Legal Outsourcing Services For IT – What’s Right For Your Law Firm?

Is it a good idea to use legal outsourcing services for your SMB law firm?

Yes!

Chances are that your law firm is already stretched on resources, and outsourcing certain services and roles such as litigation support staff can help you streamline many tasks.

Also, when it comes to sourcing, recording files, and electronic discovery of documents, it’s only prudent to leave these tasks to professionals. An SMB law firm should consider eDiscovery outsource services and leave in-house resources for more urgent tasks.

Differences Between In-House And Outsourced E-Discovery Integrations

Electronic discovery, or eDiscovery, is a way to compile, review, and process electronic legal data so that it can be used as evidence.

For in-house data handling, your internal server will be responsible to source, store, manage, and discover vital eDiscovery documents that can help you win a case. Seems like a logical choice, but these servers can quickly become over encumbered.

On the other hand, outsourcing would transfer all electronic document processes mentioned above to a third-party host. Your internal digital resources won’t be overused, and you’ll still be able to use the network for other jobs or needs.

It would be best to involve litigation support staff to help you make the decision and gain a better perspective.

Consider the following when deciding to outsource:

• Cost-Effectiveness

If you have reason to believe you are better off without law firm IT outsourcing because it’d be cheaper, make sure you think about the long term costs as well.

First, you’ll have to invest in good software and hardware, and those don’t come cheap! Then you’ll need to hire experts who know how to use this software to its fullest potential.

If hiring isn’t in the books, then you’ll have to bear training expenses to ensure that your current staff can handle the technology for sourcing, handling, and securing data. All of this costs money, and when added up, burns through capital.

On the other hand, hiring an IT outsourcing service provides a team of experts hired at a fixed expense. You’ll have a fully trained provider who can reduce long term costs and centralize all your electronic document processes.

Everything is handled diligently by experts; sure, you’ll have to pay for it, but the speed and accuracy of the resulting data should more than make up for the expense.

• Data Security

Attorney-client privileges cannot be taken lightly. If legal documentation lands in the wrong hands, it can break a case.

This makes it all the more important to ensure iron-clad security of your internal servers if you plan to do some eDiscovery in house. You’ll also need the right IT staff to ensure that the data on your servers continues to be protected.

On the contrary, if you chose eDiscovery outsource services, these providers automatically have leading built-in firewalls and other security measures in place to guarantee that your documents will remain inaccessible to unauthorized personnel.

• Efficient Results

Keeping in mind how much work-load lawyers and paralegals have to handle, everything must run smoothly and efficiently so you can stay on top of your deliverables.

Staffing the right people to handle hiccups in handling eDiscovery data is vital. Many people on your legal panel may depend on the IT expert to source data, and this beats the purpose of developing an in-house resource.

But that won’t be the case with legal outsourcing services; they will ensure that all your needs are met promptly.

• Storage Limits

Your internal servers may have a ceiling to how much data can be stored.

This won’t be an issue if you work with a dedicated eDiscovery outsource service since most cloud-based platforms have very generous data storage limits.

Selecting The Right eDiscovery Outsource Services For Your Law Firm

It would be best to go for a hybrid solution, a bit of both, to control the access and storage of your eDiscovery files. Let Computer Resources of America help you come up with a plan that safeguards your interests first and foremost.

We are experts in providing managed IT services, Cloud solutions, IT consultancy, and IT staffing.

We understand SMB law firms have their fair share of challenges, and adding eDiscovery handling to it raises the difficulty to another level. So, let us safely and securely file your electronic data for civil litigations.

To know more, get in touch with us today!