That’s not to say that lawyers don’t juggle a thousand tasks every day, diligently supervise the folks that support their practice, or carefully manage a diverse portfolio of clients. Indeed, project management is part of doing business as a lawyer, but it is curiously not part of most law school curriculums.
E-discovery, however, throws a curveball at the intellectually routine practice of law. And evidence shows that lawyers are not prepared or not willing to manage the granular tasks necessary to supervise a successful e-discovery project.
Lawyers are trained to analyze and strategize — not to categorize, prioritize, and quantify. Categorizing and prioritizing tasks and goals and quantifying results are absolutely critical to the success of any e-discovery project, but are considered beneath the ken of practicing law by many lawyers. So how should e-discovery tasks be managed, and who should be responsible?
Lawyers should look to forms of management that have been tested and proved successful, such as project management.