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Dykema and Lumen Legal launch "Discovery Management Solutions"
January, 2010 Dykema, a leading national law firm, and Lumen Legal, a global legal staffing and consulting company, have launched Dykema-Lumen Discovery Management Solutions (DMS) to bring an innovative discovery management solution to a legal market that is seeking options to reduce litigation and electronic discovery costs. DMS combines Dykema’s litigation and discovery management strengths with Lumen’s global team of contract legal professionals. “The Dykema-Lumen solution offers a flexible, unbundled model for delivery of legal services. This model is quickly emerging as the industry standard, as companies are demanding innovative solutions to reduce the cost of legal services without compromising quality,” said Rex Schlaybaugh, Dykema’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Controlling and reducing legal costs continues to be the principal concern of corporate counsel in the current environment, and clients are seeking quality, predictability and better alignment of the outcomes they are receiving with the fees they are paying. This unique joint offering will allow us to better meet the needs of those clients.” Litigation Demand Growing, Expenses High Discovery, particularly electronic discovery, represents the most time-consuming and expensive part of the litigation and investigation processes. Equally important, methods used for data collection and organization can substantially impact success at trial. Many law firms have traditionally handled discovery as part of a single package of bundled services, relying on highly compensated full-time attorneys with varying levels of experience, and often drawn from non-litigation practice areas. About DMS DMS was developed to address pressure on clients to reduce litigation costs, as well as the desire to utilize, in some instances, “boutique” trial counsel that often lacks the experience or resources necessary to effectively manage the discovery process. Dykema-Lumen has developed a specific and singular focus on discovery management, targeting the single biggest line item in a client’s legal services budget. The Dykema-Lumen team believes that unbundlingthe discovery management process can drive significant savings and efficiencies, result in faster conclusions, support better outcomes, and give clients more options for approaching costly lawsuits and investigations. The Dykema-Lumen team streamlines the discovery management process at the planning, acquisition and review stages. For example, by employing analytics before review begins, DMS can significantly reduce the volume of data that legal professionals must review and evaluate. This directly translates to a reduction in data hosting charges, review hours and, consequently, bottom-line savings. During the review phase, DMS utilizes contract attorneys, who are trained and supervised by Dykema attorneys with decades of experience in discovery management. This results in a faster, more reliable data review, at a fraction of the cost of the traditional model that uses law firm associates and paralegals. Utilizing the combined skills of Dykema-Lumen personnel (billed at competitive Midwestern rates) can result in cost savings of well over $100 per hour when compared with the hourly rates charged for the most junior full-time attorneys at other firms. Additionally, Dykema’s planning protocols, data analytics and in-house file assessment can reduce the amount of data to be reviewed by 60 percent or more. More information on the Dykema-Lumen Discovery Management Solution is available at: http://www.dykema.com/litigation/Discovery.asp.
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