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    eDiscovery Leaders Live
    May 2nd

    eDiscovery Leaders Live: Kate Clark of eDiscovery Collab

    George Socha
    George Socha

    eDiscovery Leaders Live: Kate Clark of eDiscovery Collab

     

    Kate Clark, the Chief Executive Officer of eDiscovery Collab, joins George Socha, Senior Vice President of Brand Awareness at Reveal, for ACEDS #eDiscoveryLeadersLive.

    Kate Clark is highly regarded in the eDiscovery industry for developing smart solutions and strategies to help clients increase efficiencies and manage the costs associated with document review and litigation management. With more than three decades experience in litigation support, Kate has held senior management roles in both law firms and eDiscovery providers. With a strong knowledge of legal processes and procedures, and technical discovery issues, she delivers an unrelenting focus on quality and getting the best out of technology to minimize the time and cost of document management and legal review. Since launching eDiscovery Collab in 2017 (formerly known as Enhanced Litigation Management Solutions), an award-winning boutique eDiscovery solution provider, Kate and her team have been focused on being the best eDiscovery provider in the market working with law firms, inhouse legal teams, insolvency practitioners, and insurers across Australia and internationally.

    Kate shared how she got into eDiscovery and what led her to launch eDiscovery Collab, what it’s like to be in a law firm versus at a provider and how having that experience has shaped eDiscovery Collab, and their recent rebranding. Kate laid out eight key things a law firm should expect from its providers as well as two more that corporate clients should look for. Kate closed with thoughts on what she hopes the future of eDiscovery will bring as well as their experience working with Reveal to develop a better product for the Australian market.

     

    Key Highlights

      • [1:05] Introducing Kate.
      • [1:40] The Legal Innovation & Tech Fest in Sydney on May 1 and 2 and related activities.
      • [2:31] How Kate got started in eDiscovery.
      • [3:53] Starting eDiscovery Collab.
      • [4:11] Extensive experience at law firms and providers.
      • [4:55] Reaching the six-year mark with eDiscovery Collab.
      • [6:13] The advantages and disadvantages of working in law firms and eDiscovery providers: the law firm side.
      • [8:06] The advantages and disadvantages of working in law firms and eDiscovery providers: the provider side.
      • [8:48] The advantages of having her own organization.
      • [9:22] A strong focus on client service based in understanding how lawyers work and what their processes are.
      • [10:29] How working outside the law firm environment can open doors.
      • [11:23] How their approach is shaped by having worked at both law firms and providers.
      • [13:23] Why she launched a boutique eDiscovery practice: the stem connecting the three leaves.
      • [14:36] Their recent rebranding as “eDiscovery Collab” and why they’ve done that.
      • [15:50] What the rebranding experience has been like.
      • [17:21] What they are expecting out of the new brand over the next six months.
      • [18:22] Rebranding as a way to sharpen focus.
      • [18:46] Seeing the world from their clients’ perspectives.
      • [19:23] How eDiscovery Collab has been helping Reveal develop a better product for the Australian market.
      • [20:43] Eight key things a law firm should be able to expect from their eDiscovery providers.
      • [24:02] Two additional things a corporate client should be able to expect from their eDiscovery providers.
      • [25:50] What Kate misses from the “good old days”: simplicity.
      • [26:34] What Kate is excited about looking into the future: AI, developing tech, innovation.


    Key Quotes 

    • “I’ve worked in pretty much every aspect of a law firm, so I inherently understand everything that is required from a law firm point of view. It really informs the business now and it really helps my staff to understand what the lawyers want.”
    • “I think working in that small boutique law firm really honed my skills and what is important to lawyers. Now myself and my team, we know every step of the litigation process so we can help the lawyers better than we could before.”
    • “Obviously you need to be a technical expert, that just goes without saying, but because we understand how lawyers work and what their processes are, I think we can help them on a different level.”
    • “We get briefed a lot direct from corporate counsel… We have a matter coming in this week, they don’t even have external counsel yet. We’re the first cab off the rank…. If you go to an external law firm and your client brings you, it’s a whole different ball game. The law firm immediately know they’re going to have success because the client’s brought you.”
    • “[With the rebranding] we have a new purpose. Our purpose is certainly not to be the biggest in the market. It’s just simply to be the best…. We are the collaboration between law, technology, and people.”
    • “I’ve very focused on making sure our clients get the very best value out of the product [and our service] that they can possibly get.”
    • “We’ve been working with [Reveal] for a good ten months now and we can actually see everything that we’re asking you to do, we’re seeing it in the product. And for us, it now feels like the product is a little bit ours.”

    Connect with Kate