ZL Announces Top 7 Predictions for eDiscovery in 2011

Published by: ZL Tech

ZL Anticipates Advances in Automated Review Technology, Rises in Global eDiscovery claims, and Shifting Focus on the Left Side of the EDRM

SAN JOSE, CA – Dec. 13, 2010 ZL Technologies, Inc., the leader in archiving and eDiscovery software for large organizations, today announced its predictions for eDiscovery in 2011. Based on the insights gathered by ZL General Counsel, Adam Sand, industry thought leaders, ongoing legal cases, and ZL eDiscovery customers, ZL Technologies anticipates advances in automated review technology, rises in global eDiscovery claims, and in-house counsel focusing on the left side of the EDRM as a way to cut costs and ensure defensibility. With cloud technology leading the way to making all structured and unstructured data within an organization easily accessible for attorneys and paralegals.

ZL Technologies Top 7 eDiscovery Predictions Include:

1. New Sources of Data Will Become Routinely Sought in Discovery
   There once was a time that e-mail was not requested in discovery requests. And there was a time when nobody asked for voicemail, IMs, text messages or social media posts. But now, each of these are routinely sought in all lawsuits – even car crashes and slip and falls. This will not slow down in 2011. So if you aren’t aware of Foursquare, Ubiquitous Sensor Networks or the fact that refrigerators contain ESI, get ready.
2. Global eDiscovery Grows Up
   United States based companies are well aware of the horrendous costs for destroying ESI and are quickly deploying technology to help them preserve ESI. But now, plaintiffs are realizing that foreign based companies do a spotty (or non-existent) job at preservation. Expect the flood gates to open in 2011.
3. Automated Review Will Mature
   Yes, fully automated review is still years away. But with every company in the world trying to lower their legal spending, review (the largest of the eDiscovery budgetary line items) will become more automated. In 2011, we predict that many more companies will embrace predictive coding or some other form of automated review.
4. Discovery of Databases and Other Structured Data Will Increase
   Since nearly all corporate transaction data is contained in structured databases, there can be little doubt that discovery of structured ESI will grow in importance.
5. eDiscovery Software Focused on the Left Side of the EDRM (information management) Will Continue to Gain Traction In-House
   In 2010, in-house lawyers bought multiple eDiscovery software packages to decrease their budgets. But now the lawyers need to do more with less and cannot rely upon mere point “solutions.” Instead, the best practice of the in-house lawyer is to find a comprehensive solution that can manage the ESI from creation, preservation, collection and review. And the corresponding ability to proactively handle eDiscovery will separate the prepared companies from unprepared competitors since eDiscovery costs are no longer trivial.
6. eDiscovery Will Become More Standardized Thru Certification
   There are organizations focused on standardizing eDiscovery. The Association of Certified eDiscovery Specialists (ACEDS) created standardized tests for eDiscovery specialists. The ACEDS test, for example, tests a candidate’s knowledge of cost controls, preservation holds, budgeting, ethics, project management, eDiscovery technology, data culling, document reviews and cross-border discovery, among others.
7. The Cloud Will Become More Than a Marketing Slogan
   Hard to believe, but the “cloud” will actually become a reality in 2011. Although this is mostly a marketing term today (can you consider your data in the “cloud” if it is being hosted for review??), in 2011, the technology will finally be ready to offer computing power as a utility. So companies will no longer need to move their data from one provider for review provider (and pay double hosting fees) – it will all be in the cloud.

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