When we collect and process electronic data from a number of custodians, we usually create a folder for each custodian to store their data. This fast tip will share a shortcut for creating those folders that can save us a bunch of time. In another Fast Tip Friday, I demonstrated how to
I have been doing litigation support for a long time. I have worked with many attorneys on many cases. I have worked with many service providers. I know the various processes the attorneys will use to decide which document sets need to be included in the next production set. I have observed
In a litigation matter, after the subpoena is received and the custodians are identified, we begin to collect the client’s documents, both hardcopy and electronic. The document collections may be handled by the client’s IT staff and this can be a little concerning if the IT staff does not understand electronic
Have you ever felt destined for something else, but you are stuck where you are? For the last 3 years, I have been involved in what I have referred to as “my 4 jobs”. Job 1: Working full-time in a litigation support role at a law firm in Washington DC. Job 2:
One of the best practices in Legal Project Management (LPM) is demonstrating to the legal teams how we techies can add value. We were having a team meeting related to a case that had a large document database in Relativity. The legal team had several concurrent sub-projects for this matter. The attorneys
I believe that the best way to learn litigation support is by working through real-life, on-the-job scenarios. This article is about a scenario that landed on my plate a few years ago. In a previous article, I talked about the importance of creating cheat sheets in litigation support. After I
Brace yourselves LitSuppGuru readers. This is the very first guest article ever published on this site and it comes to you from Diane Enoch-Poling, one of my closest friends. I hope you enjoy her story. If you do, please share your comments after the article. Transformation: From Practicing Attorney to
One of the terms we use in litigation support is “coding”. Coding refers to putting information into database fields (which we refer to as “populating”) manually, one document at a time. There are some service providers that provide this service. They have a room full of “coders”. We pay them
I have been thinking a lot lately about what it takes to learn litigation support — I mean really learn it. I am in the process of teaching one of our legal secretaries at the office who wants to learn more about litigation support tasks in the hope that she
There is a steep learning curve to learning litigation support. It is like entering another world. We have our own way of communicating. The technology references can be overwhelming. As I described in my article series “What is Litigation Support?”, there are many facets of the job. In addition to
I received this question in my email inbox in response to my email entitled “What Would You Ask?” Cathy asked me, “If you had to do it all over again, would you? If the answer is yes, what would you do differently?” Wow, what a question, right? Cathy mentioned that she
After the subpoena is received, there is a constant stream of activity between the attorneys, the client in-house counsel and the opposing counsel. Litigation Support should be involved at some level during this stage. The attorneys will discuss the subpoena requests with the client and begin to identify potential people
Every once in a while, an electronic document collection will contain DWG files. These are AutoCAD files or CAD drawings that an architect will design. If the attorneys need to review these files, they will need special software. Years ago, I purchased a single-user license of Autodesk AutoCAD software. However,
At the beginning of a litigation matter, a subpoena is received. The official name is Subpoena Duces Tecum. In addition to a subpoena from a government entity, there might also be an accompanying document referred to as a “Civil Investigative Demand (CID)” or a “Request for Information or Assistance“. A litigation support
People that transition from IT to litigation support have an interesting advantage. I have noticed it time and time again. Much of the technical work we perform in litigation support can be repetitive, step by step, “just get it done” tasks. However, some technical work can be trial and error.
It is Thursday. I am sitting in Dallas, in the Galleria mall, outside of Starbucks, with a view of the ice skating rink below. I am staying at the Westin Galleria. Interestingly, my husband is upstairs in the room working remotely, trying to get a production out the door. He works
“Can litigation support work be done from home effectively?” I received this question in my email inbox in response to my email: What Would You Ask?. It’s an interesting question. I know that there are differences of opinion about this topic. There are some management teams that embrace it and others
One of the realities of working in litigation support is that there will come a time when a single litigation matter will literally take over your life. Hopefully it happens infrequently at your firm or organization, as in once every few years. It can be difficult to sustain this level of
Name: Oliver Silva Location: Boston MA What kind of work were you doing before litigation support found you? I held various managerial positions within IT for government agencies involving the investigation and prosecution of criminal and civil matters. My core responsibilities related to the management and support of databases and business
In litigation support, we organize electronic discovery and our working files on the server by the specific client matter. A matter in the legal industry is the “new case” for which the attorneys have been hired by the client to provide legal services. Every “new case” is assigned a new
I get more and more irritated and bummed when I hear about another instance of “drama” within a litigation support department. It doesn’t have to be that way. The structure of litigation support teams can look like these examples: 1. The department is divided into teams within the same location.
Last week I attended a lunch hour panel discussion on Legal Project Management. It was organized by my friend, Tracy Drynan, on behalf of the eDiscovery Committee under the District of Columbia Bar Litigation Section at the request of Ellen (“Elle”) Pyle, the current Committee Chair. Tracy invited Ed Lin,
In litigation support, we share data with others. In fact, some might say that is the majority of what we do. In almost all instances, we have a fairly standard practice of “zipping up” the data. We have learned over the years that it is a good practice. In the
When it comes to the Thanksgiving holiday, Litigation Support professionals always have some things to be thankful for. Below are some examples that come to mind. We are thankful when a process that we kicked off to run for hours finished successfully. We are thankful when we do NOT hear from the
One of the first steps taken in a litigation matter is to put in place a “legal hold” with the client. It might also be referred to as a “litigation hold”. When it comes to electronic discovery, this is one of the most important steps and it must not be
In the beginning of my litigation support career I remember attending industry events, listening to the speakers and taking a bunch of notes. I was a human sponge, learning from people that were willing to put themselves out there as leaders in our industry. For those of you near my
For those of us who have been working around litigators for years, we are very aware of what the term “electronic discovery” means. We are familiar with why it exists and how it effects the practice of law for litigators. But, how should we describe “electronic discovery” to someone who
Last summer I wrote about my month with a litigation support newbie. It was my first time hosting a student intern from the paralegal studies program at Georgetown University. You can read that article here. Over the last year, Elizabeth completed her Project Management Masters program in Boston and then she
Two years ago, on September 12, LitigationSupportGuru.com went live. It was also my birthday. I’ll never forget how excited I was. I would like to thank all of the people who have spread the word about Litigation Support Guru to friends, colleagues and newbies. I also want to thank those
A career in litigation support encompasses multiple careers. This series of articles will describe how each plays a part in litigation support. Overall, litigation support can be described as: We assist litigators. We speak and translate geek. We work with litigation discovery, primarily in electronic format. One of the careers
This quiz is formatted like a Game Show. The quiz can be attempted multiple times. Lower the volume on your computer and then click here to begin the quiz. Good luck! PS – This quiz can be played on your iPad if you have this free app installed.
A career in litigation support encompasses multiple careers. This series of articles will describe how each plays a part in litigation support. Overall, litigation support can be described as: We assist litigators. We speak and translate geek. We work with litigation discovery, primarily in electronic format. One of the careers
A career in litigation support encompasses multiple careers. This series of articles will describe how each plays a part in litigation support. Overall, litigation support can be described as: We assist litigators. We speak and translate geek. We work with litigation discovery, primarily in electronic format. Two careers within litigation
I am very excited to share with you that I have created a brand new podcast for the Litigation Support Guru community. I have been working on it for months and I am launching with several podcast episodes already recorded. Podcasting has a pretty steep learning curve. Who would have
A career in litigation support encompasses multiple careers. This series of articles will describe how each plays a part in litigation support. Overall, litigation support can be described as: We assist litigators. We speak and translate geek. We work with litigation discovery, primarily in electronic format. One of the careers
A career in litigation support encompasses multiple careers. This series of articles will describe how each plays a part in litigation support. Overall, litigation support can be described as: We assist litigators. We speak and translate geek. We work with litigation discovery, primarily in electronic format. One of the careers
Last Friday I could just barely get through the work day. I was so excited. I was beaming all day. A few weeks earlier, I had arranged to have dinner with six of the graduates from Georgetown University’s eDiscovery/Advanced Litigation Technology/Legal Project Management program. David Carns and Kelly Holdcraft started the
A career in litigation support encompasses multiple careers. This series of articles will describe how each plays a part in litigation support. Overall, litigation support can be described as: We assist litigators. We speak and translate geek. We work with litigation discovery, primarily in electronic format. One of the careers
There are some people in this industry that I followed when I was a newbie. Jane Gennarelli is one of them. I found Jane when she authored a product called Litigation Best Practices in a Box. Jane is well respected in our industry and she participated in a case study
A career in litigation support encompasses multiple careers. This series of articles will describe how each plays a part in litigation support. Overall, litigation support can be described as: We assist litigators. We speak and translate geek. We work with litigation discovery, primarily in electronic format. One of the careers
In an eDiscovery litigation matter, there are instances where data is delivered to a litigation support professional on an internal hard drive. An internal hard drive is one that usually resides inside of a desktop computer or laptop and it connects to the computer via a SATA or IDE connection.
A few weeks ago I was reading Jason Velasco’s blog post about eDiscovery Journal’s new boot camps. I could hear his enthusiasm through his words and I appreciated that he gave kudos to the team he works with. When I read Jason’s sentence about people in our industry asking for
A career in litigation support encompasses multiple careers. This series of articles will describe how each plays a part in litigation support. Overall, litigation support can be described as: We assist litigators. We speak and translate geek. We work with litigation discovery, primarily in electronic format. One of the careers
Name: Sonya Harris Location: Washington DC Metro Area What kind of work were you doing before litigation support found you? I was an Application Specialist in information technology, after a long stretch of 1st, 2nd and 3rd level technical support in law firms. How did you get the opportunity to join
For those of you still searching for that litigation support newbie opportunity, this is for you! I would like to introduce you to two newbies. Both Darrin and Heather experienced the criteria below and were successful in joining the litigation support industry. I am so proud of both of them
In Litigation Support, we work with database load files almost every day. The various types of text-based load files contain information about documents or file paths and file names that will link database records to corresponding images of the document. The legal team uses the databases to review documents and
We have established in previous conversations that the litigation support field can be demanding on our time and our stress level. I recently had a really bad week where I struggled to stay positive. My personal life, my day job and my passions all collided in negative ways. I am sharing
Once you land in the world of litigation support, you will have the opportunity to attend industry conferences. The “big one” of the year is LegalTech New York. It is more prominent because it is the conference where all of the service providers announce their new features, or next version
Wow, we’re beginning another new year in the litigation support and electronic discovery industry. The good news is that the industry is still very strong and there are plenty of opportunities for newbies to join and thrive. I was lucky enough to take two weeks vacation at the end of
For those newbies entering litigation support from a position outside of the legal industry or from an IT position in a law firm, there can be a learning curve when it comes to “discovery” in litigation cases, also referred to as “the discovery phase” or “the discovery process”. “Discovery” is considered
One of the tools that have been around for years in the litigation support field is Directory Lister Pro. This software is inexpensive and it provides a fast and easy way to generate a file listing of a CD, DVD, hard drive, or a single subdirectory on a server. Although
