0:04 – Michael Gibeault

Welcome to TCDI Talks. I’m your host, Michael Gibeault. This is where we spotlight the people and ideas driving innovation in legal services and technology. Today, we’re highlighting one of the most important and sometimes overlooked factors in a successful eDiscovery partner, and that’s project management.

I’d like to introduce to you a few of our outstanding Client Services team members, Sara Coley, Chris Scherer, and Jason Bentley. Welcome to TCDI Talks.

0:37 – Sara Coley

Thank you.

0:41 – Chris Scherer

Thank you, Michael.

0:42 – Michael Gibeault

So, we’re going to jump in today. Our Client Services team plays, obviously, a critical role in guiding clients through the challenges of litigation.

With decades of combined experience, they bring a rare mix of legal expertise, technical knowledge, know-how, and a people-first approach that makes them more than just project managers.

They’re trusted partners who anticipate risk, streamline processes, and keep matters on track. We’re excited to talk with the team today about what sets TCDI apart and how their passion translates into performance for our clients.

1:23 – Michael Gibeault

So, Sara, let’s start with you. This article that you all just recently wrote highlights the importance of a strong project management team in eDiscovery. Why is it such an important message for clients to hear?

1:40 – Sara Coley

It’s important for clients to hear about how strong the client services team here is — and how important project management is — because we’re an extension of them and representing them for all of the work that’s happening here at TCDI.

We are looking out for you, as you mentioned, like any opportunities for risk and trying to mitigate them and anticipate them where we can. We are ensuring things run on a smooth schedule, so everything is on time and working to help improve their processes.

2:21 – Michael Gibeault

TCDI has been in legal technology for over 37 years. So, Chris, how has the role of project management played a part in the success of the company?

2:31 – Chris Scherer

Michael, I believe that project management has been very important to not only establish relationships [between our clients and] with TCDI as a company, but also to foster those relationships, to develop them, and really build trust with the company.

As Sara alluded to, you know, we’re an extension of the company. So, building trust and building understanding that we know what we’re doing. The company knows what it’s doing.

We will collaborate as an entity where we need to solve a problem, or solve a series of problems, we’ll come together. But we’re the reflection of that effort as a project manager. And our communication skills, our responsiveness, and our ability to really distill a lot of the things that are happening behind the scenes into something that the client can understand, the client can trust and move forward with and build confidence with over time is really what I think has helped us really stand out in the industry.

3:23 – Michael Gibeault

Great! The article points out that in discovery, risk is everywhere. So, Jason, share with me how does the TCDI team anticipate and manage risks before they become a problem?

3:37 – Jason Bentley

So, I think the key to managing risk is having a very close collaboration with the client and understanding the various aspects of the case — where it stands in regard to its litigation phase — and using the experience, not just of the individual project manager, but of the entire project management team, to identify potential risk that could be involved.

And then, you know, the other piece of that is to give the client options, you know. Let them know what the risks are. Let them know how we can address them. And really, talk to the client about, you know, what’s their appetite for risk assessment?

And, you know, I was on it [a call] with the client just earlier today, and an issue of privilege came up. And just through the years of experience of managing client data, there was a scenario where they could have waived their privilege, and their review hadn’t even begun.

So, you know, using the experience we have individually but collectively as a team is a key piece. And I think that’s an important message for clients to hear: that it’s not just us as individual project managers. They’ve got an entire team of experience working for them.

5:08 – Michael Gibeault

So, communication and responsiveness are highlighted as key differentiators. So, Sara, how does your team make clients feel like you’re an extension of their own staff?

5:19 – Sara Coley

Yeah. So, no one understands the speed and the pace of this industry like our project management team. We aim to respond to emails within an hour, which we try to make that seem just like you’re chatting internally with some of your co-workers. If you pick up a call or pick up the phone to call, we’re answering.

We are always available. We’ll always say, you know, we’re 24/7. There are times we’re not available, but our support team is available 24/7. And internally, we all know how to reach each other and how to pull in the necessary team members outside of project management to get the expertise to be able to meet deadlines, hopefully beat deadlines, and make everybody happy,

6:13 – Jason Bentley

And, to add on to that, you know, we’re not waiting for the client to call. You know, we are actively working these projects, and we are actively reaching out to clients as work is completed, as issues arise, as, you know, different things come up through the lifecycle of a project. You know, we want to identify the issues and identify the items that need to be addressed before the client does, and to bring those to the client for them to understand and be able to make informed decisions on also.

6:50 – Michael Gibeault

In the article, this line stood out to me: “Defensibility lives or dies in the details.” So, Chris, how does process discipline and documentation translate into better client outcome?

7:05 – Chris Scherer

Documentation is critical to almost anything, almost everything, that we do. We need to make sure that we, as project managers, again, as the extension of the organization, document what has been done, what we are going to do, what’s happening currently.

I’m working on a very large matter now where documentation is critical to everything that we’re doing. Because we do get on calls as a team with the client [and] outside counsel, and we discuss a lot of things. But a week or two weeks later, it doesn’t really matter what we discussed. Because it has to be, kind of, put to paper, and it has to be, you know, communicated effectively, or else we’re not going to be able to fall back on that down the line or to use that to build and enhance our services going forward.

So, defensibility in the form of documentation — the form of, you know, recaps and looking forward and trying to anticipate what will be happening in the future is critical. And that’s really, I think, integral to our success as an organization.

8:03 – Sara Coley

To add to that, it provides consistency. If you ask for a task, and we have that process documented and outlined, it will be executed the same way every single time. And that is [not only] one way we can help improve defensibility, or ensure defensibility, but how we can meet deadlines and reduce risk just through knowing exactly what steps to take and when.

8:31 – Jason Bentley

Yeah, and tagging on to that also — everything is very, very well documented. But we’re not cookie cutter. We do understand that each process does not fit for every client, and they have to be tweaked per client, depending upon, you know, what the project really entails.

But even if a process that’s very well-defined is being adjusted to fit client needs, that’s still going to get documented for reference and for defensibility purposes.

9:00 – Michael Gibeault

Technology moves quickly. So, Jason, how does your team stay ahead of new platforms, AI tools, and workflows?

9:12 – Jason Bently

So, within our team specifically — obviously depending on, you know, the clients we work for — each one of us could be exposed to new technologies, or integrating new technologies, for our clients as we go. And as we learn those tools individually, there’s a lot of collaboration within the team to share those technologies.

Additionally, we’re attending webinars, you know, that highlight different AI tools or workflows. We’ve got a whole development team and individuals who are constantly, you know, researching and demoing technologies. And if they meet a certain standard, feel like they would meet a certain need, then those are brought to our team for us to do demos on, learn about the programs, or the workflows or the tools, and to really add practicality of how they may potentially meet a client’s needs.

10:07 – Sara Coley

It also just goes back to being proactive. We are out there researching. If we see potentially interesting technology, we’ll do some digging and learn what we can about it and bring others in. If a client has a need that we can’t meet, we do the research to see, “okay, what tools could solve this problem?” And then [we] go through the vetting process for those tools and kind of work their way into our system and train the team on them.

10:36 – Michael Gibeault

So, Chris, being a project manager is ultimately about helping our clients. So, can you think of an example of a time when you were able to help a client solve a tricky problem that felt especially rewarding for you?

10:52 – Chris Scherer

Well, we have, I have one client who’s very tricky as a client and has a lot of tricky problems. So, we were able to resolve — a lot of that relationship is about just explaining a lot of times — some of the newer things that are happening in the industry, some of the new technology or new formats that the client is unaware of or unfamiliar with.

And we were able to, very quickly, take on a very large set of data in an RSMF format that the client was unfamiliar with, and a lot of, even some the law firm lit support people at that firm were unfamiliar with. We were able to take that and to quickly process it, get it loaded, get into a format that she was able to work with and her team was able to work with. And they were very happy with that. It looked a lot better than they ever thought it would, and they were very pleased with the results. And it made my life a little bit easier, because we were to move on to the next tricky challenge.

So that was, that was one that stands out.

11:46 – Michael Gibeault

So, along the same lines, Jason, every matter is unique from small cases to multi-terabyte productions. What gives our clients confidence that TCDI can handle it all?

12:01 – Jason Bentley

The main thing it comes down to in the beginning is that close communication and collaboration with the client — and understanding exactly what the project’s size and scope is — and then, you know, building a workflow that has scalability.

All projects don’t necessarily end where the anticipated start is. So, being able to not only expand but also contract on projects is a key component to what we do a lot with our clients. But the initial step really is just getting a very good understanding at the beginning, but then also listening and making adjustments as needed throughout the project lifecycle for scalability purposes.

12:50 – Michael Gibeault

Sara, talk to me about what role automation plays in controlling spend without sacrificing quality.

13:00 – Sara Coley

Yeah, so, determining when to automate a process and when not to is a big piece of what we do every day in client services and as project managers. Of course, we always want to help manage spend, decrease the amount that we’re actually passing over in billing, and automation can help do that.

The way we reduce risk is, as I mentioned, identifying the correct processes to automate, always QCing them, making sure that the automation is doing exactly what we expect it to do, and not just kind of riding along that it’s happening.

13:43 – Michael Gibeault

Okay, so, Chris, at the end of the day, what do you want clients to feel when they work with TCDI’s Client Services team?

13:52 – Chris Scherer

I want them to feel confident that that they’re being handled appropriately. I want them to feel that we’re dealing with them professionally, and that that we’re being consultative and giving them not just, you know — as we talked about before — not just responding to their requests, which is a big part of our job, but also moving forward and pushing forward and saying, “Hey, have you thought about this?” “Hey, do you want to run email threading here?” “Hey, if you want…” Things like that.

It can be very simple. They can be very complex. Obviously, the technology is changing a lot, but we want them to feel like they’re getting a comprehensive effort of the company just kind of in the form of a person interacting with them and making sure that they’re comfortable with where the case is going, what technology we can apply, and then the ultimate outcome.

14:37 – Sara Coley

And I would say I would want them to feel like we’re their partner. That we’re not client and vendor. It is, it’s a partnership, and we’re working together towards the same goal.

14:50 – Michael Gibeault

Okay. So, Jason, looking ahead, how will TCDI continue to strengthen its role as a trusted partner for legal teams navigating discovery?

15:00 – Jason Bentley

Well, I think it comes down to one of our core values, and that is serving the client. We have to make sure that it’s always at the forefront of our minds, regardless of the size and scope of a particular project. So, truly standing apart from a service standpoint, I think is key.

In conjunction with that is continuing to bring forth new tools and technologies, analyzing what’s new on the market, and seeing what fits for our clients and future clients. Not every solution out there is a good solution for a particular client, and being able to advise them on that, I think is a key piece. But at the end of the day, all of that gets wrapped up in service of the client.

15:48 – Michael Gibeault

Well, I want to thank all of you for joining me today on TCDI Talks. For you all watching, if you’d like to learn more about how to select a project management team, check out the article linked next to the video.

Thanks for joining me.

16:05 – Team

Thanks, Michael.