7 Things Most eDiscovery Companies Get Wrong
Can anyone really get it all right?
eDiscovery companies aren’t perfect, and some tend to get a few things wrong. If you don’t know these common disadvantages in eDiscovery software, and what to look for in better alternatives, we’re here to guide you.
The three key factors that go into any buying decision are cost, time, and quality (also referred to as good, fast, and cheap). Ideally, you want all three. But we often find that eDiscovery companies sacrifice one factor to get the other two, or even sacrifice two just for one. For example, you might go for a solution that is lower in quality and less time-efficient but is cheap. We all know that if you pay less and rush to get work done, the quality of your work will suffer.
This shouldn’t be an unspoken industry rule, it should be an exception. We think you shouldn’t have to sacrifice quality or time for an affordable product. An all-in-one solution should have an attainable price point for everyone from big companies to small firms, and you can get that with Reveal. If your service provider isn’t meeting these expectations, you should explore the constantly evolving technology on the market.
1. Cost Transparency
A drawback among eDiscovery companies is that provider bills tend to be overcomplicated. Are you hit with more hidden fees for every added feature used in your workflow? New user fees, AI add-on fees, setup fees, maintenance, etc. all add up to a bill that’s larger than you probably expected. If your eDiscovery company wasn’t initially transparent about the cost of their service, there’s a better option out there.
Reveal prioritizes simplicity and predictability in invoicing, because you should know exactly what you’re getting from your eDiscovery service. Especially when COVID-19 has caused an economic struggle for many organizations, the last thing you should have to worry about is add-on fees. With Reveal, there are no hidden fees and no interference in your eDiscovery process. As the world’s first all-inclusive subscription model with artificial intelligence, we think legal professionals should expect this kind of cost transparency from your litigation support technology.
2. Speed
Have you ever used eDiscovery software that is just too slow? In an industry that is constantly advancing, you shouldn’t put up with wasted time when there are more efficient options on the market. Speed is so important in eDiscovery. It impacts your overall processing time and, especially in the case of document review, time is money. When you’re already combing through thousands of documents, the last thing you want is for slow processing times to lengthen the eDiscovery process even more.
Reveal is an exceedingly efficient platform, with a fully distributed architecture for all processes including Import, OCR, Indexing, Analytics, Imaging, Review, and Production. We have the capability to distribute all jobs in a couple of hours, no matter the size. Long story short, we are very fast. Speedy solutions should be the norm for all eDiscovery companies, so don’t settle for any less.
3. Artificial Intelligence
In today’s robust eDiscovery market, it’s advantageous to use artificial intelligence to aid in your discovery process. However, that typically requires clunky integrations and additional costs from 3rd party vendors.
Reveal, on the other hand, offers our robust AI as a standard feature at no extra cost. Powered by NexLP, a leader in cognitive analytics, actionable insights from structured and unstructured data are effortlessly harnessed and seamlessly integrated into your workflows. Our AI tool uses functions like natural language processing and portable AI models to identify contextual cues in data. Reveal’s AI even utilizes emotional intelligence to identify sentiment in the documents. With content classification and linguistic intelligence also in the toolbelt, you have AI that helps you find the needle in the haystack. A platform with this ability can change everything for your eDiscovery process.
Don’t let other electronic discovery providers keep you in the dark about the AI capabilities out there, because there’s so much more you can do when your eDiscovery software includes powerful AI.
4. Continuous Active Learning
Is your legal team missing critical insights because your solution doesn’t use Continuous Active Learning (CAL)? Reviewers are constantly finding new information in electronic data and using it to develop legal strategies. But, if your team uncovers data too late in the process, this error can be detrimental to a case if the insights require drastic changes to your team’s strategy. Sometimes the data is discovered months after the review began, leaving your team scrambling.
With CAL, here’s how it works: the software refines results based on the user’s feedback, meaning it continuously learns what electronically stored information (ESI) you’re looking for. Reveal’s CAL uncovers documents with key facts early on in the eDiscovery process. The data in question is moved to the top of the review queue, giving your team more time to process that information. More time leads to a better strategy and completing work that has a greater value for your clients. Furthermore, your team can leverage CAL to create a more efficient and smarter QC process.
In a time when we’re dealing with more electronic data than ever before, and deadlines seem to shorten, CAL is a function you should insist on.
5. Early Case Assessment (ECA) tools
The truth is, document review is often an expensive and time-consuming part of the legal process. You can’t get around doing the work, but you can cut down on time and expenses. Most eDiscovery solutions don’t include ECA tools and we think that’s a disservice to the industry.
The benefits of ECA during the eDiscovery approach are plentiful, but it all boils down to being able to remove junk and focus on potential key data BEFORE you move to review. With ECA tools, you can optimize project management by quickly collaborating with your team on processed data. You can also take advantage of functions like keyword searching, document-level or conceptual searching, predefined saved queries, and topic heat mapping – all prior to review, where you get charged.
Reveal’s ECA tools allow you to leverage the network communication diagram to see who is talking to who, uncover all email addresses and aliases for a communicator, use the robust topic modeling to uncover potentially privileged material or trends within the data, or use emotional sentiment to see tone in email. You can let the system put all of this together in story cards so you can see the bigger picture in the data set.
Setting expectations for the inclusion of ECA tools in your eDiscovery solution will get you on your way to a more efficient eDiscovery process, with more benefits than ever. Don’t settle for a solution that’s price gouging you just because it sets a standard for the industry. Standards evolve when you set your expectations higher.
6. Foreign Language Translation
During ECA and document review, it’s not uncommon to run into data in a foreign language. Depending on your eDiscovery software, this could be a non-issue, or it could grind your workflow to a stop while you figure out the best approach. Unfortunately, in today’s eDiscovery market, it’s the norm for software to only identify one language when several exist within a document. Once the languages are identified, how can you understand them without hiring a native speaking reviewer?
Our software can translate 20 different languages, allowing you to toggle between the original and translated versions seamlessly. Furthermore, you can index and run targeted searches on the translations. In the case that you need a native speaker to review the document, the software lets you easily translate the interface to their language.
Too many eDiscovery providers get away with only processing, identifying, and analyzing one language in a document, potentially making you miss crucial data. Reveal can OCR image files in over 120 languages and identify the top 3 languages and their associated percentage within 1 document in a single pass. If a provider or platform tries to address this, they require multiple passes, which is a huge resource drain. Don’t settle for less in the market, choose Reveal, the most comprehensive language support for any eDiscovery application.
7. Autonomy
Have you ever had the frustrating experience of an eDiscovery platform forcing you to give up control of simple tasks? Some eDiscovery companies require you to email someone from support for minimal tasks, like creating an archive of the project. Service providers also tend to charge monthly fees for tasks like creating tags or new users. When you total the add-on fees and these other monthly charges, it all adds up to be quite costly and time-consuming. If you’ve experienced jumping through these extra hoops, you know they’re a drain on time. Taking away administrative autonomy is how too many eDiscovery companies charge more while hindering your workflow and limiting your control.
Quality also suffers if you don’t have the administrative controls to see data processing exceptions. If your eDiscovery technology company conducts data discovery with a black box mentality, this lack of autonomy can cause time, cost, and quality to suffer. We give you data processing control back by allowing you to handle import exceptions so useful data isn’t hidden.
At Reveal, we don’t control your workflow by limiting your user access. Administrators have full access to tasks like creating and archiving projects, enabling loading data into AI, giving access to other users to upload data, and enabling document-level security.
In the case that you don’t like having that much control, or you don’t have the time for it, your Reveal consultant and 24/7 support team are always available to handle tasks or offer support, even if your questions seem trivial. This type of access to autonomy and flexibility should be the norm in eDiscovery companies, so set your expectations higher when you’re looking for a new solution.
Ok, now what?
Did you just realize that you should set higher expectations for eDiscovery companies and want to make the switch to Reveal? Don’t worry about what it might mean for the live or legacy matters at your law firm. We’ve got you covered.
Our proprietary technology allows for seamless migration from other review technologies while maintaining all review work products. Our team will consult with your legal department to get them up and running with the new platform. Don’t let the fear of learning how to use new software scare you because when we say it’s a seamless transition, we mean it.
If your organization is interested in migrating your in-house or firm’s eDiscovery solution, contact Reveal to learn more. We’ll be happy to show you how we deliver more than traditional eDiscovery companies, with our AI-powered, end-to-end document review platform.