Historically, Early Case Assessment (ECA) has been hampered by the prohibitive costs of eDiscovery platforms and the cost and effort of data collection and data imports. As the Software as a Service (SaaS) model has become ubiquitous, however, the data connectors between systems have become more advanced and secure. This has made it much easier – and more cost effective – to move data in and out of cloud providers, giving rise to new opportunities to use eDiscovery tools earlier in a matter’s lifecycle.
Legal teams with access to the right technology are now able to perform wider, deeper and more insightful investigations at the ECA stages. This can be a powerful advantage, enabling informed decision-making that can significantly reduce the eDiscovery-related costs of investigation and litigation.
As awareness around these benefits grows, ECA is receiving more attention. We have identified three particular opportunities that promise to revolutionise the early assessment phases.
1. Microsoft Purview’s in-place capabilities
Microsoft has invested heavily in its native eDiscovery capabilities within Microsoft Purview – a suite of risk and compliance management and mitigation tools. The pinnacle being eDiscovery (Premium) which includes potent eDiscovery capabilities, ideally suited to performing the early stages of the investigative process in place, such as facilitating early assessment of the data without it ever having to leave the platform where it resides.
Purview’s in-place early data assessment can be a gamechanger for organisations due to its ability to improve and expedite the ECA process. It’s particularly valuable for internal investigations and driving down the cost of litigation through reducing the risk of over collection (hence review effort) and by enabling more informed decision-making in general, at a far earlier stage.
As an added bonus, new Collect to Export functionality enables all in-place eDiscovery performed in eDiscovery (Premium) to be exported to a purpose-built eDiscovery platform down the line. That means no duplication of effort should a matter progress and require more sophisticated eDiscovery tools.
The only hurdle is that using the Purview eDiscovery tools to full effect takes a fair amount of skill and experience – something few organisations have the time or capacity to develop in a hurry. To bridge that gap, Salient offers Microsoft Purview as a service, where our experts step in to help you leverage the eDiscovery capabilities you already pay for to curb costs, manage risk, and make more informed decisions.
2. Reveal’s integration with enterprise systems
Reveal is actively breaking down the barriers between their platform and enterprise systems. This is making it much easier to push and pull data between the two, to streamline investigations and make more informed data decisions earlier in the eDiscovery workflow.
Specifically, Reveal’s technology supports more effective ECA by enabling users to:
- Start investigating data earlier in the process, using iterative workflows to sample, validate and refine data and strategies throughout the early assessment phase.
- Perform fast and effective data-driven fact-finding and trend analysis using detailed dashboards and reports, and intuitive graphical interfaces.
- Make the investigative process transparent to all participants in the discovery process, including clients and courts.
3. Subscription-based eDiscovery services
With powerful eDiscovery tools (like Reveal) now available, we believe established eDiscovery pricing models – e.g. buying eDiscovery capabilities on demand for a specific matter – have become a limiting factor on the potential value of this technology.
We prefer to view eDiscovery from a more holistic perspective, acknowledging that its capabilities extend well beyond reacting to a specific incident or matter.
As such, we encourage our clients to move away from a reactive, on-demand eDiscovery purchase model to our all-inclusive subscription model that covers:
- Access to a suite of enterprise ready data connectors.
- Anytime access to reusable capacity on our Reveal platform.
- Full technology access, including translation, transcription, AI and ML.
- Our world-class end-to-end eDiscovery services.
This innovative subscription approach unlocks economies of scale and offers predictable monthly costs for easier budgeting. More importantly, it also offers the opportunity to use your platform capacity in the downtime between cases to proactively address internal issues (like fraud and insider risk) and organise your data estate to reduce future eDiscovery expenses.
Conclusion
The eDiscovery space is evolving quickly, leaving older operating models and outdated technologies in the dust. It’s not easy to keep pace and remain competitive on your own.
Finding an eDiscovery partner who will keep you at the cutting edge can deliver tangible dividends by reducing the cost of eDiscovery and litigation while unlocking the wider value-adding benefits today’s leading eDiscovery technologies offer.