You might not be a stranger to the hefty expenses that come with managing legal holds in personal injury litigation. The need to preserve electronically stored information (ESI) can add up quickly, especially when you factor in the time and resources it takes to identify, collect, and preserve relevant data.

But what if we told you there was a way to significantly reduce those costs? It’s not magic, it’s the technology and managed services.

By implementing the right tools and leveraging the expertise of a managed service provider (MSP), you can streamline the legal hold process and cut down on unnecessary expenses.

Here’s how:

Identify Key Players and Relevant Data Early On

One of the most costly mistakes you can make when it comes to legal holds is waiting too long to identify key players and relevant data. The longer you wait, the more time-consuming and expensive the process becomes. That’s why it’s important to consider using technology to help you identify potential custodians and relevant electronically stored information (ESI) as soon as possible. By leveraging analytics tools, you can quickly sift through large amounts of data to pinpoint the most relevant information.

For example, let’s say you’re representing a client who was injured in a car accident. You need to identify all potential witnesses and relevant documents, including medical records and police reports. Without technology, this process could take weeks or even months, and require significant resources from your firm. However, by using analytics tools, you can quickly identify potential witnesses based on their involvement in the accident, their proximity to the scene, and other relevant factors. You can also use these tools to locate relevant ESI, such as medical records and police reports, and determine the most efficient and effective way to preserve this information.

By identifying key players and relevant data early on, you can reduce the time and resources required to collect and preserve ESI. This can save you significant time and money in the long run, and allow you to focus on other important tasks, such as case strategy and client communication.

Implement an Automated Legal Hold Solution

Another way to reduce legal hold costs is to implement an automated legal hold solution. These tools can help you manage the entire legal hold process from start to finish, including custodian notification, data collection, and preservation.

By automating legal holds, organizations can eliminate the manual processes that can be time-consuming and error-prone. Manual processes can also result in inconsistencies in the way litigation holds are managed across different custodians or cases. Automated solutions, on the other hand, provide a consistent and reliable process for managing holds.

These advanced solutions can also help organizations manage the notification process. When a legal hold is initiated, custodians must be notified of their obligations to preserve potentially relevant ESI. Automated tools can help organizations efficiently notify custodians of their legal hold obligations, and can also track whether or not notifications have been received and acknowledged. Another benefit of using an automated solution is that it can help organizations with data collection and preservation. Once custodians have been notified of their legal hold obligations, they must identify and preserve potentially relevant ESI. This can be a daunting task, especially for organizations with large amounts of data.

Automated legal hold tools can additionally help organizations with data collection and preservation by providing custodians with clear instructions on what data needs to be preserved and how to collect it. These solutions can also help organizations collect data in a defensible manner, which is important in legal proceedings. Furthermore, these tools can also provide organizations with a centralized location for managing legal holds. This can help organizations easily track the status of each legal hold, including which custodians have been notified, which data has been collected, and which data still needs to be preserved. This can be especially helpful for organizations that are managing multiple holds at once.

In addition to reducing costs, implementing an automated solution can also help organizations reduce their legal risk. By providing a consistent and defensible process for managing legal holds, organizations can reduce the risk of spoliation or other legal consequences related to the mishandling of ESI.

When selecting an automated legal hold solution, it is important to choose a tool that is easy to use and integrates well with existing systems. Some solutions may require significant IT resources to implement and maintain, while others may be more user-friendly and require less IT support.

Leverage the Expertise of a Managed Service Provider

Implementing an effective legal hold process can be a challenging and time-consuming task. It requires identifying all potentially relevant materials, notifying custodians of their obligations to preserve materials, tracking compliance, and releasing the hold when the litigation or investigation has been resolved. In addition, legal hold management can be costly, especially for companies with large amounts of data and multiple ongoing matters. One solution to these challenges is to work with a managed service provider (MSP) that specializes in legal hold management. MSPs are third-party vendors that provide services to help companies manage various aspects of their operations, including legal hold management. These providers can help companies to streamline the legal hold process, reduce costs, and ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.

An MSP can assist in the selection and implementation of an automated legal hold solution tailored to a company’s specific needs. An automated solution can reduce the administrative burden of managing legal holds by automating many of the key processes, such as the identification of custodians and the tracking of compliance. This, in turn, can save companies time and money, as well as reduce the risk of non-compliance. In addition to providing technology solutions, MSPs can also provide ongoing support and training to help companies maximize the benefits of their legal hold management programs. This includes assistance with policy development, process improvement, and risk management. With the help of an MSP, companies can ensure that they have the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to implement and maintain effective legal hold management practices.

Working with an MSP can also provide companies with access to expertise and resources that they may not have in-house. MSPs that specialize in legal hold management are likely to have a deep understanding of the legal and regulatory landscape and the best practices for compliance. They can also provide insights into emerging trends and technologies that can help companies stay ahead of the curve. As companies grow and change, their legal hold management needs may also change. And, an MSP can help companies to adapt their programs to meet these evolving needs, whether it be through the addition of new technology solutions or the development of new policies and procedures.

Conclusions

As a personal injury lawyer, managing legal holds can be a time-consuming and expensive process. But by implementing the right tools and working with a managed service provider, you can significantly reduce those costs.

Whether you’re using analytics tools to identify key players and relevant data, implementing an automated legal hold solution, or leveraging the expertise of a managed service provider, there are many ways to streamline the legal hold process and cut down on unnecessary expenses. So why wait? Start exploring your options today and see how technology and managed services can help you reduce legal hold costs and improve your bottom line.

Alp Isin is an experienced IT professional who is passionate about delivering high-quality technology solutions to law firms. , Alp is dedicated to helping legal professionals improve their operational efficiency and productivity.

With over 20 years of experience in the IT industry, as the President of I.T. ISIN Solutions, a leading Managed Service Provider for law firms, Alp Isin has gained a deep understanding of the unique challenges that law firms face in managing their IT systems. He has built a reputation for providing exceptional support services that are tailored to meet the specific needs of his clients to optimize their operations, reduce costs and achieve their business goals.