Legal firms these days operate in an environment where competition is fierce and work dynamics are constantly changing. In light of growing client demands and constrained financial budgets, practice managers are exploring new ways to curb these fluctuations. Conventional document review processes have been the norm for decades but it is one domain that is ripe for disruption. The tiburon white paper rightly addresses document review as “a high-volume and low-value discipline that involves expensive overhead costs by law firms and a significant time commitment from the professionals they employ”.
Despite the convenience of readily available technology, legal firms have been sluggish in adopting remote work. Confidentiality and accountability concerns prevail throughout the legal industry since remote monitoring (for document review and remote attorneys) is still perceived as something unfamiliar.
Document reviewers have to rigorously sort and examine hundreds of memos, letters, spreadsheets, e-documents, and emails before sharing any sensitive information to an opposing party. Hence, document review is usually the most time-consuming and expensive stage of the litigation process. Technology has certainly made this easier by making sundry documents available in digital formats, however, there are many issues when it comes to delivering consistent, cost-efficient document review. These include:
- Confidentiality
- Efficiency and Accountability
- Physical office capacity
- Document Review Attorney Retention
- Skill Shortages Nearby
- Cost
Remotedesk- Remote workforce management and monitoring technology
Digital identity verification is crucial for authenticating a reviewer’s identity in accordance with remote work policy compliance. Remotedesk provides state of the art remote workforce management technology that allows law firms to create a virtual cloud-based “legal document review center”. The option of working remotely in a cloud review center is an appealing proposition for those with physical or family constraints. Flexible work schedules can drastically increase productivity by cutting the time and cost of commuting to nearly zero.
As illustrated in Figure, the annual fixed cost savings opportunity for law firms using Remotedesk’s remote monitoring technology was $16,575 per person in 2019 and is projected to rise to an astounding $24,591 annually per person, in just five short years. Additionally, attorneys and legal professionals who are enabled to work remotely realize significant time value and cost avoidance that helps motivate their engagement and enhance retention. Bicoastal Legal, a legal staffing company and client, has realized 15% lower costs and faster staffing times as a result of the benefits to contract attorneys. In addition, Bicoastal avoids the fixed costs of a physical review center by operating exclusively as a remote cloud-based review center.
Besides saving considerable amounts on per reviewer cost, Remotedesk lets law firms access a wider employee pool. Staffing and talent acquisition becomes easier when there are no geographic boundaries. The Tiburon white paper explains, “ TCP re-purposed Remotedesk technology used to proctor online test-taking in the education market and adapted it to ensure the workplace policy compliance of a large workforce of remote attorneys. The result was verification of adherence to client confidentiality and accountability policies. This applied use case of the cloud review center has proven to be especially relevant where cloud-based e-discovery, Virtual Desktop, and other legal databases are accessed remotely.”
About Remotedesk
Remotedesk is an AI-based solution that securely identifies and safeguards the privacy of a work-from-home agent. It prevents malicious insider breaches and delivers a “Clean Desk” environment to facilitate remote work.
For employers:
- Remotedesk integrates seamlessly into remote work processes and plugs right into VPNs, VDIs, Extranets, etc. to streamline workflow.
- Verify the identity of your workers with multi-factor biometric authentication upon entry, and facial recognition throughout. Detect illicit behavior by tracking web activity and keystrokes (i.e. copy/paste, print-screen, etc.), and monitoring their workspace.
- Identify patterns of misconduct with flagged reports of compliance infractions detected by Remotedesk, complete with screenshot evidence & time-stamped video playback.
For employees:
- Keep your schedule flexible and save money on commute
- Remotedesk is available anytime, anywhere, on-demand with auxiliary breaks whenever you want, at the click of a button.
- Verify Billable Hours: prove the time you put in and get paid for it.
Final Thoughts
Remotedesk has transformed the elusive idea of remotely managing and staffing document-driven legal cases into a reality. Documents can now be sorted, reviewed and shared securely with high-quality standards and low investments. and money. It comes as a boon for attorneys who want to work flexibly from rural areas, without any physical limitations or fixed work schedules.
