing role of staff attorneys and techno-lawyers in litigation support as a threat or source of irritation.

I don’t.

It’s not us versus them. It’s not a competition for visibility within the firm.

It’s evolution, not revolution.

Paralegal, IT or lawyer - there’s plenty of room for everyone.  

As the profession evolves and litigation support becomes more complex and sophisticated, the techno-lawyer can play a valuable role in practice support leadership. Lawyers understand lawyers.  They understand the internal and external clients being served, the specifics of the case and the strategies and goals to be accomplished.  They understand the WHY of what is needed.

Today’s litigation support departments are like chocolate chip cookies.  There are countless ways to make them, depending on what ingredients you have in the house.  How many chips, how much butter, a preference for crispy or chewy and, dare I say it, nuts?  Each batch is different.

Directors and Managers need to evaluate their needs and internal resources to create strong and diverse teams.  They must determine who has the skills as well as the passion, motivation and intellectual curiosity to step into litigation support roles.  A lawyer may be the perfect fit for your team, depending on:

·        The culture of your firm;

·        The nature of your clients;

·        The depth and complexity of the matter;

·        The maturity of the department;  and

·        The relationships with IT.

There are many ways to make a chocolate chip cookie.

I like mine chewy.

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With only 5 full months of 2008 on the books, the list of casualties from the slowing economy is growing.  The Department of Labor released statistics Friday revealing that the legal sector lost 1,100 jobs in the month of May.  These figures, when added to the 1,900 losses from April, indicate a volatile job market.

Despite this sharp reduction in workforce, I continue to see solid growth and demand in e-discovery and litigation support across the AmLaw 200. 

 The Cowen Group conducted a quick poll on Monday of litigation support/e-discovery hiring trends among 20 global law firms.  Our poll revealed the following:

•            65% are aggressively hiring litigation support staff.
•            20% are on plan and will continue to staff.
•            15% are cautious and/or scaling back.

These results are precisely what I saw last year at this time. Indicating healthy hiring activity in the litigation support space despite the sluggish economy.

Although several clients acknowledged a decline in business and case loads, they were quick to point out that the increase in size, scope and complexity of cases were keeping their headcounts high.

Several of the firms polled responded that they were adding services and staff to their litigation support practices this year. 

There’s nothing like the DOJ, SEC, FBI and a sub-prime meltdown to give one a sense of job security. 

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Are you looking for an extraordinary opportunity?

The chance is yours to take on the role of a Senior eDiscovery Litigation Support Project Director, becoming a part of a successful publicly held firm that is poised for explosive growth.

As a Project Director, you will be responsible for overseeing $8-10 million in client projects and report to the Director of Client Services. RESPONSIBILITIES:

•    Provides high level liaison with key client representatives.
•    Work with clients to establish best practices for client needs and address any issues that may arise across projects.
•    Provide managerial and strategic guidance to development of practices for Client Services as well as cross-functionally with eDiscovery business unit.
•    Provides substantive oversight to client-specific projects, managed on a day-to-day basis by Client Services Managers.
•    Creates project forecasts and work schedules to be implemented by Client Services Managers.
•    Works with client to address any issues that may arise across projects.
•    Ensures that new team members are appropriately briefed on project requirements.

QUALIFICATIONS:

•    Deep understanding of eDiscovery and the litigation support industry; requires at a minimum 7+ years in management positions with law firms, corporate legal departments and/or eDiscovery service providers.
•    Strong client facing skills, able to pro actively manage client expectations, recognize client needs and adapt company capabilities to client requirements. 
•    Solid understanding of database design and management, data processing activities and legal document review requirements
•    Ability to ensure effective control of all aspects of a project from initial planning meeting through final productions
•    Ability to direct multiple project teams for multiple clients to ensure completion of all work
•    Ability to develop and motivate staff members to assume additional responsibilities
•    Manage and report to client on budget and financial status
•    Ability to oversee development of project plans, balancing overall client requirements
•    Ability to review billing information in a timely manner to ensure accounting deadlines are met
•    Demonstrated effectiveness in managing multiple simultaneous tasks/projects

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

•    College degree, preferably in Computer Science or Information Services Management, Masters degree a plus
•    Five years consulting, litigation support or paralegal experience in top-tier law firm or consulting firm preferred
•    7+ years in a similar role
•    Project management experience with an e-Discovery vendor preferred.


For immediate consideration, please send your resume to David at david@cowengroup.com

For more information oh how to grow your career in Litigation Support/eDiscovery visit www.cowengroup.com

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What do Xerox, Pitney Bowes, Deloitte, and now HP all have in common? Each of these companies is making eDiscovery acquisitions at an alarming rate.

HP boosted its eDiscovery market share with the recent acquisition of Australia's Tower Software. HP said the addition of document and records management software will position the company to better compete in the fast-growing market for eDiscovery and compliance solutions.

Does this mean lower costs and better service to the market? Don’t bet on it. Several firms are already looking to shed their recent eDiscovery acquisitions.

Confusion and consolidation are on the horizon.

How will this impact your career? Stay tuned.

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Between top tier lawyers and critical litigation support technology, the cognitive disconnect is narrowing, slowly but surely. That's partly because, says one insider, "it's getting to the point where the failure to use litigation support is arguably malpractice." But where resistance to technology persists, the problems are the same as they ever were.

In a now-famous "Monicalogue", LTN editor-in-chief and The Common Scold blogmaster Monica Bay nails the Fear Factor that inhibits decision-makers at every level, from solo practioners to the most elite firms. Fear of costs, lost billable hours, obsolescent investments; fear of outsourcing variables, loss of content control, lack of training -- and just plain fear of new-fangled goo-gaws.

But here's what I've discovered, over years of cultivating and launching real-world careers in litigation support: In the real world, time and time again process trumps product. In lawyer-client relationships, the process is the product. And the process has not changed.

No matter how critical the latest information technology may be, it will never get the job done all by itself. Technology is just the gateway through which talented people pass, toward successful forensics and e-data management. The inescapable fact is that effectively integrated legal technology can improve productivity, accuracy, client service and profits, and is already a best practice imperative. But without the lawyer-client process, any legal technology is just another product. And -- here's the good news -- process is what lawyers do best.

So if you're a litigation support professional, your job will rely increasingly upon your ability to use bleeding edge legal tech products to facilitate old-fashioned interpersonal process. Your toolbag will have to include a full set of tried-and-true people skills, and the leadership initiative to manage in all directions, and spark collaborative process, toward effective application of mission-critical technology products.

And if you're a tech-shy litigator, the only thing you have to fear is... well... the Fear Factor itself!

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There has been a growing debate amongst major law firms, vendors, and Fortune 500 companies on whether or not they should be grooming their IT professionals or paralegals into shiny new Litigation Support staff.

Both approaches have pros and cons. This week two guest writers will outline their thoughts and ideas on which is best. On Friday, I will share my thoughts given what I see on the market as a whole.

The IT Department - Litigation Support's latest recruiting ground.
By Mark Lieb

© 2006 Ad Litem Consulting, Inc.

Is a legal background a prerequisite to providing top level litigation support? Can a firm hire an IT person and teach them to provide world class litigation support? These are questions facing most firms today. As the need for litigation support professionals becomes greater, firms with existing Litigation Support Departments are looking at both the paralegal and IT markets to find that next hire. For a field that becomes more technical daily, the selection of a technically trained professional is an obvious choice.

The marketplace has plenty of network engineers and programmers. One can "borrow" from the firm's own IT Department, but then that leaves another position open. Concurrently, colleges are graduating new technicians all the time. Fresh to market, their salary expectations can be quite reasonable.

Until recently an IT position did pay more than a Litigation Support job. There was also a greater chance for advancement. This seems to be changing as supply-demand economics and larger departments raise prices and job titles. At the top are those persons with the most experience who manage the department and consult with the legal teams. Below them are the "operations" folk, who primarily load data and create cds. The introduction of electronic discovery has forced the Litigation Support role to become technical. Photocopies were easy to manage by comparison. A paralegal could work on a case and contract for legal copying. Today, Litigation Support is a full time occupation responsible for a suite of software tools, monitoring server capacity, network utilization and other technical factors. This is in addition to working on projects specific to any client matter.

Litigation Support is also responsible for managing copious amounts of data, images and associated files. Remote access, storage, backup and disaster recovery are very real concerns for the Litigation Support Department. Tools, like Dataflight's FYI Server, provide an accounting of storage, bandwidth and other, traditionally, IT concerns. A person with a technical background will feel very comfortable representing the Litigation Department's best interests when addressing these types of concerns with the IT Department and outside vendors. But, will that same person be as confident when handling litigation case issues?

The transition from IT to Lit Support worked for me and for IT people I have coached into the marketplace. One can come from a tech background and succeed in this role. In fact, a formally trained technician may be the best person to recognize tech strategies which result in quicker review and lower vendor bills. Forensics may be new to many litigators and paralegals, but the technology is old news for IT professionals. The same is true for much of the technology just now entering the litigation software marketplace. Technicians are problem solvers who handle high pressure and short turnaround times in order to support every department, application and office for their company. They should be able to support the Litigation Department and a limited suite of applications.

The question before law firms today is whether to train someone who has an advanced technology education but a novice understanding of case lifecycle and the law to provide litigation support. The answer depends upon what type of support this person will provide. If the person is modifying load files, administrating user logins, burning images and converting ediscovery into databases, a technical background is advantageous. The new hire will learn about the case lifecycle and what is important during department and case team meetings. They can attend webinars and read books, like Litigation Support Department. As this person becomes more familiar with how technology compliments the case lifecycle, they will know enough to provide consulting to the legal team. While legal strategies change from one matter to another, the case lifecycle remains consistent. Collect, review, produce, depose, trial, rinse and repeat as necessary. Once learned, the litigation support professional can provide consultative, in addition to technical effort to
the case. This person will never file a motion, read a document or depose a witness. Their concerns and value lie elsewhere.

Some law firms have each litigation support person provide both the project management and technical work for their assigned cases. For these firms, the prospect of hiring a case lifecycle novice poses operational and organizational challenges. I contend that such a firm could benefit from transferring technical work away from existing Litigation Support staff. Senior persons are able to concentrate upon advanced issues, such as qualifying vendors, project management and consulting with the legal team, while the novice recruit learns to do everything else. Some firms have already hired full time electronic discovery technicians in an effort to save cost by moving services inside to the firm. As each technician has a time entry number, the next question is whether there are at least 1,000 billable hours a year of work, so they can pay for themselves.
Regardless of where the new hire comes from, the future of the Litigation Support professional is very bright. This individual is in a position to evaluate the litigation technology and support at the law firm and improve it. Within the law firms, this position can be one route to management. Within litigious industries where corporations face tremendous ediscovery costs, this position may also find a friendly home.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mark R. Lieb is the President of Ad Litem Consulting and author of the books, Litigation Support Department and Litigation Support Technical Standards. Mr. Lieb has provided Litigation Support to legal teams for cases ranging from small collections to multinational, multi-firm litigation, involving millions of pages of ediscovery. He currently consults with firms, law departments, service bureaus and software companies on litigation technology best practices. If you would like to learn more about using technology in litigation, please feel free to visit Ad Litem Consulting, www.AdLitem.com, or call (866) 477-4523.

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More and more corporate legal departments are taking control of their own e-discovery process, reflecting new concerns about spiraling costs and information control. And numerous other factors combine to make in-house data management and discovery a good alternative. Many of our corporate legal clients already have a wealth of technology talent in-house – plenty to handle most of the technical tasks required to become – and stay – defense-ready.

But the knowledge of how best to organize that talent belongs to a different job description. Litigation support leadership should not only have thorough understanding of current technology but also be able to coordinate in-house tech pros with a range of outside vendors. Effective litigation support leadership must also stay abreast of constantly evolving industry regulations, and be able to keep a clear channel of meaningful communication open between the in-house legal team and outside counsel. Effective lit support directors must have law firm experience.

Recent ediscovery debacles have heightened awareness of this pivotal position. But locating the right lit support professional for your particular environment can be a daunting undertaking. Many corporations remain exposed and vulnerable to unforeseen costs and liabilities, even with all systems "go" for in-house defense-readiness.

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But try driving a Porsche! There was a time when the only way you could buy a Porsche was four-on-the-floor. Not because they couldn't make an automatic. Of course not; the standard-only Porsche has been the unequivocally intentional marketing ploy that preserved the rarefied Porsche Driving Experience for the Driving Elite -- i.e., that proud demographic that can drive a fast standard transmission.

But times change, and with the times, the demands of the marketplace. By the end of the 80's, with a growing constituency of would-be Porsche drivers -- but for the stick shift -- Porsche found valuable new market share in producing the fully automatic 911 Carrera 2. Porsche found plenty of other ways to satisfy its traditional constituency's elitism. Meanwhile, there's now a Porsche on the market that anybody can drive.

The present moment in litigation support is a lot like the Porsche automatic. The legal technology that used to be the special province of IT is now out there, sharing your marketplace, for any old legal department to access freely. Most vendors even hawk their products with bundled how-to packages, which have potential to sideline old-fashioned info-techies.

But like the 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera 2, which allows anybody with a license to get behind the wheel, IT only gets nowhere fast, if the driver doesn't know where he's going. Because it's all about the driver -- the IT guy who knows the machine inside and out. It's all about the navigator -- the lawyer who knows where he needs to go, and how to get there. It's all about your people, working together, to get somewhere fast, in the powerful vehicle of new technology.

The IT staffing objective has, in fact, changed. Judges, lawyers and clients have all changed -- because technology has advanced, and with changing technology, the marketplace has changed. But what the litigation support market phenomenon allows us to see, better than ever before, is what we've always known: it's NOT about the technology. It's about the talent. It's about the people.

It's ALWAYS about the people.

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First year salaries at top firms across the board are now up to $145,000, writes Anthony Lin, in an article posted at Law.com. Salaries spiked after last week's lead by Sullivan & Cromwell, and not just at New York firms, as expected. Manhattan firms Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; and Cahill, Gordon & Reindel; were joined by the New York offices of Washington, D.C.'s Covington & Burling and Miami's Greenberg Traurig, suggesting that most non-New York firms will follow suit.

Consultants Towers Perrin, Mercer, et al, calculate 3% as the right amount for any salary increase pegged to inflation. But these salaries represent a whopping 10% jump. So what accounts for the disconnect between HR projections and the game on the ground? And why now?

Towers Perrin, Mercer, and their like, produce impressive surveys of salaries in static space. Space that does not move and change. But the world of litigation support and electronic data discovery is dynamic space, volatile and intensely demanding. Salaries move as fast as a New York minute. So the traditonal numbers make old news in the War for Talent.

The War for Talent is pushing up salaries and raising the stakes on proactive, real-world solutions. In this climate it's more important than ever for firms to be able to attract – and retain – the right people, right now.

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Heard this one? Guy goes up for Supreme Court Justice. Opposing political operatives pass disparaging e-memos. Major national political party gets wise a little late and smartly scrubs the discoverable data. Whew. Close one. But what's this? Oh No! BUSTED by the META data in the Word.doc.

It was bloggers who got the meta-goods. Think maybe there's a change a-comin'? It looks like US Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito, Jr. will do fine (no bets on the DNC). But the data snafu is not unique. Lots of lawyers are mondo-surprised by the foremost threat facing lawyers today -- metadata -- made more acute by ethical and professional requirements regarding client confidences.

The main peril is twofold: inadvertent disclosure of 1) attorney communications with adversarial third parties, and 2) clients' underlying communications and documents in the course of litigation. But they share a common source. METADATA. Metadata contained in documents provided during otherwise ordinary e-discovery can accidentally expose confidential information, and destroy the attorney-client relationship -- nevermind cases, careers, even the firm itself.

Metadata is "data about data". It's information about the formatting, the history, the tracking and management of any electronic document. Metadata can spill all the beans about how, when and by whom the data was collected, created, accessed, or modified. Metadata can be modified, inadvertently (which is aggravating) or intentionally (which can be criminal). Metadata is meant to be invisible in the final printed document. But it can be extracted when native files are converted to image files, like the universally preferred PDF files so routinely used for printing out. State Bar Opinion Lawyers must become aware of metadata and of how their software stores it, in order to properly safeguard their clients' confidences.

God forbid a lawyer should transmit a document by e-mail to someone other than the client, without realizing the recipient is able to view prior edits or comments that qualify as privileged attorney-client communication. Wherever such communications could jeopardize client confidences, the lawyer must exercise "reasonable care" to protect the client's information, because that responsibility still lies squarely with the lawyer.

That's one thing that has definitively NOT changed. ediscovery The explosion of electronic data discovery, or EDD, additional changes to federal rules of disclosure proposed for 2006, and inexorably evolving technology -- all combine to make data in general -- and metadata in particular -- some of the most perilous and costly aspects of litigation.

It has never been more crucial to find the right people to meet increasingly tech-savvy demands of litigation support .

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Harry Potter fans know that when Dumbledore was the Secret Keeper for the Order of the Phoenix, he wielded the immensely complex Fidelius Charm to magically hide the headquarters of the Order. That's just the kind of insight that will come in handy as law firms scramble to fill crucial litigation support roles. Bear with me here.

Technology's stealth-entry into every-day law firm routine has suddenly exploded in a rash of electronic discovery debacles that have finally grabbed the attention of the legal profession. EDD is fast replacing both the hand-delivered document and the beleaguered associate.

"If you intend to practice today, this needs to be something you know how to deal with," says Michele Lange, staff attorney, legal technologies for vendor Kroll Ontrack. "Sometimes the very best evidence, or the only evidence, is obtained electronically." And it has to be done right.

Unsympathetic judges are quick to punish bungled EDD, to the tune of billions in sanctions for the losing party. Experts agree the urgency for experienced litigation support professionals will increase exponentially throughout 2006. But EDD is already a growth industry, and pretty much anybody who ever scanned a white paper to PDF is hanging out a shingle.

So the big question law firm partners are finally facing: How do we find the lit support people who really know the secrets of EDD? "The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find--unless of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it..." Maybe it's time to get your own Map to Talent. Watch this space.

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Ok, you saw the light, you bit the bullet and digitized your redwells. Now what? A nicely thorough piece on Law.com takes a look at the EDD dilemma.

Law firms and corporate legal departments are accumulating massive archives of electronic data that has to be handled just right in order to avoid catastrophic complications -- and costs.

You may be inclined -- by corporate culture or temperament -- to keep it all in-house. But experts say beware. The range of potentially relevant software, hardware, file formats and protocols is enough to boggle the analogue mind. Moreover, each unique matter calls for its own unique combination of cyber-search technologies.

And judges have not been shy in ordering severe sanctions for e-discovery mistakes. In the e-discovery debacle of Coleman Parent Holdings, Inc. v. Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc, Morgan Stanley was fined millions of dollars for a "willful and a gross abuse of its discovery obligations."

So if you don't know your WI-FI from your WYSIWYG, outsourcing could save time, energy -- and tons of money -- though experts advise carefully establishing relationships with reliable vendors before taking on large cases—because the burden of electronic discovery still falls on you.

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