Legaltech News’ Rhys Dipshan surveyed the landscape of paralegals, training and eDiscovery responsibilities finding that while many paralegals are engaged in the practice of eDiscovery, training and support are many times lacking.
Setting the stage, Rhys Dipshan observes that “Of course, bringing paralegals into the e-discovery fold isn’t entirely new, though it is becoming increasingly common in light of a limited talent pool and a growing deluge of client discovery work. Yet even with more firms seeing e-discovery potential in their paralegals, it’s still far from a widespread practice—or something that many firms proactively support, whether by encouraging or paying for training.”
Sheila Grela, paralegal at San Diego-based Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, founder of the San Diego Paralegal Association’s Virtual Lunch with Leaders and EDRM Global Advisory Council leader, sees the uptick in paralegals stepping up to handle eDIscovery tasks.
Because there is a shortage of ESI personnel, firms are working with the paralegals to have them help with things that they may never have previously done. We’re talking about the collection process. … [Paralegals are] doing data mapping with the clients, they’re going over and talking about where the data that is being requested might be.
Sheila Grela, paralegal San Diego-based Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch
While Grela sees firms willing to invest in training for purchased platforms and systems, Stephanie Clerkin’s view is that firms do not fully understand that additional training is needed, for process as well as technology. Clerkin, director of litigation support at Korein Tillery, Relativity Expert and winner of 2019 Stellar Women in eDiscovery Innovation Award notes that paralegals at small and midsize firms already “wear many hats,” many times without foundational training.
…constant fire drills and basically not enough time of the day to do formalized training is a huge issue. … It’s hard to do and if it takes away from any type of billable tasks, it seems to get pushed to the bottom of the list.
Stephanie Clerkin, director of litigation support at Korein Tillery
As Doug Austin, founder and editor of eDiscovery Today noted, “If you look at many e-discovery professionals, a lot of them started out as paralegals.”
Read the entire analysis here.
