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summits
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16-18 May 2010
Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Miami, FL, USA |
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Mike Margolis Interview
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Information overload is a growing problem for General Counsel and the outside Litigation Counsel they hire - and a combination of new software and outsourcing could be part of the solution, says Mike Margolis, Founding Partner at Margolis & Tisman LLP. As a result of the e-discovery explosion, there is simply too much information for trial lawyers to master with existing tools. A service provider at the marcus evans Corporate Counsel Summit Spring 2010 taking place in Florida, May 16-18, 2010, Margolis addresses information management and how new software technologies, including wikis, could assist lawyers through their troubles. What are some of the challenges facing General Counsel in North America at the moment and what solutions would you recommend? Mike Margolis: On the e-discovery side, we all know about the ever-more sophisticated technology that is available to collect, sift through and produce documents in litigation; but the ability to integrate that information into a lawyer's working knowledge of a case is lagging far behind. E-discovery solutions focus on collecting and producing information, but lawyers need to actually absorb the content and integrate it into their case plans. Right now, there is no magic bullet that solves this problem, but people are beginning to nibble at the edges. For example, recent amendments to the federal rules in the US court system recognize that because of the vast amount of material involved, lawyers should be allowed to produce large document sets without having verified to a 100 per cent certainty that no privileged materials are included – and have the right to claw back privileged documents if they are inadvertently produced. Nevertheless, lawyers are going to have to become much more systematic in the way that they handle information. I think there are two emerging tools that, in combination, offer a promising strategy to address the problem: on the one hand, using new software technologies to manage the information more effectively and make essential knowledge instantly accessible - and on the other hand, taking advantage of the availability of intelligent help in parts of the world that have lower labor costs, by outsourcing. Together, these would result in a significant advance in a lawyer’s ability to master what is now an overwhelming flood of information in a cost-effective manner. What are the effects of the downward pressure on attorney fees? Mike Margolis: Everyone is talking about how client pressures are driving fees down or into alternative channels, but there is a dark side to that that rarely gets discussed: the negative impact on quality that may result from the combination of the downward pressure on fees and the upward pressure on workload created by the e-discovery explosion. The long term impact of that has not yet really become obvious, but it is inevitable that unless measures are taken, these pressures will reduce the quality of service. What are some the tools that may help lawyers in managing information? Mike Margolis: In the future, I expect lawyers will increasingly use tools such as wikis, social networking, and case management software in combination with legal process outsourcing to forge a more powerful set of collaborative and analytical tools that will help them tame the information overload within reasonable fee constraints. Litigators need to read piles of documents, think deeply, and communicate extensively with colleagues, clients, witnesses and consultants. Most of that information ends up locked up in particular lawyers’ heads. Lawyers do make some effort to record the essence of their thinking and the essence of events that happen in the litigation, including their thought processes, conclusions from brainstorming and so forth. But most will admit that only a small percentage of that information is readily available to them when they go to trial. Emerging software tools can help. Let’s take wikis, for example - if the thinking that is developed in the course of a many brainstorming sessions is recorded by the various participants in a wiki format, then that thinking is much more likely to be available to the lawyers when needed. These tools can help reduce the loss of information. In any particular case, that greater mastery of case information will improve the odds of winning.
This unique forum will take place at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Miami, Florida, May 16-18, 2010. For more information please send an email to info@marcusevanscy.com or visit the event website at www.corporatecounselsummit.com Please note that the summit is a closed business event and the number of participants strictly limited. About marcus evans Summits marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings. For more information, please visit www.marcusevans.com All rights reserved. The above content may be republished or reproduced – kindly inform us by sending an email to press@marcusevanscy.com |
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