Litigation 101 for eDiscovery Tech Professionals: Introduction
October 10, 2012
Law firms often find themselves scrambling to keep up with the demands that eDiscovery work imposes on litigation support and technology staff. Firms often need to add staff in a hurry, and new employees need to hit the ground running -- often without optimal training. New employees quickly learn what they absolutely must to do their jobs. Unfortunately, however, they often don’t learn everything they should know to perform at higher levels and to be as useful to litigators as they could be.
Time and again I see a huge hole in litigation technology staff knowledge: many don’t know litigation! They don’t know the process, they don’t understand the terminology, they don’t know what the attorneys really do with the work product they provide, and they can’t, therefore, anticipate what attorneys will need next. Of course, this isn’t the case for all new litigation support / technology staff, but the problem is not limited to a select few.
This blog series will be aimed at litigation technology professionals who need help in this area. In the series we’ll cover:
- The litigation life-cycle, with a focus on discovery: This will include discussion of what technology is used at various stages in a case and litigation terminology
- The Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM)
- The Rules of Civil Procedure regarding electronic discovery
Of course, there are limits to what can be covered efficiently in a series of blog posts. This series is not intended to replace formal training. Rather, it’s intended to provide a general overview and resources for those who want to dig deeper. It’s intended to be a framework on which litigation technology professionals can build.
In the next post, we’ll start with some basics – some definitions and descriptions of various types of litigation. Then we’ll move on to the phases of a lawsuit and where litigation support and ediscovery professionals fit in. Please let us know if there are specific areas you’d like to see covered.
Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine Discovery. eDiscoveryDaily is made available by CloudNine Discovery solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscoveryDaily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.
