E-Discovery Unfiltered: Automation and Innovation for Corporate Legal Teams in 2022
By Ari Kaplan with Jennifer Bantelman.
Ari Kaplan speaks with Jennifer Bantelman, the vice president of customer experience and thought leadership at Zapproved.
Ari Kaplan
Tell us about your background and your role at Zapproved.
Jennifer Bantelman
I have been with the company for nine years and my current role encompasses everything from pre-sale technical conversations to the customer lifecycle. I also lead all of our content and faculty for the PREX conference, among other industry events.
Ari Kaplan
How do you see corporate legal teams adapting to this period of uncertainty?
Jennifer Bantelman
It has presented a lot of challenges and some really cool opportunities as well. The challenge is the continuing need to do more with less, which the Great Resignation has exacerbated. Every company with which I engage is doing the same or more in their workloads, but with less staff due to turnover and budget. The opportunity is that leaders are more flexible and open to professionals working remotely, which has been a significant shift over the past two years. In addition, we have seen more standardization on using the cloud since cloud-based systems are so much easier to manage and deploy for remote workers.
Ari Kaplan
In addition to standardization, one topic that came up more often in the 2021 E-Discovery Unfiltered research was automation. How can that help teams who are trying to maximize their hybrid work environment?
Jennifer Bantelman
Automation is really the only way to solve many of the challenges associated with working remotely and doing more with less since an organization still needs to manage its costs and risks the same way. Automating redundant or rote tasks that do not require human review can free people to focus more on their highest value projects.
Ari Kaplan
Security was also one of the most common topics in the E-Discovery Unfiltered interviews. What can law department leaders do to effectively manage security and privacy while working remotely?
Jennifer Bantelman
High-performing legal teams and leaders are becoming more proactive because the earlier they can verify that their processes meet security and privacy requirements, the better. Two years ago, fewer than half of our customers performed a security review as part of the purchase process. Today, 100% of our prospects engage in security and privacy assessments. Organizations have less control over what their employees are doing and need to ensure that any systems they implement meet strict security and privacy requirements. Legal leaders are also routinely engaging security, privacy, and compliance teams, and including them as stakeholders in any given project.
Ari Kaplan
63% of the legal professionals who participated in the 2021 E-Discovery Unfiltered report expected to transition to a cloud-based review platform. How have cloud-based solutions helped teams adapt to a new remote work reality?
Jennifer Bantelman
Cloud-based review tools are more accessible and user-friendly. You generally do not need the same level of certification, training, and outside counsel support that might be required to use a powerhouse on-premises or legacy review platform.
Ari Kaplan
Three-quarters of the 2021 E-Discovery
Unfiltered participants reported that they now perform tasks internally for which they previously retained outside support. What are the core tasks that you think will always be done within the legal department?
Jennifer Bantelman
99% of enterprises are going to manage their legal hold process internally, which includes issuing notifications and preserving in place because they know their data and systems better than their outside law firms. In-house teams are also now conducting their own internal investigations or managing smaller, standard litigation matters, including early case assessment because the more they can do internally, the more they can reduce cost and risk. Outside counsel or external service providers will continue to support companies with class actions and large, complex litigation matters given their expertise and staffing capabilities.
Ari Kaplan
What are the key considerations for corporate legal teams evaluating software in 2022?
Jennifer Bantelman
Since many organizations are navigating higher turnover and managing more new users, they should work with software teams that provide excellent communication and engage in a dialogue with their customers. Developing a partnership is critical and, of course, security and alignment with a company’s standards are essential. Begin with the end in mind to fully understand the problems you are trying to solve and clearly define success.
About the Author
Ari Kaplan (http://www.AriKaplanAdvisors.com) regularly interviews leaders in the legal industry and in the broader professional services community to share perspective, highlight transformative change, and introduce new technology at http://www.ReinventingProfessionals.com and his series at Legal Business World
Listen to his conversation with Jennifer Bantelman here:
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