0:05 – Michael Gibeault

Hi, I’m Michael Gibeault, your host with TCDI Talks. And today on TCDI Talks, we’re joined by my colleague, Dave York. He’s the Chief Client Officer here at TCDI.

With more than 25 years in the legal technology industry, you bring a unique perspective, having worked on the law firm, the client, and provider sides of the business. You currently lead our litigation services team, overseeing projects that span, gosh, eDiscovery, litigation management, incident response, investigations, and more.

I know you’re involved in a lot, Dave. You recently authored a really thought-provoking article on how legal teams can future-proof their tech stacks. We’re excited to dive deeper into that topic today. So welcome to TCDI Talks, Dave.

1:00 – Dave York

Thank you, Michael. Great to be talking with you today.

1:03 – Michael Gibeault

So, Dave, let’s jump in. Your article got us thinking about what’s to come in the legal industry. So how would you define future-proofing in the context of legal operations and eDiscovery?

1:17 – Dave York

Yeah. So, future-proofing involves many different things. I think a lot of times when people hear future-proofing, they’re thinking purely about the technology. And certainly technology is one piece of that. But really, there’s many different areas to look at when you’re thinking about future-proofing.

It goes well beyond the technology, and it’s easy to just focus on the technology side, especially with GenAI taking up so much of the conversation these days. But there’s really other elements that we try to look at when we’re thinking of future-proofing. And, you know, that was kind of the emphasis of the article, was not just to focus on the technology side, but there’s other key areas to focus in on.

2:08 – Michael Gibeault

Well, you emphasize that it’s not just about the latest tools. What criteria should legal teams use to evaluate whether a technology is truly future-ready?

2:20 – Dave York

Yeah. So, tools is one part of it. Tools, technology, the solutions that you’re using. But really, we also like to take a holistic approach, which involves looking at the data. Data can mean, you know, the actual data populations, records you’re dealing with in the database.

It could mean the fields of information tied to the data. There’s a lot of things that are encompassed on the data side. But certainly, obviously, that’s a key input into a lot of the solutions and a lot of the workflows that we’re talking about and that you’re looking at future-proofing.

Another key element is the process side of things, being mindful of the entire process. And, you know, looking to make sure that you’re not just improving one part of the process and future-proofing, one part, but really you’re kind of looking at everything start to finish, you know. That’s a key element and a key thing to forget. You know, if you’re only focused on, you know, just rolling out the latest and greatest tools in a certain area.

And then the people side of it. There’s always going to be a people element there. You know, what that looks like, and how many people may be involved, and where we fit into the process and how we’re interacting with the solutions may change, but the people element is also key to future-proofing. So really looking at the data, the process, the tools, and the people is a key way to take a holistic approach to future-proofing.

4:01 – Michael Gibeault

Well, let’s talk about data for a second. In the article, you mentioned how new technology doesn’t necessarily fix old data issues that were never addressed in the first place. You make a powerful point: “Garbage in, garbage out.” What are some of the overlooked data issues that can undermine even the best technology investments?

4:24 – Dave York

Yeah. So, an easy one to overlook is, you know, very basic things, like documents that have poor text or no text.

You know, a lot of times, we kind of get numb to that a little bit in eDiscovery and dealing with data populations because we know they’re going to happen. We know they’re going to pop up. A lot of the traditional data processing tools, you know, end up having some of the same issues when it comes to being able to generate text or generate good quality OCR.

A lot of times we’re dealing with clients that rely heavily on data reuse. So, we could be dealing with documents and data that was processed years ago, or in some instances even decades ago. The technology and what you’re able to get out of the processing of documents and data changes over time. And certainly we’ve seen benefits of GenAI processing to get better quality text, which means you’re getting better quality data going into a solution.

So, you know, if you were using a solution for analytics or TAR and the same records you were having problem with in those particular solutions, you’re going to have those same problems in a GenAI solution if you don’t take steps to clean up the data, and be mindful of the inputs that you’re providing into the solutions that you’re wanting to utilize.

6:00 – Michael Gibeault

Dave, along those lines, what should legal and IT leaders be doing proactively to ensure their systems stay compliant and defensible over time?

6:11 – Dave York

Great question. So I think first and foremost, don’t abandon the basics. Don’t shy away from the things that you know need to be practiced when it comes to security and compliance with the data. You know, any time you have something that’s shiny and new, and GenAI is a great example of that, there’s a lot of great use cases.

There’s a lot of things GenAI can do. People get very excited. They want to get their data in. They want to try and navigate it. See what I can summarize, see what questions it can answer. You’ve still got to slow down to go fast in these areas. You’ve got to slow down and remember, you know, keep an eye on where your data is going.

Know where your data is, how it’s being used. Make sure you’re slowing down to do security assessments of new solutions that are being rolled out. Understand, you know, and make sure that, hey, the same way we were guarding and defending our data in years past is being applied to these new solutions. So, you know, sometimes it’s just slowing down and sticking with the basics and continuing to follow what you have always done to protect your data.

And that doesn’t mean don’t update those to account for new data types and new solutions. But if you skip over the basics, especially as you get excited about new solutions and trying out new things, you know, that’s where things can be problematic from a security and compliance standpoint.

7:53 – Michael Gibeault

Well, you mentioned people are always going to be part of the process. So, technology is only as effective as the people using it. How should organizations approach training and team development to support future-ready operations?

8:08 – Dave York

Yeah, great question. And I’ll take TCDI, you know, as an example of this. You know, and in GenAI as it applies to training, for example. There’s many different use cases with GenAI, there’s many different applications.

From a training perspective, you know, how we train our project management teams that are supporting the clients and supporting and using the solutions is going to be maybe slightly different than how we might train our document reviewers, or how we might train our data processors or our highly technical resources. Like any new solution, like any new, technology that’s out there staying on top of the latest and greatest from a training perspective, understanding, you know, where training fits from a value add perspective and making sure that you’re aligning training with what people need to do their job and continue growing in their job and continue supporting the latest, greatest solutions and tools that are out there. You know, that’s critical. I mean, training in our industry has always been important.

That’s the reason we have continuing legal education. That’s the reason we have continuing education for all the certifications we get with eDiscovery and with all the solutions that we work in. There’s a reason you don’t just get those certifications and licenses and then do nothing with it from a training perspective. Technology changes, the law changes, applications change. And it’s good to make sure our people are keeping up with those changes.

9:50 – Michael Gibeault

Well, Dave, as we as we close our chat today, if you could give one piece of advice to a general counsel or legal operations leader looking to start future-proofing today, what would it be?

10:03 – Dave York

I think it would be, you know, when it comes to future-proofing, that’s not a one time project. It’s a mindset. It’s a methodology.

It’s something that is continuous. Certainly, it may take projects to achieve certain goals when it comes to future-proofing, but it’s not a one-time thing. It’s something that we have to be diligent about. And that is an ongoing process to support the data, the process, the tools, and the people across everything we work across.

10:34 – Michael Gibeault

Well, thanks for joining us today on TCDI Talks. If you’d like to learn more about future-proofing your legal technology stack, check out Dave’s article. We have the link over here in the video. Thanks for joining us, Dave.

10:48 – Dave York

Thanks for having me, Michael. Good talking with you.