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How to Select an eDiscovery Service Provider

How to Select an eDiscovery Service Provider. Round Table Discussion April 16, 2008. Selecting An EDD Service Provider The Investigative Process – In General. Proactively vet the leading providers through RFI process

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How to Select an eDiscovery Service Provider

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  1. How to Select an eDiscovery Service Provider Round Table Discussion April 16, 2008

  2. Selecting An EDD Service Provider The Investigative Process – In General • Proactively vet the leading providers through RFI process • Consider a two-step vetting process using high level qualifiers for the first round and going into more detail in the second • Look for value-add relationships • Flexible solutions, own their software, expertise in ediscovery • Negotiate preferred relationships with MSA and project-based SOW • Perform a security audit and site inspection • Not all projects are alike: Match solution with specific need

  3. Selecting An EDD Service Provider The Investigative Process – In General • Rely on in-house practice support experts to manage the relationships and the project requirements process • Continuously valuate the relationships and market options • Use the Sedona Conference and EDRM RFP templates to help you ask the right questions

  4. Selecting An EDD Service Provider Who are they? • Who owns them – privately held, venture capitalists, corporation, conglomerate? • How long have they been in business? Who are their principals? • How healthy of a company is it? • Who works for them? • Are there staffing levels adequate for your needs? • Have they run background checks on their employees? • Who are their clients? • Are there any conflicts of interest? • How do they determine conflicts? • Who is providing references?

  5. Selecting An EDD Service Provider What do they do? • What is their core competency? imaging? processing native files? collection? or hosting a review platform? • What do they actually perform in-house domestically and what is sent off-shore? • What work is performed through outsourcing or partnering? (and who are they?) • What software (and version) are they using to collect, process and/or host data? • Is their software and processes capable of processing the various document formats?

  6. Selecting An EDD Service Provider What do they do? • What quality control methods do they employ? • What security measures are in place to protect the client's data? • What backup systems do they deploy? • What plans do they have for disaster recovery?

  7. Selecting An EDD Service Provider Where & how do they do business? • Do they target their work solely in the legal market? • Do they do business locally, regionally, nationally or globally? • Do they have direct ownership of their other offices? or are they franchises? • Where are their servers located? • Are they sharing server space or do they own/lease the servers outright? • Do they employ 3 full shifts, 24/7 or are their business hours limited with pager assistance after hours? • How quickly can the company scale up to meet increased demand?

  8. Selecting An EDD Service Provider Processing Considerations • What types of data can they handle (process, load, search, display)? • audio, video, IM, MAC files, etc. • Do they identify special file attributes to aid with review? • track changes, speaker notes, hidden slides, revision history • Do they provide foreign language support? • single-byte, double-byte, right-to-left languages • How do they process Lotus Notes NSF files? • convert to PST first? • Use the native API? • How are hyperlinks handled?

  9. Selecting An EDD Service Provider Processing Considerations • How are calendar items handled? • How are embedded objects processed? • Is custom metadata extracted? • How are web sites snapshots processed? • What metadata fields will available in the review database? • Do they offer master discovery repositories? • If more than one vendor is involved (such as in rescue projects) what hash algorithms do they use (MD5, SHA1, SHA256)?

  10. Selecting An EDD Service ProviderReview Platform Considerations • Is the interface intuitive and easy to use? • How many files can be hosted in one db without performance degradation? (200K, 1M, 5M, 20M, 75M) • Does the review platform support native file review? • Are native files and scanned TIFFs reviewed in the same database? • How do you access the hosted database? • Citrix, Web Page, Terminal Services, Thick Client via SSL • Can batches be easily assigned and tracked for review? • Are productivity, database snapshot and auditing reports available? • Are custom reports available?

  11. Selecting An EDD Service ProviderReview Platform Considerations • How are audio, video, IM, MAC files reviewed/displayed/searched? • Are native files with special attributes identified in advance of review? • Are foreign language files supported and searchable? • Are email conversation threads supported? • Can threads and family groups be coded in groups? • Are dupes and near-dupes identified and easy to review and code as groups? • Can you assign your own Bates numbers?

  12. Selecting An EDD Service ProviderReview Platform Considerations • Can you export native files, images, metadata and text directly out of the system? • How much control is permitted to create reports, coding forms, workflows, fields, field lists, and manage users without engaging the vendor? • Are multiple coding forms supported? • Is 24/7/365 live technical support available?

  13. Selecting An EDD Service Provider Why should you select them? • After doing your due diligence, focus on the key differentiators that make them better than any of the other vendors in the market space.

  14. Selecting An EDD Service Provider Digging Deeper • Check Lexis/Nexis or Westlaw for any cases in which they may be named. • Run a Dun & Bradstreet report on them. • Research the umbrella corporation. • Check the Secretary of State's office to make sure that they are registered to do business in the state. • Contact their referencesand ask : • what type of service they performed for the reference • ask the reference to rate staff, service, product • how long the reference has been doing business with them • the scale of the projects they performed for the reference. • Ask members of industry listservs.

  15. Selecting An EDD Service Provider Digging Deeper • Ask CALSM members. • Ask colleagues. • Request a demonstration of the service; possibly perform a test/sample.

  16. Thanks to the following forcontributing to this checklist: Lisa Schofield M. Therese Carey VP Business Development Litigation Support Operations Mgr. Epiq eDiscovery Solutions, Inc. Winston & Strawn LLP lschofield@epiqsystems.comtcarey@winston.com 202.572.2179 312.558.8003 Barbara Hanahan Litigation Support Sales Engineer Epiq eDiscovery Solutions, Inc. bhanahan@epiqsystems.com 847.331-4896 Provided courtesy of: Epiq eDiscovery SolutionsBe prepared for the challenges of electronic discovery

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