Digital solutions for digital problems
Discovery or Disclosure (now frequently referred to as eDiscovery / eDisclosure) is an element of legal practice that has been transformed by technology with the shift from paper to a digital world. To review large volumes of electronic data document by document as part of legal action or investigation is prohibitively slow and expensive. The volume and complexity of digital communications in today’s business world necessitate an automated approach. Providing technology to support eDiscovery activities at Eversheds meant finding a solution to enable its legal teams to streamline the collection, processing, analysis, review, classification and production of massive amounts of electronically stored information.
Several years ago, the firm selected OpenText™ Axcelerate™, an end-to-end eDiscovery solution that offers integrated data collection and culling, advanced analytics, technology-assisted review, rich visualizations, production and automation to reduce costs and eliminate the need for multiple vendors and point solutions. The Axcelerate solution powers the company’s eDisclosure review platform, which Eversheds calls ‘ES Locate.’ The firm recently renewed its OpenText Axcelerate contract, citing the many benefits it has seen from the solution, from increased efficiency and lower costs to ease of use and a trusted partnership with OpenText.
Intuitive interface for ease of use and insight
Eversheds has found that Axcelerate’s investigative capabilities, combined with an intuitive interface, help its legal teams get to the facts that matter sooner and inform case strategy. Axcelerate empowers users to take greater control over the process, from ingesting, collecting and culling data intelligently, and automating as many manual tasks as possible, to reviewing only what is necessary. Efstathiou noted the importance of the solution’s ease of use: "From the beginning, the feedback has been nothing but positive. What the legal teams love about the platform is how easy it is for them to use."
As the legal teams have become familiar with Axcelerate, Efstathiou has observed their evolution in the way that they use the tool to interpret the data: "Learning about the analysis of data not only helps them understand what is accessible and available, it also makes them feel more autonomous in the way that they would interrogate the data themselves. The more familiar they get with metadata interrogation and learn how to find specific audit trails and information, the more they start questioning the data. It creates a very intelligent dialogue between the legal user and the solution itself, to the point that they are also better able to defend the outcome of the disclosure exercise."