Linked: Attorneys’ Remote All-Nighters Are Fueling an E-Discovery Hiring Spree
On the surface, this kind of makes sense, right?
“As more attorneys work extended hours, they’re expecting their e-discovery providers to keep pace with their all-nighters. In response, e-discovery tech and service companies said they are hiring additional staffers to meet clients’ around-the-clock demand. “
But, should it? Look, I get that law firms are allowing more remote work, and for many that also means flexible hours as well. It can be difficult to get your billable hours requirements in when you’re also trying to take care of kids during the day, and sometimes it makes sense to spend late nights, or even holidays, doing some of those tasks that don’t get finished during the day, like document review.
But, should that mean that eDiscovery companies need to be on call to assist with anything beyond an emergency during those late hour sessions? I’m not sure what the answer is, but I know the expectation will definitely be that support is available, which creates a problem for vendors, notably they owe their employees some work-life balance as well. If I’m a project manager on this review, I shouldn’t be expected to be available for all of the variations of work schedules that will exist among a team of lawyers. Thankfully, this is something our industry has started to move away from, but truly moving away from it means hiring more staff to cover those odd hours.
In the absence of that staff being on board though, we are all risking massive turnover if we expect to have 24×7 coverage for these projects.
Is it worth it to set that expectation? Or should we consider something else?
Follow these topics: LawFirms, Links, LitigationSupport
