5 myths about outsourced document reviews

Historically, legal outsourcing has brought some skepticism. As the Director of Legal and Compliance Solutions, I’ve heard all sorts of reasons why it’s “best to keep document reviews in-house or with external counsel”. Today I’m sharing why — plain and simple — this is untrue when you work with Ricoh eDiscovery.

Here are the top five myths I’ve encountered about outsourced document reviews and their truths.

Myth #1: “It’s not conducted by experienced lawyers.”

False! Our review services are conducted entirely by lawyers, with significant document review as well as legal practice experience. Each of our eDiscovery Review Lawyers and Review Services Managers holds a law degree, has been called to the Bar and maintains good standing with a Canadian law society. Not only are they highly experienced with eDiscovery review processes and technology, but the vast majority have many years of legal practice experience in areas including commercial and general litigation, construction, competition and corporate law.

Myth #2: “In-house or external counsel are best suited for review.”

Maybe with more resources dedicated solely to conducting your review, this could be true. In reality, resources are often so stretched with counsel working on multiple files at one time. Clients don’t want to pay top billable rates for Associates to complete time-consuming review. Articling students aren’t learning about the practice of law by spending months of their training reviewing non-relevant materials. The experience and dedication a review team brings to any matter not only provides a more defensible process, but allows counsel to focus on high-value work such as legal strategy and keeps client costs down. It’s a win-win.

Myth #3: “I won’t have control.”

It’s your review. When you engage with an external team, they’re meant to act as extension of your own. During an outsourced review, clients are actively engaged in the development of the review instructions, the training of the review team and the iterative Q&A process during the review. We not only support our clients to be in control of their review, we encourage it. The transfer of knowledge from your legal team to our review team is ongoing throughout, with processes in place to ensure that you are always in control of your review project.

Myth #4: “It’s expensive.”

Not necessarily. Review services rates at Ricoh are often a fraction the cost of external counsel. Not only is the hourly billable rate less, but the total time (and subsequently, cost) to complete review is often much lower thanks to the experienced team who is dedicated solely to your project for its entire duration.

Myth #5: “Human review is more accurate than technology-based review.”

Now this one is the most pervasive myth. Reviews using technology and analytics are defensible and statistically validated. However, they produce outcomes that are only as good as the training it receives from humans. If the technology isn’t working, it’s because the human training process was fallible. Every single review we complete goes through extensive, statistics-based quality control. With our team of experts in technology-based review working behind the scenes, our reviews continue to see efficiencies that pale in comparison to “eyes on everything” linear review outcomes.

Our review technologies are all highly secure, cloud-based programs that allow ease of access through your own computer wherever you may be. Though the data always resides securely in Canada, you can access it where you need to.

Intelligent Review by Ricoh eDiscovery

Working with us for your document review can allow you to free up internal resources and get the job done faster and with increased accuracy, all while reducing overall cost. Have confidence that when you’re facing a judge or opposing counsel, we’re behind you with our ISO-certified processes and our statistically-validated review. We’re your partner and we’re here to help you get the job done right.

If you have any questions, be sure to reach out to our team. To learn more about whether outsourced, Intelligent Review could be right for your organization, visit our webpage.