We are increasingly used to seeing messages at the foot of emails asking us whether it is really necessary to print out the email – but just how much paper do law firms waste? According to e-discovery specialists PinPoint Global (no relation to Quill's Pinpoint bureau venture) a culture of ‘print first, ask questions later’ among law firms is costing millions of pounds each year as well as wasting valuable natural resources.
Despite a move in the legal sector towards the electronic processing of data to find evidence, known as e-disclosure, many lawyers still routinely send all their files to be printed, often including many duplicate versions containing the same information, without even considering alternative methods of processing.
“The days when most evidence was provided to lawyers by clients in paper format are long gone and the need for law firms to have instant access to information means that most of this information is now supplied as emails or other electronic documents,” explains Greg Wildisen, managing dDirector of PinPoint Global. “The problem is that old habits die hard and many lawyers are still simply sending everything to the print room, needlessly printing out boxes full of paper which, quite apart from the obvious green issue, is incredibly expensive and entirely impractical from a review perspective.”
It is estimated that the cost of processing electronic documents using only paper methods is £2.15 per document. Considering that many cases will involve more than 50,000 documents with larger ones involving closer to 750,000 documents, this puts the cost of processing paperwork alone at anything between £106,000 and £1,590,000 per case. This calculation does not take into account loss of time to review paper evidence versus faster electronic review tools. By moving to full e-disclosure, law firms would typical save at least 93% of these processing costs alone.
It is also estimated that the time taken to review a document for initial relevance determination in the Disclosure process can be anywhere between 30 seconds to 2 minutes per document. Recent studies suggest the cost savings of reviewing documents using electronic techniques over manual paper review amount to an 89% saving. For a 30GB case for example this could amount to in excess of £2 million pounds based on London lawyer rates. (Source Document Analytics Allow Attorneys to be Attorneys, Chris Paskach and Vince Walden, DDEE, August 2005, page 10).
Mike Davis, Senior Analyst at Industry analyst Ovum, commented, “e-discovery or e-disclosure has previously had a bigger profile in the US and Australia, but with almost exponentially higher volumes of communications both to, and within, organisations in the UK and across the world, now being electronic, the only reliable way to sort the ‘wheat from the chaff’ will be through e-dDisclosure solutions. Not only should it be cheaper, it should give the legal teams more time to work on their cases – which is what they are really paid to do – not trawl through reams of paper.”
“It is completely understandable that many law firms struggle with electronic processing for a variety of reasons both cultural and practical,” said Wildisen. “We’re not saying don’t print, we’re just saying think about the data you’re dealing with before you do and consider whether it’s actually going to save time or simply make more work for you. The truth is that validity of paper review becomes increasingly unsustainable with size so law firms need to look seriously at other options.”
Pinpoint Global suggests that lawyers can take steps to make an immediate impact on their efficiency by deploying a process they term Intelligent Printing. This is an interim step to full e-disclosure and involves de-duplicating documents, removing irrelevant information and only printing relevant documents as an alternative to reviewing large volumes of data on screen. To help law firms get this process started, the company has suggested a six point check list they should carry out on receipt of potential evidence files from clients;
1) Conduct a basic analysis of file types and volume to determine the value of printing them. For example, there is no value in printing out 'container files' like databases as these will tend to be large and make no sense on paper.
2) Determine the desired output and ask yourself whether paper is the most appropriate medium – as a guide 1GB of data (roughly 1CD) is the equivalent of 15,000 pages of paper. It will not be effective to print more than 1GB.
3) Have the documents collated and printed in an order that makes sense and speeds up the review process.
4) Conduct a de-duplication to remove the duplicate documents. This alone can often save 30-50% of the printing costs.
5) Deploy language detection tool to establish exactly what you are dealing with so you do not end up with realms of foreign documents you cannot read.
6) Conduct a keyword search or date cull to print out only those documents that contain the relevant key terms or lie between ascertained relevant dates.
|
||||
      Recent Comments
Who's there?
Search
Month Archive
Google Ads
|
Wednesday, January 30
Think before you print
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 30 Jan 2008 08:12 GMT
Friday, January 25
Software Solutions Guide - the winners & losers
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 25 Jan 2008 14:07 GMT
The English Law Society formally launches the next edition of its annual Software Solutions Guide at the Legal IT Show in London in just under a fortnight's time. or those of you who can't wait, here is a summary of the winners and losers. Click on the attached file for a PDF.
 1 AttachmentsThursday, January 24
Your security leaks today
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 24 Jan 2008 08:50 GMT
The latest security leak to emanate from HM Government comes courtesy of the Ministry of Justice (or whatever the Lord Chancellor's Department is called this week) and the Court Service.
Apparently four CDs containing details on 55 defendants and other restricted information related to people in the Manchester area – part of an investigation into claims that magistrates were dropping cases where the defendants do not turn up to court dates – were sent recorded delivery on 15 December but never arrived. (Quelle surprise, mail gets lost in the post at Christmas.) Reports suggest the 4 CDs were neither password-protected nor encrypted. The Ministry of Justice made the following statement: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Court Administration (HMICA) confirms that 4 CDROMs are missing. They were sent recorded delivery. Ministers and the Information Commissioner were notified immediately it was recognised that personal data had been lost. An investigation is underway so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.
Successor to Vista coming early?
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 24 Jan 2008 08:42 GMT
Last week Microsoft announced that support for Windows XP would end on 14th April 2009 – that's the day after Easter Monday so you can spend the bank holiday weekend upgrading to Vista. However today it is being reported that the successor to Vista – Windows 7 (aka Blackcomb then Vienna) – which had initially been rumoured to
hit the market in 2010 – will now arrive in the second half of 2009. Oh joy, two upgrades in one year – or does it mean a chance to stick with XP and then jump straight to Windows 7 ?
Wednesday, January 23
E-Conveyancing revolution set to be called off
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 23 Jan 2008 11:20 GMT
In the latest (January) edition of the Legal Technology Insider newsletter (which should be hitting most desktops later today) we report on the in-fighting between the Inland Revenue and the Land Registry over the future of e-conveyancing in the UK.
One of our moles, who gets to sit in on HMRC/SDLT committee meetings reports that at their meeting this Monday, it became apparent the agency is strapped for cash and that very little new development work can be expected in the coming months. It also appears the Land Registry has failed, at least for the time being, in its plans to become the dominant player in the e-conveyancing market. I fact even their beloved Chain Matrix project is being delayed - which possibly explains why the pilot project never handled integration with case management systems. Although another explanation is that the Land Registry was unaware of how widespread the use of case management software is in the conveyancing process. HMRC has also released its report looking into why there has been such a slow take up of online filing (see attached document) - which can basically be summarised as Government Gateway registration is a pain. 1 AttachmentsTuesday, January 22
New desktop paradigm on the way from Pilgrim?
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 22 Jan 2008 10:03 GMT
Later this week Pilgrim Systems is holding its annual user conference in Edinburgh where – according to Pilgrim director David Thorpe – the company will be "announcing a whole new paradigm for law firm software". That's all the information we have although Thorpe adds that "in a period of very little innovation" in the legal IT world after "really studying how fee earners want to interact with their PMS software, we have managed to produce something that avoids them having to use multiple applications and redefines the PMS desktop paradigm."
The Orange Rag has a webinar with Pilgrim next week and as soon as we have more news, you'll be the first to know. Wednesday, January 16
But the laptop was still working
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 08:10 GMT
Every year the Darwin Awards commemorate those people who improve the human gene pool by taking themselves out of it – usually in the most stupid way possible. As this blog is read by some people of a nervous disposition, we cannot go into the details of the winner or how he left this life – save to say it involved bottles of sherry going down an unusual orifice – however the fate of one of the runners-up was more familiar.
Identified only as Oscar, he was a 29-year-old IT trainer who met his end on Highway 99 in California in February last year when his Honda Accord crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a Hummer. The occupants of the Hummer were not seriously injured. California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers found Oscar's laptop still running and plugged into the car's cigarette lighter. Investigators believe that he was using it when his car crossed the center line. "Driving is not a time to be practicing your multitasking skills," remarked CHP spokesman Tom Marshall. We mention this story because last year the IT director of a top 50 UK law firm admitted that one of his partners came in one day to say that with the help of some Velcro, he had managed to attach his Blackberry to the centre of his car's steering wheel, so he could check his emails as he commuted in and out of the office. And there was the sales exec (female) of an old legal IT supplier (let's call them Avenue Legal Systems) who told us that she'd once been pulled over by traffic police and given a warning because they'd spotted her applying lipstick while she was driving. "Fortunately," she said, "they didn't spot the fact I also had a television set mounted in the footwell on the passenger's side and had been watching Home & Away while I was driving." For more information about the Darwin Awards visit www.darwinawards.com Tuesday, January 15
Everything ticketyboo say Tikit
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 15 Jan 2008 10:59 GMT
The Tikit Group plc today reported on trading for the year ended 31st December 2007, as it enters its close period and ahead of the announcement of its preliminary results in March 2008. The statement (which basically can be summarised as 'everything ticketyboo') reads...
"During 2007, the overall objectives for the group were to continue to achieve good organic growth from our existing clients and to secure further share in the markets in which we operate, targeting large UK and European law firms and UK based accountancy firms. All of these objectives have been met and results for the year will be in line with market expectations. "Tikit enters 2008 with a healthy backlog of implementation and support business together with many opportunities to secure further major projects. The outlook for the Group is encouraging and the Directors look forward to updating shareholders on progress when the preliminary results are released in March 2008." Monday, January 14
Saturn Legal and 27H merge
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 14 Jan 2008 10:20 GMT
Saturn Legal Limited and 27h Limited (the consultancy formed last year by Tim Spiggs and David Gallagher) have today merged to become Saturn27 Limited. Both organisations have been working in close association over the last few months and it makes perfect business sense to become one larger, faster growing company.
With offices in London, Edinburgh and Fleet, Saturn 27 intends to remain agnostic to proprietary vendors and not partner with any one specific time and billing, CRM or other vendor. The company said its aim is to offer independent consultancy and professional services augmented by several Microsoft products that will leverage our clients' existing or new investments in line of business applications. Commenting on the merger, David Gallagher said "I do not believe we are competitors to organisations such as Tikit and Phoenix. Those organisations are more focused on reselling proprietary products with their own services or offering services on a sub contract basis on behalf of, say, Thomson Elite. Whilst we’d obviously not say no to an approach by Aderant, Elite or Lexis Nexis, we’d prefer to be retained by our own client law firms to act in their best interests and like Saturn’s rings (which coincidentally are at 27 degrees to the horizon!!) attract any nasty debris away from joint project’s delivering better implementations, best practices and ongoing post implementation consultancy." The company will be exhibiting on stand 65 at the Legal IT Show Islington on 6 and 7 February. Friday, January 11
Reactions to FAST purchase
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 11 Jan 2008 12:28 GMT
Microsoft's decision earlier this week to buy Norwegian-based FAST Search & Transfer business for US$1.2 billion (about £600 million in sterling) has produced some interesting reactions from other suppliers in the enterprise search arena. And 'no' this FAST is in no way connected to the FAST that is part of the IRIS group...
According to David Haucke, the global marketing VP at ISYS Search Software: "Where does this leave FAST customers, both old and new? Through first-hand knowledge and its conversations with customers, prospects, partners and industry observers, ISYS is well aware of the implementation difficulties companies have had with both Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS) and FAST's own technology. While we don't believe in a magic pill when it comes to these types of solutions, we also don't feel customers should have to invest countless months, resources and money on something that should begin earning a return almost immediately. "The combination of MOSS and FAST has the potential for real integration headaches. Unless Microsoft can slot FAST's technology into MOSS and offer it up to customers as a turnkey solution without the need for additional integration overhead, this deal could mean double the implementation time or worse. And more importantly for customers, how will Microsoft price this combined solution? Based on our knowledge of FAST's pricing, customers can expect a starting price of $250k to $300k. "Microsoft is already spinning this deal as a net win for the customer, claiming the combined technology will give customers a single solution that covers the gamut of search needs. ISYS politely disagrees with this assertion, as these search needs also include a facility for out-of-the-box yet advanced functionality, something that doesnít appear to be in the cards for the combined Microsoft/FAST solution. "The deal itself is not a surprise. Platform vendors have been making these types of acquisitions for a couple of years now, with Oracle serving as one of the early movers with its acquisition of TripleHop. But how does it affect the enterprise search market as a whole? The mid-market should continue unaffected, as it will take months for the two companies to merge, and the resulting product will likely be too aggressive (both in costs and implementation timeframes) for most mid-market needs. As such, we believe ISYS remains well suited to serve its broad base of mid-market customers, and news such as this only further highlights the need for powerful yet affordable enterprise search. ISYS has been successfully selling mid-market enterprise search solutions for nearly 20 years now, primarily because we've never strayed from customer demand for easy-to-use, cost-effective technology. "The high-end pure-play vendors stand to lose the most by the continued movement among platform vendors. The fear, uncertainty and doubt this news creates will likely stall large-scale deals, spelling trouble for a handful of vendors. Despite its success and growth, Autonomy is now in a precarious position, and one has to question how long the company can continue on its own. Others making large bets in this end of the market include Endeca, Vivisimo (sold into the legal sector as part of the Interwoven offering) and Recommind. These vendors, too, will have to look deep into their crystal balls to determine how viable they will remain, as platform vendors generate more inroads in the high end. When you consider that vendors like IBM and Microsoft already have armies of professional services, it appears clear that room at the top is quite crowded, with little air to breathe for those without the resources to compete." Meanwhile Craig Carpenter at Recommind had this to say "This is a hugely significant announcement for both companies, and the software market in general, confirming that sophisticated search and information management is an absolutely central to today's enterprise strategy. However, it certainly lays bare the positioning Microsoft previously gave with respect to its 'high-end' MOSS search. You don't pay $1.2B to shore up your high-end search business unless your product actually isn't close to what the market demands. "As for FAST, a 40%+ premium over its current stock price is nice in the short term, but Autonomy (for one) would never have agreed to this, as it is a pittance compared to what they could make in a marketplace that is still growing at 30% a year. FAST has also been getting squeezed out of many deals by vendors with particularly compelling offerings in certain spaces, such asRecommind with professional service firms. In other words, clearly FAST was concerned about its ability to compete long-term with more progressive search vendors. "This announcement also demonstrates the importance and value of more customised search applications (for eDiscovery, for BI, for expertise location etc). People are beginning to realise that features such as automated document and email categorisation, plus compliance and forensics functionalities, are critical elements in next generation search and this transaction will help expedite that education process. "This announcement will provide a significant short term opportunity to convert FAST customers, an opportunity primarily for the major search pure plays like Autonomy, Endeca, Zylab and Recommind. At the same time, it will also likely lead to further consolidation in the high-end search world, as other major vendors (Oracle, IBM, SAP, HP, EMC, CA etc) won't want to be left behind with search that is – or was – good enough (as Microsoft's had been)." |
      Recent Articles
RSS Newsfeeds
Main Page RSS
Categories
Twitter Updates Login
 |
||