JUNE | 13ISSUE 2

VOLUME 29peerto

THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA

peerIL

LUST

RA

TIO

N B

Y TH

OM

AS

BO

UCH

ER, A

LL R

IGH

TS R

ESER

VED

GEN Y SPEAKS UP

PIONEERS OPENNEW DOORS

LEADERSLOOK AHEAD

Emerging CareersJune 2013

peerto

THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA

peer

Over the last 10 years, the intersection of technology and the practice of law has created an entirely new industry and identity for attorneys. Work habits, skill sets and knowledge bases intrinsic to law school graduates are highly applicable and desirable to hiring managers developing human capital resources related to legal technology. Juris Doctors moving more aggressively into non-practicing support staff roles at major law firms and service providers was an undeniable trend in 2012, and this trend will continue. Over the next five years, these non-practicing attorneys will compete for the same roles that existing legal IT, paralegal and litigation support professionals occupy or aspire to grow into. As a result, clearly defined alternative career paths into e-discovery have evolved for the non-practicing JD.

E-Discovery Project ManagersJ. William Speros, a practicing attorney who consults and testifies about evidence management, believes, “Increasingly, law firm employees, particularly attorneys, who understand e-discovery processing, hosting and production are prepared to develop a more interesting and valued career serving as project managers working with internal attorney clients, their corporate clients and outside vendors.”

James Bekier, National Litigation Support Services Manager for BakerHostetler, has hired several non-practicing attorneys and is an attorney himself. He comments, “We have truly fantastic coordinators on our team — some with JDs, some without.” Bekier is an example of a project manager (PM) who was promoted organically into a management position by his current

employer. He continues, “I started my career as a practicing attorney at a boutique law firm. I moved to a service provider as a project manager, to a major law firm as a senior litigation support analyst and finally landed at Baker as a PM before moving into the manager role. This path gave me well-rounded exposure to all elements involved in developing and managing a litigation support department.”

Document review experience alone is not enough to take on an e-discovery project management role. Speros makes a compelling point: “E-discovery project management requires deeper knowledge, more extensive experience and more imaginative and nuanced approaches than reviewing documents or even managing litigation support databases.” He continues, “Attorneys seeking to grow into e-discovery project management from document review-related roles cannot simply rebrand themselves. Those attorneys need to retool themselves. That is because litigation support databases are relatively static, small, simple, single-dimensional and straightforward relative to corporate clients’ native sources. The real world of corporate information systems is changing, sprawling and becoming increasingly complex.”

Consequently, to move up professionally in e-discovery, attorneys need to push their skill sets and expertise much further left in the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) and litigation life cycle. They will have to become more deeply versed in the collection, processing, hosting and production of data. This has extended the placement life cycle of a law firm PM hire; once three to six weeks, these searches can now last three to six months. Vendors, on the other hand, whose profit

Non-Practicing JDs Turn to E-Discoveryby Jared Coseglia of TRU Staffing

Non-Practicing JDs Turn to E-Discovery

margins continue to get squeezed with the commoditization of e-discovery processing and hosting services, even though work volume has increased, are much more willing to invest in talent that requires nurturing and grooming.

Garrett Bendel, Chief Operating Officer for Complete Discovery Source, a national provider of e-discovery services, also sees great potential in aspiring non-practicing attorneys who want to have careers as e-discovery project managers and consultants. He says, “Attorneys who are eager to transition their careers into e-discovery project management make for great hires. They come with a deep understanding of the litigation life cycle, sharp written and verbal communication skills and an understanding of the time, effort and energy commitment necessary to be successful in this industry.” Vendors, unlike law firms, often don’t have the luxury of waiting three to six months to fill a project management position. The timeline on a PM placement at a major service provider is still a speedy three to six weeks. Hiring in this sector will continue to be abundant, and project management is the fastest path toward placement for a non-practicing attorney looking to make a career transition.

The Corporate GrailLanding a job in a major corporation as a legal technology professional is consistently regarded as the “holy grail” of career opportunities. However, in terms of volume and vertical mobility, there are many more opportunities with service providers and law firms than with corporations.

The scarcity of corporate legal technology career opportunities is influenced by several factors. Chief among them is the tendency for corporations to have a preference for teaching someone who knows their existing data infrastructure what they need to know about e-discovery rather than teaching someone who knows e-discovery about their internal data infrastructure, policies and culture.

This trend of educating internally instead of hiring experienced outsiders is exemplified in statistical changes in ALM Events’ LegalTech conference attendees. Corporations appear to have made significant investments in getting their employees educated on e-discovery, information governance and legal technology in the last five years. Henry Dicker at ALM reports, “Both our New York and West Coast events have added comprehensive educational content in order to accommodate the significant increase in attendees from corporate legal departments.”

Corporations also have less of a need to internalize talent because of their growing utilization and strategic partnerships with outside service providers. Since the economic collapse, e-discovery outsourcing — particularly to business process, legal process and managed service providers — has become increasingly cost-effective. That, coupled with the advent and acceptance of technology-assisted review, early case assessment, predictive coding and more enterprise software solutions, has driven corporations to outsource most of the

labor component of their legal technology solutions and has created a desire to avoid a fixed asset model internally.

The good news for attorneys is that when corporations hire externally, they tend to hire for the legal department far more than the IT department. Corporations have hired externally for “special counsel” and “of counsel” roles — attorneys who advise on the relationship management between outside counsel and vendor partners. Corporations usually seek practicing litigators who wish to make a move out of the law firm lifestyle and to guide the legal spending and vision for a major corporate institution. These are coveted and highly competitive roles. As big data continues to consume our culture, more corporate legal departments will look to bring these subject-matter expert attorney roles in-house.

E-Discovery Technology SalesAnother alternative career path for a non-practicing attorney is to sell legal technology services. This is not a new trend, but it is currently an explosive one. As the availability of partner-track positions diminishes and the financially motivated attorney experiences a ceiling on earning potential as a staff employee, turning toward a consultative sales role directly responsible for driving revenue can be incredibly lucrative and professionally rewarding.

Wendy Axelrod, Senior Discovery Consultant at McDermott Will & Emery in New York City, feels strongly that “Sales professionals who take a vested interest in ascertaining the needs of their corporate and law firm clients demonstrate their value, commitment and desire for partnership — key marketplace differentiators. Today’s buyer of e-discovery services is more educated; sales professionals need to speak the buyer’s language at the same level of sophistication. They need to explain how their company can improve the value and quality of services rendered while containing the total cost of discovery. Sales professionals who speak generally to their offerings will struggle to win business in the future.”

Canaan Himmelbaum, an attorney and Vice President of Sales for Advanced Discovery in New York, attributes a great deal of his success to his years as a practicing attorney. He says, “Spending six years as an in-house counsel allowed me to understand the business aspect of the law and to work with vendors. I decided after meeting many e-discovery service partners that they had the ‘right idea’ when it came to how they spent their time. Quality of life has always been of utmost importance during my career. Fast-forward four years into my sales career —I am able to spend more time with family and still build strategic relationships with clients. I think if an attorney is looking for an alternative to the task of practicing law, sales in the e-discovery market is the perfect choice.”

The sales alternative career path is a bit more challenging to transition into than project management. The objective for an aspiring attorney looking to transition into sales is to get some experience selling and driving revenue to prove selling ability. This often means candidates will need to consider

Non-Practicing JDs Turn to E-Discovery

small-to-midsize players willing to make an investment in them and then groom them over time into sales professionals. Those attorneys turning to sales may also have to consider lower base compensations to get in the door.

It’s All in the MixWhether you are an attorney who manages projects, sells or practices law, a marriage of all three disciplines will make for the most valuable and potent career path. Attorneys who sell must understand how to manage projects. Attorneys who practice law must know how to sell their services and expertise to corporate clients. Attorneys who manage projects must know what they are being sold and why, so they can be more informed buyers. The legal technology profession is continuing its rapid expansion, and there will be plentiful opportunities for attorneys outside of practicing law. But the realities of the job marketplace and the dreams professionals have for their careers are not always in tune. This industry requires constant professional adjustment in both skill and style. The savvy attorney who can become a “triple threat” — salesperson, technician and legal expert — will have an advantage and will reap rewards financially in the future.

Jared Coseglia is the founder and President of

TRU Staffing Partners and has been a go-to

individual in the legal technology staffing and

recruiting field for the past 10 years. He is a

published and active voice in the litigation

support community, and his thought-provoking

podcasts can be heard monthly through ILTA’s

website. Jared can be contacted at jared@trustaffingpartners.com.

1. BECOME A MEMBER OF THE BAR. Being able to give legal counsel on e-discovery distinguishes you from your non-certified peers and makes you more marketable to in-house corporate legal departments.

2. LEAN LEFT! If your role as an attorney typically begins at the document review phase, seek opportunities to get exposure and experience working further left in the EDRM.

3. BOLSTER BUSINESS ACUMEN. The impact e-discovery has made on the cost of litigation is of great concern to all parties. Knowing the ins and outs of pricing options and trends is critical to managing e-discovery successfully.

4. TURN TECHNICAL. A focus on understanding the mechanics and nuances of predictive coding technology, technology-assisted review and early case assessment, and leveraging complex data analytics in managed review is the niche of greatest professional value.

5. EMBRACE PROJECT MANAGEMENT. There will be tremendous opportunity for lawyers to manage cases like projects in non-practicing roles within firms and vendors. These roles continue to be in high demand, are highly compensated and are highly visible — internally and externally.

6. STUDY SALES. The art of sales is a skill independent of the art of law and the art of technology. For lawyers looking to move into business development roles, giving this discipline equal study and weight will be critical to their long-term success.

SIX STEPS TO MAKING NON-PRACTICING JDS MORE MARKETABLE

JUNE | 13ISSUE 2

VOLUME 29peerto

THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA

peer

ILLU

STR

ATI

ON

BY

THO

MA

S B

OU

CHER

, ALL

RIG

HTS

RES

ERV

ED

GEN Y SPEAKS UP

PIONEERS OPENNEW DOORS

LEADERSLOOK AHEAD

This article was first published in ILTA’s June 2013 issue of Peer to Peer titled “Emerging Careers” and is reprinted here with permission. For more information about ILTA, visit their website at www.iltanet.org.