Name: Jon Canty
Location: Washington, DC
What kind of work were you doing before litigation support found you?
I was doing desktop support to pay for school. It was a win95/98 environment when I started so there was much suffering for both users and administrators.
How did you get the opportunity to join the litigation support community?
I want to say Craigslist, but I really don't recall where the lead came from. It was an interesting start. I started working for a small local vendor on the day they were acquired by a much bigger consulting firm. So I was able to watch a corporate culture change dramatically over the next two years while getting the basics down.
When did you realize that this career would be a good fit for you?
When I moved over to the law firm side. That provided context into what I was actually doing on the vendor side. Best job I ever had.
Do you prefer to be out in front and working with the clients or behind the scenes working with the technologies?
Both. I bet you get that a lot. When you're out in front, you get to be Bruce Wayne. You're engaging with clients, you're a little more polished than usual and you are using good service to create good feelings. Behind the scenes, it's all Batman. There's troubleshooting, programming and using all those wonderful technical toys you collected from the LitSuppGuru. 😉
Is there an area of litigation support that had a steep learning curve for you?
All of it, I guess. Lit support is so interdisciplinary. Progressing in this field is a long process of synthesizing technical learning, project management experience and a heck of a lot of self-learning.
What do you consider to be one of the coolest things about working in litigation support?
Opportunity in general. There's opportunity to advance or to see the world. Learning opportunities abound. There's crazy opportunities to specialize: you could be the TAR expert or do investigations.
Which types of employers have you had while working in litigation support?
- Law Firm
- In-House Legal Department
- Service Provider
How many years have you been working in Litigation Support?
10
Care to share any words of encouragement or advice?
Here's what I think is most important: Exist outside of litigation support. To me work/life balance is a skill rather than a feature of a workplace. You have to know how to give it your all at work and then disengage when you're with friends and family. It's a skill, I promise. You can be very effective in litigation support and still have a life. Maybe that was the biggest learning curve for me.
Contact Info:
LinkedIn Profile and Blog