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

Last week’s ILTA conference was better than ever. Although attendance was down considerably, I believe that less is more this year.

Fewer people means increased intimacy, more meaningful discussions and enhanced opportunities to create relationships and engage in a long, uninterrupted exchange of ideas.

This year, the people who were able to attend ILTA were clearly decision-makers and influencers, not lieutenants and junior professionals. Everyone came with specific purpose – to learn and engage in a meaningful senior-level exchange of ideas. Attendees and vendors alike could spend more time with key decision makers than in past conferences.

We attend ILTA to explore new technologies, work flows, processes, vendors and systems but at the end of the day, it’s about the people. The technology doesn’t create itself, sell itself or run itself. Workflow and process improvement can’t be canned, packaged or replicated without talented people involved in the technology’s inception, implementation and execution.

While at ILTA, I polled 100+ people on their greatest challenge entering the fourth quarter of 2009. Of these attendees, 20% said their greatest challenge is technology, 60% said it is process workflow and 20% said it is people. If 60% of the challenge is process workflow, isn’t that truly a challenge about people? Without the right people, you can’t originate, implement or execute the process or make informed technology decisions.

People come to ILTA for a variety of reasons. They want to learn about technology improvements, workflow and process improvements and new vendors. But, at the end of the day, it’s really about the people.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

How time flies when you’re not writing a blog… It’s been two months since my last post, and it feels good to be back in the saddle.

As many of you know, The Cowen Group has been hosting regular Breakfast Roundtables in New York City that bring together top E-Discovery professionals and attorneys from the corporate and AmLaw space to discuss the evolution of critical trends in the industry.

Now more than ever, it is important for E-Discovery professionals to stay connected and build meaningful relationships with one another. To that end, we have expanded our Thought Leadership Breakfast series to Washington, D.C., Houston, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles – if you are in one of these cities and would like to know more about the Breakfast Roundtables, shoot me an email.

On that note, we just concluded our New York City Breakfast Roundtable on Early Case Assessment: Analyzing Today’s Tools. Thank you to our participants, and particularly to our Panelists, Patrick Oot, Glen McFarlane, Ronke Ekwensi, Mike Merlo, and Alysia Solow.

Our next Breakfast Roundtable will be in Washington, D.C. this Tuesday, August 4^th.

Glad to be back,

David Cowen

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

This is a 4-6 week long contract – no more no less.

Requirements:

• Candidate should be extremely technical, personable, and professional.
• Significant experience with IConect & Concordance.
• Clear understanding of Litigation Support process from a technical perspective.
• Capable of balancing time and priorities works intimately with project management staff to create deliverables.
• Solid communication, a team player, one who knows how to maneuver through the landscape of a major law firms litigation department.

Assignment will start mid May.

For immediate consideration, please send your resume to Ryan Clark at Ryan@Cowengroup.com

• Email This
• Print
• Comments

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Our client, one of Washington, DC’s best law firms,is an international firm which employs over 900 talented attorneys and professionals in the fields of accounting, human resources, administration, information technology, legal support, reference services, and operations. Our client is AmLaw 200 and growing. They are one of the 100 most prestigious firms in the country to work for according to Vault.com – a unique place where people are valued and exciting careers are built. They can promise that you will love our culture and enjoy working with our energetic team!

Our client currently seeks a Business Manager – E-Discovery and Information Management Group – to provide support to our Practice Support department.

Overview of Responsibilities:

Provide management support and advisory services to E-Discovery and Information Management Practice Group Chair(s). This may include performing financial analysis and drawing conclusions based on that analysis, identifying trends, assisting in attorney workload balancing, exercising judgment to know what and when to escalate issues to Firm management, and identifying business development opportunities. Approve expenses, credit limits, new matters or billing rates and other responsibilities under direction of Practice Group Chair(s).

Marketing & Client Development

• Assist in the preparation and implementation of practice group business plans; develop content, materials and programs to facilitate strategic decision-making, SWOT analysis and market driven tactics; document decisions and action plans, including the preparation of reports to the Executive Committee.
• Coordinate with CMO to develop current list of clients; develop client pitches for targeted markets; and develop opportunities for in-house presentations.
• Track the progress of all ongoing client efforts and initiatives and report back to the partnership on a regular basis.
• Manage master client/distribution list for the practice group to track the various activities and initiatives being promoted by the Group to clients and prospective clients.
• Assist in coordinating inward-facing activities such as boot camps, breakfasts and retreats.
• Expand opportunities to increase brand awareness with outward facing activities such as ABA sponsored events, articles and publications.
• Together with Marketing Department, assist in the development of collateral marketing materials.

Support for Attorney Development and Staffing

• Develop inventory of current work and staffing assignments.
• Provide recruiting and orientation support to later hires and associates new to the practice group, particularly as to subjects such as appropriate paraprofessional utilization and technology.
• Assist with coordination of formal and informal attorney development in various areas of a practice (matrix already developed by practice group LDC).
• Maintain matrix to track progress of attorney development in various areas of a practice (matrix already developed by practice group LDC).
• Develop or track annual budget set out for this purpose.
• Review and synthesize program feedback and progress evaluations.
• Develop overall matrix of current and ongoing client representations and correlate with matter staffing.

Financial

• Take primary role in developing the practice group’s budget for the year and, once approved by the Firm, take responsibility for monitoring operational expenditures.
• Conduct financial analysis of group statistics and, based on that analysis, recommend appropriate actions.
• Report on key performance indicators monthly to the practice group partnership.
• Participate with attorneys in the evaluation of and development/monitoring of fee arrangements, rate structures and project budgets to meet specific client needs or projects.

Administrative

• Working with the appropriate administrative department(s), assist practice group chair(s) with conflicts and client intake matters.
• Working with the appropriate administrative department(s), assist practice group chair(s) on issues relating to client billings, invoices, collections and credit concerns.
• Work in collaboration with client development and client relations staff.
• Oversee temporary staffing and other outside vendor needs for the group.
• Develop group-wide vendor billing protocols to centralize function.

Operational support

• Provide transition support when attorneys leave the firm.
• Approve client development and CLE expenditure requests.
• Develop agendas, attend, coordinate and assist in planning, and provide follow-up support to practice group (and sub-group) meetings and retreats.
• Assist with workload balance issues among group members.
• Oversee the maintenance of email and voicemail lists for various groups.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to organize and implement detailed and complex projects.
• Demonstrated leadership skills such as organizing, coordinating, problem solving, and decision-making.
• Strong knowledge of HR databases and Microsoft Office Suite.

Required Experience:

• Master’s degree or JD required.
• At least 10 years of related and progressively more responsible experience.
• Ten years relevant consulting experience in area of E-Discovery.

Our client offers a competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits package which includes progressive options such as back up child care, wellness programs, cultural events and social activities. They are convenient to all Metro lines and offer reasonably priced on-site parking. They take great pride in our positive, friendly culture that rewards hard work and success, at the same time recognizing the importance of family and community service.

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

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

As the Project Manager at this AmLaw 100 Law Firm, you will advise on a wide variety of systems and technologies. In addition, the position will require you to be the primary point of contact for case team attorneys, paralegals and vendors involved with the case.  If you're looking to take the next step to a better career, this is it.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

This is an exciting opportunity to be apart of one of the top consultancies in the country.  With openings in multiple cities, the choice is up to you.  As a Process Engineer, you will roll up your sleeves and get dirty with the data, as well as manage resources and project-work flow on data processing/transformation projects for their litigation clientele.  You will develop tailored project plans to meet the needs of the client, communicate with clients to facilitate project definition, and provide regular status reporting on projects You will need a high level of comfort with multi-tasking and unstructured problem solving.  

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks