eDiscovery Daily Blog

• October 28, 2015

I love Rob Robinson’s Complex Discovery site.  Whether it’s information on eDiscovery provider mergers and acquisitions, a software and services mashup of the eDiscovery market, or links to many other useful resources, his is a site I check out pretty much daily.  His latest post discusses some questions that you might not think to ask your technology provider, because they might be “uncomfortable”.

In Six Uncomfortable Questions to Ask Your Technology Provider Immediately, Rob discusses failure to fully investigate a potential technology provider’s risk in relation to conflicts of interest, financial integrity, and adherence to the law when vetting those providers before entering into agreements.  As Rob notes, failure to ask questions like this could be due to not knowing what to ask, or it could be because those conversations are simply “uncomfortable”.

With that in mind, Rob identifies “six uncomfortable questions that all sourcing organizations should consider asking their technology providers today”.  They are:

1. Is any member of your organization involved in any activity that may result in competing loyalties that could cause your organization to benefit at our expense?
2. Is your organization prevented from engaging with any specific organization(s) by a contractual agreement, temporary restraining order, or a legal judgment?
3. Has your organization withdrawn any publicly released announcements or materials because of the inability to substantiate claims?
4. Does your organization have any unpaid federal, state, local or foreign income and employment taxes (as required) for the most recent three years of your organization’s existence?
5. Is your organization involved in any current litigation or under the threat of potential litigation?
6. Does your organization have any unsatisfied judgments?

Let’s face it, the quality of the technology offered by the provider may be moot if that provider has legal or financial issues or conflicts of interest that may affect the quality of the technology or services it provides.

Additional questions I like to ask relate to how long an organization has been in business and what is the average tenure of the key employees or executive team.  It’s good to know that you’re not dealing with a “fly by night” company that may not last.  While tenure and experience aren’t a guarantee for success, it certainly helps.  Have you looked at the standings in the National Football League lately?  It’s no accident that all of the undefeated teams have had the same coaching staffs for the last five to fifteen years (except one, and that team has Peyton Manning).  Experience makes a difference.

Rob’s article hits on a topic that people don’t talk much about.  If the provider is solid, those questions don’t have to be “uncomfortable”.  Thanks, Rob!

So, what do you think?  What “uncomfortable” questions do you ask your technology provider(s)?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.