Litigation Support Department

Case Lifecycle & Task Lists

The Operations Manual walks Litigation Support through the entire case lifecycle.  From pleading to the final destruct order after trial the Operations Manual guides Litigation Support efforts.

The Manual tells which forms to fill out and when to call meetings. More importantly the manual also tells the purpose and goals to achieve vis a vis forms and meetings.

The legal team will reuse some of the discovery from the beginning of the case in every phase of the case. The manual walks Litigation Support through each phase while accounting for needs in subsequent phases of the case.

Check Lists

The check list is only necessary until the technician learns the outlined steps. As each litigation follows the same patterns, the same check lists come into play over and over. Incoming media is always processed the same way thanks to the Incoming Media Checklist. Other check lists include: Production Checklist, Quality Checklist.

Batteries Included

The Operations Manual includes various documents, emails and cover sheets to use at the various phases of the case. Simply replace “Firm Name” with the real firm name as needed. The entire case lifecycle appears in a Microsoft Project file. Below is a sample of the steps Litigation Support should manage for the production phase of the litigation.

Case Lifecycle Task List – “Phase 5: Production”

Firm Productions

• Attorney gives completed Production Request Form to Lit Support
• Lit Support performs Production Checklist
• Lit Support calculates turnaround time
• Lit Support reports turnaround time and any identified issues vis a vis the checklist
• Lit Support project manages production
• Preproduction database updated to include production Bates numbers
• Lit Support sets up separate production database w/ stamped images for team to view

Lit Support provides production sets to internal inventory and parties per checklist

Opposing Productions

• All media should be forwarded to Litigation Support by Team
• Lit Support performs Incoming Media Checklist
• Lit Support creates review batch folders, per meeting
• Lit Support alerts team about new batches and QC test results
• Lit Support notes any issues (technical, person, schedule)
• Lit Support updates Budget Spreadsheet
• Lit Support provides Discovery Feedback Questionnaire to Team

Result: All Collections Produced and Opposing’s Collection Reviewed

Standard Operating Procedures

Today’s software and electronic discovery requires technological know-how. The lack of a paralegal background was always a hinderance to hiring a technician. Most non-legal people do not know what a Bates number is and the ways to use it. The

Operations Manual shows the technician what information to gather, what results are expected at every stage of a case. Standard operating procedures are the recipes of the business world. The technician sees what ingredients are required, how to complete the project and what the results should look like. When gathering required information from paralegals and attorneys, the technician can rely on provided forms and documented case strategies.

Roles & Responsibilities

Today’s software and electronic discovery requires technological know-how. If a law firm simply throws electronic discovery at whatever vendor gave a box of cookies, the resulting product may resemble the ultimate results of the cookies. The Standard Operating Procedures outlines roles and assigns responsibilities. It then walks everyone through the life of the case.