eDiscovery in SA – do we have “eDiscovery champions” in SA?

I am in the midst of writing a complex article on the use of eDiscovery technology in investigations in SA but have taken a break from it as a couple of recent blogs from my friend in New Zealand, Andrew King ?on the necessity for having eDiscovery champions, have strongly resonated with me.

?Andrew begins by making the point that the proliferation of electronic data has changed discovery beyond recognition. Years ago, the logistics of discovery were often delegated to junior members of staff who dealt with the collating and copying of paper documents etc. This may still be the case in many law firms and companies in South Africa but not so much in other jurisdictions, where virtually every case involves electronic documents. That said, the volume of data in investigations in South Africa is enormous and the whole process of discovery and finding and/or eliminating documents is a huge and costly burden.

?It becomes clearer that law firms and corporations and institutions, regularly dealing with litigation, arbitration, competition matters etc. NEED an eDiscovery champion. When I worked in the UK, there were thousands of people involved in this industry, be it in house or external service providers and there are even more now. When I look at SA it concerns me that there are so few people who truly understand eDiscovery. Only a small number of law firms and corporations have someone in-house who has a good knowledge of eDiscovery, and we have precious few service providers.

Your eDiscovery champion is a conduit between IT and lawyers. He has enough knowledge of IT to understand data, how to collect it, how to preserve it and maintain its integrity coupled with enough knowledge of the law to understand discovery, privilege, data protection and trial preparation. As well as all of that, he has ever evolving knowledge of eDiscovery technology. You can see from all of the above just how much impact an eDiscovery champion can have. He will assist the lawyers in each case markedly and save them so much time, allowing them to do what they do best. It follows therefore that he will have a considerable impact upon reducing the costs of these cases.

I would expect your eDiscovery champion to have a good knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of a number of eDiscovery solutions as well as keeping up to date with what is going on globally within the industry. He must understand discovery not just in SA but elsewhere and he needs to understand the processes for Trial Bundles and preparation for trial. He needs also to understand the nuances of using eDiscovery technology in different spheres such as investigations, competition matters etc.

Once you have an eDiscovery champion there is so much he can do to give real value to your services and the needs of your clients. He must be involved in your matters as early as possible so decisions can be made about strategy and costs and time saving. He can, using his experience and contacts, ensure you are using the correct software solution and to its maximum advantages. He can communicate with the legal team and your client to ensure best value and e.g. review strategy. He can ensure you are up to the mark with what is available from a technology aspect and help with decision making on best value for money.

?By the way, throughout this post I have said “He” and of course I mean feminine as well as masculine. In fact, if I look at my global contacts, I probably know far more females than males in this role.

Finally, if you do not have an eDiscovery champion in house then outsource the role either on a case by case basis or by retainer. It is what I do.

Terry Harrison

[email protected]

+27 (0) 748347818

www.terryharrison.co