In this Roundup: The annual Socha-Gelbman survey of e-discovery vendors, a new knowledge management resource, and an update on Orrick’s “near shoring” operations center in Wheeling, WV.
E-Discovery Market Survey (EDD Stats)
EDD Hits $2B in Socha-Gelbmann Survey (Law Tech News, 9/2/07) provides top level results of the fifth annual Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey Report. The article lists top vendors in multiple categories: overall service providers, overall software providers, identification, preservations, collection, processing, review, analysis, production, and presentation. Blogger Rob Robinson provides a tabular snapshot of the 2005-2007 Top 5, 10, and 20 EDD vendors.
Knowledge Management
Dennis Kennedy’s How to Find a Good Deal Document (TechnoLawyer Blog, 9/1/07) explains that “Real Practice’s RealDealDocs provides access to hundreds of thousands of exhibits from public filings from the SEC EDGAR database selected for relevance to transactional lawyers.” Dennis points out the products use for creating documents, issue checklists, and calling opposing counsel’s statement that they never change a certain provision. Query: will this displace some more costly knowledge management efforts by law firms?
Update on Orrick’s Near-Shore Global Operations Center in Wheeling, WV
Orrick’s Staffing Moves Pay Off — Will Other Firms Follow? (The Recorder, 5/25/07) reports that five years after Orrick opened its Wheeling Global Operations Center, the firm has saved more than $20mil. It also notes that other than Baker McKenzie, which operates a central facility in Manila, few other firms have followed this central model. Another update on Orrick: Q&A: Centralizing your business infrastructure, Managing PARTNER Magazine (US Edition, 4/07, p. 16). This interview with Ralph Baxter, Chairman and CEO of Orrick, reports that “The Wheeling office had 73 employees when it opened on 28 June 2002. Currently, Wheeling has 214 employees, although 38 of those are really with Willams Lea…”