A prominent law firm was facing a significant challenge: attorneys and case teams were frequently bypassing the internal litigation support department and choosing external vendors or working in separate eDiscovery environments. This decentralized approach led to inefficiencies, data silos, and inconsistent support for litigation matters. The firm needed a robust, unified litigation support model that could cater to diverse platform preferences, meet client-specific requirements, and streamline data transfers—all while ensuring that attorneys were incentivized to work through their internal resources and department.
Solution: Sandline’s Managed Services and Platform Optionality
The firm partnered with Sandline Global to create a centralized litigation support ecosystem with Everlaw as the main platform. Sandline’s approach prioritized platform flexibility to accommodate the case team’s preferences while still directing all matters through the internal department. With Sandline’s managed services, the firm achieved a cohesive solution by deploying Everlaw as the standard, fully cloud-based eDiscovery platform while still offering Relativity and RelativityOne as needed for specialized cases.
Key Features of the Sandline Solution
- Centralized Platform Management with Everlaw at the Core: Everlaw was chosen as the primary platform, providing a user-friendly and powerful tool for case management and review. Sandline worked with the law firm to set up a dedicated Everlaw organization for the firm, ensuring that all data and projects were housed within a single, secure environment accessible only to the firm. This dedicated org setup allowed the law firm to maintain autonomy, with the option to grant Sandline access to specific cases as required.
- Platform Optionality with Relativity and RelOne: Despite Everlaw’s central role, Sandline ensured flexibility by allowing Relativity and RelativityOne as secondary options. This approach accommodated attorneys’ and case teams’ preferences and allowed for easy handling of client-specific platform requirements. Sandline managed any database transfers between Everlaw and Relativity, simplifying complex transitions and ensuring seamless continuity across cases, especially during platform migrations or client-directed database moves.
- Unified Service and Support: Sandline’s managed services streamlined the process, making it easy for attorneys to go through the internal litigation support department for all matters. Whether the matter was project managed by the law firm’s litigation support team or managed by Sandline, there was consistency in case teams turning to the internal litigation support team to kick off matters.
- Cloud-Based Accessibility with Maximum Control: By using Sandline’s managed Everlaw environment, the firm gained the benefits of a fully cloud-based infrastructure. The setup on Everlaw was consistent, regardless of whether Sandline or the law firm directly managed the contract. This flexibility allowed the firm to maintain control over their environment, including the ability to manage Sandline’s access on a per-case basis.
Results
Since implementing Sandline’s centralized solution, the firm has experienced multiple benefits:
- Increased Compliance with Internal Protocols: Attorneys and case teams are now incentivized to use the internal litigation support department, as Sandline provides robust support across platforms.
- Reduced Administrative Burden and Risk: With a unified process and central management, the firm has seen fewer bottlenecks and risks related to data handling and migrations.
- Streamlined Cross-Platform Support: Attorneys have flexibility in platform choice without sacrificing consistency in service quality.
- Enhanced Control and Security: The firm’s dedicated Everlaw organization provides a secure environment with full control over access permissions, ensuring alignment with internal governance policies and client expectations.
Conclusion
By partnering with Sandline Global, the law firm successfully centralized its litigation support department, with Everlaw as the main platform, backed by optionality in Relativity. Sandline’s managed services allowed the firm to support attorneys’ platform preferences while maintaining control and oversight, making the internal department the go-to resource for all litigation support needs.
