Should law departments run internal e-discovery groups?

Ron Friedman, host of Prism Legal, minces no words in his November 5 post. He considers whether law firms should operate in-house significant e-discovery capabilities and concludes that they should not. “Personally, I would avoid the risk of mistakes and challenge of keeping up with ever-changing technology.” That reasoning applies to law departments that undertake e-discovery operations on their own. Additionally, it is hard to find and keep competent staff.

Ron then digs into a deeper consideration: “[S]hould law firms be in businesses other than law practice?” He thinks not. The same question could be asked of law departments who handle document collection, review and production.