LostInTranslation:BridgingTheLanguageDivideBetween LawyersAndEDiscoveryTechnologists

ByKeithEcker|VicePresident,ClientReputationServicesatJaffePR Lawyersareaccustomedtospeakingalanguageall theirown,atypeoflingoheavydialectcalled legalese.Manydonotspeakthelanguageofthe technologist,andiftheydo,theircomprehensionof technologyrelatedvocabularymaybelimited.E discoveryspecialists,ontheotherhand,oftenspeak inesotericcodeonethatblendsITspeak,legalese andindustryspecificterminology.Thisiswhy, oftentimes,whenalegalstakeholderengagesanediscoveryspecialistinconversation,the twofindthemselvesfacingalanguagebarrierinwhichcertaincriticalpointsbecomelostin translation. Ediscoveryspecialistsandotherlegaltechnologypractitionersneedtokeepthis knowledgegapinmindandapproachlegalstakeholdersontheirturf.Afterall,theseare theclientprospectsandpersonnelmostlikelytomaketheimportantdecisionofwhoto hiretoplanandexecuteeachphaseoftheediscoveryprocess.Althoughmoreandmore inhouseandoutsidelawyersarebecomingeducatedonediscovery,andspecialistsin theirownrights,manyarestillinthedarkwhenitcomestodecipheringtheforeign languageemployedbyediscoveryspecialists. Thefollowingaresometipsthatediscoveryserviceprovidersandconsultantscanrelyon tohelpbridgethelanguagebarrierandbettereducatelegalstakeholdersaboutthe ediscoveryprocess,thetechnologyemployedandtheservicestheyprovide. DeterminetheAttorney'sEDiscoveryCompetency Lawyers,generallyspeaking,arenottechnologists.Andalthoughtheworldsoflawand technologycontinuetobecomemoreintertwined,manylawyersarestillnoviceswhenit comestounderstandingwhatmanyintheediscoveryworldconsiderbasictechnological conceptsandworkflows.Still,ediscoveryspecialistshaveatendencytostart conversationswithlawyerswithoutfirstgaugingthestakeholder'sITcompetency. ThrowingaroundtermslikepredictivecodinganddataanalyticsoracronymslikeEDRM maydrawblankstares.Itisimportanttoassesstheattorney'sediscoveryknowledgeat theonsetoftheconversation.Prefacetheinitialtalkbyaskingwhatexperience,ifany,the attorneyhaswithsuchconceptsasediscovery,litigationreadinessandelectronic documentproduction.Iftheknowledgelevelisfairlylow,considerexplaininggeneral ediscoveryconceptsbydrawingcomparisonstopaperdiscovery,whichmostattorneys arefamiliarwith.Trytoveerawayfromindustryterminologyandexplainconceptsinnon

technologicaltermsifatallpossible.Visualssuchasinfographicsandflowchartsarean excellentwaytoensurethatthelegalstakeholderhastheprerequisiteknowledge necessarytoenteradeeperconversationabouthisorherediscoveryneeds. Ofcourse,someinhouselegaldepartmentsandlawfirmshavededicatedediscovery attorneysandsupportstaff.Inthesesituations,thegroundworkhasalreadybeenlaid,and theediscoveryspecialistcanbegintodiscusssomeofthefinerpointsofediscovery processesandtechnologies. FocusonBenefitsoverFeatures Whetheroneisaserviceprovideroranediscoveryspecialistwithinalawfirmor corporatelegaldepartment,explainingtheactualtechnologyusedthroughoutthee discoveryprocesstointernalandexternalstakeholderscanbedifficult.That'sbecause specialiststendtofocustoomuchonthefeaturesofthetechnologyratherthanthe benefits. Mostlawyersdonotnecessarilywanttoknowtheinsandoutsofhowthetechnology works.Theydonothavetimetocomprehendthecomplexalgorithmsusedtoculland processdataacrosstheenterprise,ortounderstandthenuancesofsolutionsthatallowfor nativeornonnativereviewandproduction.Instead,theyaremuchmoreinterestedinthe benefitsofthesolutions,particularlythosethat relatetotheirjobfunction. Forexample,anattorneymightnotneedtoknow howasolution'searlycaseassessmentmodule operates.Whattheydowanttoknowiswhich featuresofearlycaseassessmentwilldelivercertainqualitativeandquantitative informationtheycanusetodevelopcasestrategyattheonsetofthematter.Thefactthat thistechnologypresentssignificanttimeandcostsavingsarethebenefitsthatmattermost tothelegalstakeholder.Thesamecanbesaidaboutatechnologylikecomputerassisted review.Thecomplexitiesbehindhowthetechnologycanhelpautomatethereviewprocess aresuperfluoustotheattorney.Instead,thebenefitsofreducedcontractattorneyhours andthepotentialforincreasedaccuracyarewhatmattermost. Ofcourse,noattorneyisgoingtobecomfortable relyingonablackboxsolutionwhenitexposes himorhertorisks.Lawyerswanttoknowwhat featuresofthetechnologyandserviceoffering willimbuetheprocesswithaccountabilityand defensibility.Detailingfeaturesthatspeaktoauditingandtrackingthestepsofthe ediscoveryprocess,aswellashighlightingthebenefitofdefensibility,isatopicthatwill resonatewithlegalstakeholders.

DefineCommonlyUsedTerms Eventhoughmanylawyersmaynotrequestanexplanationofthetechnicalaspectsofa solution,itisimportantforediscoveryspecialiststoexplainsomeofthecommonlyused terminology.Consideritanopportunitytoeducatetheattorneysandadministrative personnelinvolvedintheediscoveryprocess.Thegoalisnottoinundatetheattorneys withinformation,buttoconveythepointsmostrelevanttotheirpractice. Belowisalistofcommonediscoverytermsandtheirdefinitions,astheypertaintothe legal,nontechnicalaudience: EDRM:TheEDiscoveryReferenceModelisthemasterblueprintoftheediscovery process.Itisatriedandtrueworkflowthathasbeenvettedbytopediscovery specialists,lawyers,andlegalthoughtleadersandisarecommendedbestpractice foranyediscoveryproject. Predictivecoding:Acurrenthottopicinediscoverycircles,predictivecoding, oftenusedinterchangeablywithcomputerassistedreview,allowscounselto reducemanualreviewtimebyrelyingonsoftwarethatcanautomaticallydecipher therelevanceofadocument. Booleansearch:Thisisabasictypeofsearchthatincorporatessimplelogicsuch as"and,""or"and"not"andreturnsresultsbasedonkeywordsandphrases. Conceptsearch:LikeBooleansearching,conceptualsearchingisanothertoolinthe ediscoveryarsenal.Ratherthanreturningpositivehitsbasedonkeywords,concept searchingusesalgorithmstointerpretthemeaningofESIandgroupdocuments basedonsharedconcepts.Thiscanhelpreviewersprioritizewhichdocumentsto review,savingtimeanddrivingdownreviewcosts. Contextualsearch:ConsideredmorepowerfulthanBooleansearch,contextual searchingcananalyzethemeaningofatermusedwithinadocumentbasedonits contexttoreturnpositivehitsbasedontheterm'smeaning.Forexample,theword apple,dependingonthecontext,couldrefertoafruit,arecordlabelorAppleInc. Thiscangreatlyreducereviewsetsandthusdrivedownediscoverycosts. Metadata:Commonlydefinedas"dataaboutdata,"metadataisofteninvisibleto theenduserandisanimportanttoolindataprocessing.Preservingtheintegrityof metadataisessentialforadefensiblediscoveryprocess. Native/Nonnativeformat:Nativeformatsimplymeansthedocumentretainsits originalfiletype.Anonnativeformatmeansthedocument'sfiletypehasbeen altered,usuallytoaPDForTIFF(animagestoringformat).Convertingand reviewingdocumentsinanonnativeformatmaystriptheESIofimportant metadata.

Structured/Unstructureddata:Unstructureddataincludesdatatypessuchas Worddocumentsandemails.Itisthetypeofdatamostcommonlyreferredtofor thepurposesofediscovery.StructureddataincludessuchESIasspreadsheetsand databases.Differenttoolsandreviewtechniquesmayberequiredtoproducethe twobroadcategoriesofdata. Datamap:Adatamapisakeycomponentofalitigationreadinessplan.Ithelpsthe producingpartyeasilyidentifythecustodiansandstoragelocationsofdifferent typesofdata.Creatingadatamapisaproactivemeasurethatcanhelpreduce upfronttimeexpenditureduringtheediscoveryprocess. Earlydataassessment:Oftenconfusedwithearlycaseassessment,earlydata assessmentenablesattorneystogetanoverviewofthetypesofdatathatmaybe involvedinacertainmatterandthusbetterassesediscoverycostsanddevelope discoverystrategies. Earlycaseassessment:Earlycaseassessmentprovidescounselwithanoverview ofthematterandtheclientspotentialliabilityandresolutionoptions.Itcanhelp guidelitigationstrategyandoftenconsiderssuchpointsasinsurancecoverage, historicalsuccesswithsimilarmattersandwhichcounseltoretain.

Thekeytakeawaystokeepinmindwhenengaginganontechnicallegalstakeholderareto: Considerhisorherlevelofediscoveryandtechnicalknowledgeattheonsetofthe relationship, Avoidoverlytechnicalexplanationsand, Focusonthebenefitsofthetechnologyandprocessesratherthanthegranular elementsofthetechnology'sfeatures. It'samatterofputtingoneselfinanotherperson'sshoesandlearning,inpart,howtospeak thelanguageofthelawyer.Byfocusingmoreoncost,time,complianceanddefensibility, theediscoveryspecialist'smessagehasabetterchanceofresonating. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Abouttheauthor KeithEckerservesasaVicePresidentofPublicReputationServicesatJaffePR,afull servicelegalmarketingagency.Keithregularlyworkswithlawfirmsandlegal technologyvendorstohelpmovethemupthepublicreputationcurvebyemploying thetacticsofLegalBrandJournalism.Formerly,Keithservedasanindependentmedia andmarketingconsultanttoanumberoflegaltechnologyproviders,including,GuidanceSoftware, FTIConsultingandDaegis.Priortohismarketingexperience,hewasthetechnologyandonline editoratInsideCounselmagazine.