E-Discovery and Legal Technology

A decade ago, document discovery in a large case would require attorneys to sit in a warehouse and sort through hundreds of boxes of paper. Fast forward 10 years, and we can now reasonably expect a business to generate and store two or three GB of emails and documents per user, per year. Thus, on a large case today, attorneys are often asked to sit in front of computer screens and sort through hundreds of gigabytes of electronically stored information (ESI), including tens of thousands of emails and documents of marginal relevance. To put the volume of data into perspective, if one were to print the contents of a 100 GB hard drive, the result would be a mountain of paper towering higher than the Empire State Building. Making matters worse, according to one study, information technology specialists expect the volume of ESI that we currently generate and store to expand 10 fold in just the next five years.

We simply cannot, by human effort alone, sort through literally millions of documents in a reasonable period of time – without breaking the bank.

At Zelle Hofmann, we harness the best of E-Discovery practices, modern legal technology and sound judgment to efficiently manage the large volume of ESI in the litigation environment. We continuously strive to provide our clients with the highest degree of:

Cost Savings. Soaring volumes of ESI directly correlate with soaring costs of E-Discovery. Each client and each case are unique, but the problem of having to identify, collect and sort through massive volumes information, particularly ESI, is now commonplace. At Zelle Hofmann, we pride ourselves on understanding our clients, and working with them to find cost savings throughout the litigation lifecycle. This requires using appropriate tools and best practices to cull and reduce the amount of information that ultimately must be reviewed -- and it requires making reasonable and informed judgments.

Leadership. As E-Discovery and litigation technology become more prevalent in the daily practice of law, Zelle Hofmann has taken a leading role in major standard setting organizations, including The Sedona Conference and the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (E.D.R.M.), for which Eric P. Mandel, our Director of E-Discovery and Litigation Support, serves as Co-Chair of the Model Code of Conduct Project.

Defensibility. When making decisions about E-Discovery, a key consideration is defensibility. Defensibility comes down to ensuring that the processes and technologies used, the people who choose and employ them, and the results of their efforts all meet the legal requirements associated with litigation, including (1) avoiding spoliation while preserving, collecting and handling ESI, (2) protecting against loss or alteration of ESI during the discovery process, (3) meeting discovery obligations in a complete and timely manner, and (4) meeting the requirements for admissibility, including authentication and best evidence.

Protection. We appreciate that our clients entrust us to protect their confidences. The protection of those confidences is at the core of the attorney-client relationship. Zelle Hofmann’s E-Discovery and Legal Technology systems are designed to provide our clients, their information and their confidences, with the highest industry standards for protection against loss, theft and disclosure.

Ingenuity. “The power of creative imagination.” Ingenuity is the catalyst we use in mixing technology, scientific principles, and intelligent processes to come up the best fit solution to achieve significant costs savings, while ensuring defensibility and appropriate protection required for each client and each case.

Excellence. Everything at Zelle Hofmann is geared towards providing our clients with excellent service. We have heavily invested in people, processes and technology required to provide our clients with the highest standards of excellence in managing E-Discovery, controlling costs, ensuring defensibility and protection, and coming up with resourceful solutions to the most complex E-Discovery problems.

If you have questions about Zelle Hofmann's E-Discovery and Legal Technology services, please contact us.