The Time Is Now for Law Firms to Optimize Document Review
This article originally appeared in the December 2022 edition of Today's General Counsel, authored by Exterro Technology Counsel, Don McLaughlin.
Anyone who has spent time managing e-discovery projects knows document review is the most expensive phase of the process. It is time-consuming, repetitive work—exactly the type of work that law firms can and should optimize for efficiency and accuracy.
Traditionally, law firms have struggled to justify the investments required to advance internal business process optimization. However, new data suggests we have reached an inflection point. Exterro recently partnered with Today’s General Counsel to survey legal professionals, resulting in our 2022 Law Firm Benchmarking Report: Trends in Document Review Services.
A Shifting Market for Review Services
Law firms must demonstrate the value they provide or risk losing out on a growing market. While civil litigation remains the primary driver for document review (cited by 77% of respondents), other use cases are rising:
- Internal Investigations: 68% of respondents rank this as the most likely type of review to increase in frequency.
- Data Breach Reviews: As cybercrime increases, the need to identify compromised PII under tight regulatory deadlines is becoming a staple service.
However, corporate clients are also increasing their in-house capabilities. 75% of in-house teams reported completing the majority of their legal services in-house, and 69% are using their own designated document review software. Firms that cannot adapt to these collaborative or client-led environments risk losing business.
Security is Non-Negotiable
Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting law firms as caretakers of sensitive client data. While firms are taking more measures to secure data, there is a significant gap between current practices and total preparedness.
The surest way to avoid compromising client data is to conduct reviews inside a secure, centralized platform—a measure already taken by nearly half (49%) of in-house legal professionals.
3 Steps to Optimize Your Practice
To remain relevant and profitable, Don McLaughlin suggests law firms and LSPs take the following actions:
- Treat Review as a Business Process: Create standardized workflows and templates. Use metrics like review accuracy and cost per document to measure performance.
- Develop Specialized Expertise: Move beyond standard litigation. Build workflows specifically for internal investigations (speed-focused) and data breach reviews (PII identification and subject linking).
- Improve Your Security Posture: Security is more than just having a cyberinsurance policy. Invest in secure technology that minimizes data transfers between different software suites.
By embracing these recommendations, law firms can provide true value to their clients—the surest path to long-term success.
About the Author:Don McLaughlin serves as Technology Counsel at Exterro. Following years as a trial lawyer and corporate counsel, he founded Falcon Discovery and later led managed services teams for clients including Sony, UnitedHealthcare, and DISH Network.
