1) Improved Communication.
The simple back and forth of team communication is often the biggest factor in slowing down the process. We’ve been part of every side of this equation. We’ve done just eDiscovery, just Review, and we’ve done both. There is no comparison. When the eDiscovery and Review teams are literally on the same team, it makes every aspect of communication easier. By having a single point of contact between technology, review, outside & internal counsel, everything gets simpler. Questions get answered quickly, issues get resolved, and the process moves along without friction.
2) Core Team Speed.
By having a core team responsible for the whole process, they get to know the specifics of your business. This fosters the accumulation and retention of institutional knowledge. By gaining familiarity with your business and data custodians, it also allows them to ramp up faster, under tighter deadlines.
3) Improved Defensibility.
A standardized process between Discovery and Review makes the operational history and process more complete and easier to obtain. The result is simple, tried and true defensibility documentation.
4) Better Product.
We’ve found that having everyone on the same team fosters the development of innovative workflows. It should come as no surprise, as the core team becomes more familiar with the data it naturally leads to greater insight. They can reuse previously processed data, streamline privilege screens, integrate guidelines from outside counsel, company acronym lists, etc.
5) Less Cost.
If cost tends to come down to one thing in Review and Discovery, it’s efficiency. Improved efficiency means less time, less hours, and less cost. We’ve found that having a single team responsible for both is one of the most reliable methods to keep costs down.
