The K&L Gates e-Discovery Analysis & Technology (e-DAT) group delivers creative, efficient, and cost-effective records management, e-discovery, and litigation readiness services to a broad range of clients across multiple industries. Our team, led by experienced trial lawyers, includes partners, staff lawyers, document review lawyers, litigation support managers, paralegals, clerks, and coders. We have been at the forefront of e-discovery and automated records management for over a decade, counseling clients nationally and internationally on these issues.
Our capabilities are used in a wide range of litigation, investigation, compliance, and business matters. We regularly serve as special counsel for discovery-related issues for our clients involved in litigation, governmental, or regulatory matters, even where our firm is not primary counsel in the matter. We learn the intricacies of our clients’ business as well as their electronic documents and data, applying that knowledge to each new matter while working closely with inside and outside counsel.
When legal review of documents is required, we rely on our specially trained review lawyers, most of whom have worked for K&L Gates for years. These professionals have made document review their careers, and unlike other review teams, are employees of the firm. This pool and depth of experience allows us to expand and contract quickly – growing to more than 100 review lawyers when necessary – staffing matters to best meet the needs of our clients.
Our lawyers frequently write and speak on records management and e-discovery topics at national and international conferences and legal profession events, as well as bringing their collective experience and knowledge to bear on client matters. We are involved at the forefront of document retention and electronic discovery policy through Lawyers for Civil Justice, the Sedona Conference, the Georgetown Advanced E-Discovery Institute, and other organizations, and are participating in the process of updating the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and various state rules to address the discovery of electronically stored information.
We work with clients to develop response plans for litigation, government, or regulatory investigations that are tailored to their business, records, and litigation profile. Our methodology focuses on four key areas: retention, collection, review, and production. Using different tools, we work with clients and their staff to identify the information needed to strategically plan discovery responses and to participate in the early discussion of e-discovery issues.
We also work with clients to draft and track legal hold notices; craft requests and objections; identify custodians and document locations; develop defensible collection plans that can be tracked and documented; develop plans for the review, protection, and production of documents; assist with offensive discovery; and advise on motion practice. We bring our experience, knowledge, and business practices to bear on each matter, looking for the best overall solution in each unique situation.
Discovery of electronic records has become a central concern in litigation and government and regulatory investigations. In some cases, settlement strategy, and even trial outcomes, hinge on the burden, costs, and potential pitfalls surrounding e-discovery.
Over the years, we have been engaged in managing the discovery process across a wide range of commercial litigation, antitrust, class action, and other complex litigation matters, as well as complex governmental or regulatory investigations. While these services have been used successfully in some of the country’s largest, most document-intensive cases, they are equally suitable for nearly any size or type of matter. We work with clients to develop reasonable, responsible, and defensible plans for responding to discovery requests, at reasonable costs that may be budgeted in advance.
At the onset of a matter, we use a unique combination of cutting-edge technology, specially trained review lawyers, and proven business processes to review and produce electronic and hard copy documents, often in a fraction of the time and at a substantially lower cost than traditional review methods.
Our review lawyers frequently use Attenex PatternsTM and RingtailTM, utilizing record-mapping technology originally developed at the behest and with the help of our lawyers, to help efficiently and effectively review massive amounts of electronic records. These technologies reduce the volume of records to be reviewed, identify the relevant concepts contained in a particular dataset, and present them graphically to reviewers in ways that expedites review without compromising quality. Our personnel annually process hundreds of millions of records.
In the early 1990s K&L Gates became one of the first law firms to set up an automated litigation support department to assist clients in organizing and managing very large volumes of ESI, hard copy documents, transcripts, trial exhibits, graphics, and work product.
Over the years, we have managed records for a wide variety of commercial litigation: antitrust, class action, construction, contract, corporate, insurance coverage, intellectual property, product liability, toxic tort, and other complex litigation matters, as well as complex governmental or regulatory investigations. Our review tools and techniques have also been used successfully in corporate due diligence and HSR reviews and for other transactional work. We work with our clients to develop a reasonable, responsible, and defensible plan for responding to their case and transactional needs. We design an information management structure and process customized for each matter, and can supply projected costs in advance based on document volume and the nature of the review.
In addition to Attenex Patterns and Ringtail, our in-house litigation support applications include CaseMap, Concordance, Crawler, LAW, LiveNote, Sanction, Summation, TimeMap, TrialDirector, Trident, and other specialized applications that allow us the flexibility to handle a wide variety of litigation and practice support needs.