Why Paper Discovery Is Still Critical in Today’s Digital Legal Industry
Technology has irrevocably ingrained itself in the world of discovery. If you’re like most litigants, you probably engage in more eDiscovery than paper discovery these days.
The reality, though, is that paper isn’t going away anytime soon, if ever. That means you need a discovery partner that has full capabilities to handle both electronic and paper files under one roof. This way, you can be confident that you’re always meeting your discovery obligations in the most cost-effective, efficient and secure way possible.
The Progression from Paper to eDiscovery
From our personal lives to our work lives, there’s no question that we’ve seen paper gradually give way to electronic documents, email, payment apps and other technologies. The same is true of discovery. While eDiscovery was once a novel new area in litigation, today it’s the norm.
As a result of this shrinking amount of paper, many discovery vendors have stopped handling paper altogether, choosing instead to focus solely on eDiscovery. The problem with this approach, though, is that the world isn’t as “paperless” as many people like to think.
Paper is still prevalent in the business world, even if it might be at smaller volumes than it once was. You’d be hard-pressed to find a case today that doesn’t involve some paper discovery files. Whether it’s because even the most technologically advanced companies still have file cabinets on-site for certain kinds of documents, some people still just prefer to work on paper, current litigations can involve older matters when paper was the norm or any number of other reasons, paper is still critical. In all these instances, these paper files need to be scanned in and hosted on an eDiscovery platform to fully meet your discovery obligations.
The Realities of Paper Discovery Today
So what happens when an eDiscovery-only company must deal with paper? There’s only one solution: outsourcing.
No matter how efficient an eDiscovery vendor is, if it no longer has the scanning, copying and other capabilities necessary to handle paper discovery, it will need to work with another vendor – like Everest – that does.
Everest Discovery: An eDiscovery Company with Paper Roots
At Everest Discovery, our core services today revolve around technology and litigation support, including eDiscovery, but our roots are in paper discovery. Because of this, we are able to offer both options to our clients and have the expertise and knowledge for insight and guidance on what’s best for specific cases.
Everest Discovery began handling paper discovery at the company’s inception in 2005, and we didn’t stop our paper offering when others did. As a result, we serve as a partner to many of the largest eDiscovery vendors which no longer have these capabilities in-house. We take care of collecting the paper files, scanning them (whether in our facilities or on-site), returning the files and then delivering the new electronic versions to be hosted in an eDiscovery platform of the clients choosing.
Management Roots Run Deep in Paper
In 2018, Tom Pellegrino joined Everest as CEO, seeking to guide the company with his perspectives on management, sales and business development in the litigation support world. He brought with him over 30 years of litigation support experience across many facets of the legal industry.
Prior to joining Everest, Tom was co-owner of Copy Secure from 2001 to 2015 which established itself as a leading paper discovery vendor in the Philadelphia region and grew very quickly in an incredibly competitive industry. In 2015, Copy Secure had become so successful that it attracted the attention of a prominent global eDiscovery company, leading to an acquisition later that year. Tom stayed on after the acquisition as general manager and director of business development and headed up the paper discovery division for the entire region.
His expertise, along with others at Everest, has made the company thrive in all aspects of discovery.
Discovery All Under One Roof
In addition, we offer several other traditional, paper-based services, including oversize printing and preparing trial binders. Because we understand that paper in the legal industry isn’t fully going away anytime soon, we’re committed to continuing to handle paper – just as we did when we opened our doors.
Everest Discovery continues to handle both paper and electronic discovery under one roof. With something as important as meeting discovery obligations on the line, you want the most efficient, secure and streamlined approach. Everest understands your critical discovery needs and is truly a one-stop discovery shop.
Contact us today to learn more about how Everest Discovery can help with all your discovery and litigation support needs.
