Early case assessment (ECA) is the process of gathering case information soon after becoming aware of a legal matter. ECA is a crucial step, since it provides a mechanism for legal departments and their outside counsel to evaluate the potential costs and risk exposure associated with a case.
The ECA process varies somewhat from one legal matter to the next, depending on case specifics. Generally, it involves quantifying the amount of data to be analyzed during eDiscovery, identifying relevant search terms and keywords, and estimating expenses and potential legal liability.
Ideally, the outcome of ECA is an informed decision about whether to proceed with eDiscovery and trial preparation, or to instead enter into settlement negotiations with the opposing party, thereby avoiding the expense and time associated with litigation preparation. When moving ahead with trial preparation, ECA helps legal departments and their outside counsel narrow the scope of eDiscovery and prioritize documents for review.
While the specific ECA strategy depends on the legal issues involved in the case, there are some common steps in the process:
- Identifying key players and key places where data is located.
- Interviewing data custodians to learn more about data collection and storage.
- Estimating the amounts and types of data to be evaluated.
- Sampling data to estimate the size and cost involved in processing and reviewing the information.
- Leveraging data analytics tools to evaluate raw data, estimating the amounts and types of data to be evaluated.
- Categorizing the output into user-friendly reports.
Trying to collect all of the potentially relevant data at the outset of a case is simply not an efficient use of resources. ECA gives firms the ability to limit costs by analyzing small amounts of data, expanding the scope of the review only if necessary. ECA should ultimately provide a legal department and its outside counsel with cost estimates associated with litigating a matter, so they can make an informed decision about how to proceed.
Baer Reed provides a variety of business and legal services to law firms and corporate legal departments, including early case assessment and eDiscovery support services. To learn more, contact us today.
Mr. Reyes graduated with honors from the Ateneo de Manila University, where he received the Procter and Gamble Student Excellence Award. He obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila School of Law. During law school, Mr. Reyes was part of the Philippine delegation to the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot held in Vienna, Austria. He was also a member of the Ateneo Society of International Law and the St. Thomas More Debate Society. He completed his internship at the Public Attorney’s Office. He wrote a thesis entitled: “To Kill A White Elephant: An Analysis of the Fiduciary Exception to the Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege”. Mr. Reyes is admitted to practice law in the Philippines and the State of New York.
Ms. Lardizabal-Manzano is a graduate of San Sebastian College-Recoletos, where she earned her B.A. in Political Science. In 2003, she received her law degree from Lyceum of the Philippines and was admitted to practice law in 2004.
Matthew Hersh earned a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University in 1990 and graduated cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1999. He also holds a master’s degree in international relations from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Cap. Avi Levak (Res. IDF) graduated from from Israel’s prestigious Ben-Gurion University of the Negev with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics. He is also a Leadership and Communication coach trained in TuT coaching by Alon gal in Israel. Avi specializes in high-level, in-depth analysis of business and client needs, within systems and software strategy and architecture.
Ms. Tyler graduated cum laude from Georgetown University and received her law degree, cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center. During law school, she interned at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. She also worked on The Tax Lawyer journal and was a member of the award-winning Barristers’ Council Mock Trial Team. Ms. Tyler is admitted to practice law in the State of California and the District of Columbia.
Ms. Cruz-Anonuevo graduated cum laude and top nine in her batch from Miriam College with a degree of Bachelor of Arts in InternationalStudies. She obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Ateneo de Manila University School of Law in Rockwell. During law school, she interned in Rivera, Santos, Maranan & Associates. She was also part of Ateneo’s Labor Law Bar Operations. She wrote her thesis on, “Stealing Privacy: Limitations on Media’s Photographic Invasion.,” Ms. Cruz-Anonuevo is admitted to practice law in the Philippines.
Ms. Aquino-Batallones obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Development Studies (with Minors in Global Politics and Hispanic Studies) from the Ateneo de Manila University. In 2011, she received her Juris Doctor degree from Ateneo de Manila University School of Law. During law school, she interned at Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & de los Angeles then became an intern of Ateneo Legal Services Center’s Clinical Legal Education Program.
Mr. De Guzman graduated from San Beda College with a degree of Bachelor of Arts Major in Economics and received his law degree from San Beda College of Law. He is multilingual and is fluent in three languages: Chinese, Filipino, and English. He was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2003.