Three Reasons Why Law Firms Should Adopt SaaS for eDiscovery

Lawyers, and the legal field in general, are not exactly known for their willingness to embrace new technology and change the tried and true, traditional ways they’ve always used to practice law. But as technology has taken over our everyday lives and become the norm across most industries, there’s no time like the present for lawyers and litigation support professionals to take a second look at how they can get up to speed on the best and newest eDiscovery technology that will ultimately transform their business, and in turn, create happier clients who are laser focused on reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

Like cassette tapes and the beloved Walkman, when it comes to eDiscovery, that old model of managing your own IT infrastructure and utilizing on-prem review platforms is becoming a thing of the past. This reminds me of other eDiscovery relics we knew and loved… not to call anyone out, but dare I mention Concordance or Clearwell in case you’re still using them?!

In this changing technology landscape where most clients are moving (or have moved) their data to the cloud, it’s a perfect match to also modernize your law firm’s eDiscovery program and adopt a self-service model that will work seamlessly with data stored in the cloud, and deliver less risk and more benefits for both you and your clients.

Just what are those benefits? Here are three reasons why adopting new technology and going to a SaaS eDiscovery solution will bring added efficiency, more billable hours, and happier clients.

1. Eliminate the Risk and Expense of Managing Your Own IT Infrastructure - For law firms, managing an IT infrastructure and maintaining servers for the purpose of hosting client data is expensive and involves a large amount of risk. Electronic data has become overwhelmingly voluminous and types of data have become so much more complex than when law firms first got into this business and we were primarily dealing with email. Think about mobile devices, chat data, ephemeral communication, etc. as just the tip of the iceberg. With cybersecurity as a top concern for corporations, I think it’s fair to say that law firms probably never meant to take on the risk that comes with managing a complex IT infrastructure for their clients. Having a self-service, modern SaaS solution at their fingertips, law firms can lower costs and transfer the risk of hosting client data to the SaaS solution provider.
2. Using SaaS Review Platforms Improves Client Services - Not only will a SaaS solution provide the benefit of relieving the security and risk burden, it will improve client services which is a win-win for the firm and the client. Although on-prem review platforms are what law firms have typically used, a SaaS platform reduces costs and improves efficiency. With an on-prem solution, license fees and infrastructure maintenance fees generally create out-of-pocket costs with no cost recovery mechanism. Moving to a SaaS solution introduces new ways to recover costs and makes solving substantive client concerns the primary job, rather than the inefficiencies that come along with maintaining an on-prem solution. To make the process of implementing a SaaS solution much easier, it’s important to note at this stage that building a business case and getting senior management on board with upgrading to a SaaS solution is critical. That way all parties understand the benefits to both the firm and its clients will be on the same page with making the change.
3. Upgrading to SaaS Allows Firms to Provide the Latest Technology to Clients - Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could easily and quickly upgrade your eDiscovery technology and always provide the latest and greatest technology to clients? Moving to a SaaS platform immediately provides this benefit as the service provider maintains the infrastructure and makes technology upgrades behind the scenes for you. In case you’re feeling a little nervous that opportunity for some portions of internal work will disappear with this eDiscovery model, in fact the opposite is true. This isn’t a threat to the traditional litigation support model. It will instead allow for a greater focus on more valuable and strategic work while a solid partnership is established with the trusted service provider who runs the infrastructure of the SaaS platform and will work alongside you.

If your primary goal is to create efficiency, lower costs, and ultimately make your clients happy, now’s the time to take your eDiscovery program to the next level and adopt a SaaS, self-service solution. You’ll have a modernized eDiscovery platform that allows for independent access and control to process, review, and produce data, while removing the risk and cost that comes with managing an IT infrastructure.