eDiscovery Daily Blog
Working Successfully with eDiscovery and Litigation Support Service Providers: Monitoring Work and Preventing Problems
So many law firm litigation support folks that I know have an unpleasant war story or two about a project they did with a vendor. I usually find these frustrating, because more often than not, the problems could have been avoided. Taking a few preventative steps early on, and doing a good job of monitoring project activity can make all the difference. In the next few posts in this series, we’re going to look at ways to make the projects you do with vendors run smoother.
First, let’s look at the potential problem areas. There are three:
- Unexpected project costs
- Missed deadlines
- Poor work quality
Very often, the problems in these areas result from poor communication between the litigation team and the service provider. Sometimes, the problems stem from poor up-front communication, which results in a misunderstanding of requirements, priorities and expectations. Other times, the problems arise because of poor communication during the project itself.
There are several steps you can take up-front to minimize the potential for problems. These steps will foster a good understanding of expectations and requirements and build lines of communication into the process. Constant communication with the service provider throughout the life of the project is likewise important. If you are in frequent communication you are likely to catch problems before they get out of hand and before they turn into major headaches.
The next several blog posts will cover steps you can take to minimize the potential for problems with unexpected project costs, problems with meeting deadlines, and problems with sub-standard work quality.
What steps do you take to prevent problems with vendor work? Please share any comments you might have and let us know if you’d like to know more about an eDiscovery topic.