As the E-Discovery industry continues to evolve
and mature, more focus and emphasis are being placed on process, best
practices, and standardization than ever before. Accordingly, the
industry has seen a dramatic increase in the number and variety of educational
and professional development opportunities. Today, practitioners can take
advantage of an almost limitless range of CLE's, webinars, published content,
and conferences.
These opportunities also include the chance to
pursue, achieve, and leverage industry "certifications" or other more
formal academic and/or practical training curriculums. More specifically,
there are a growing number of educational institutions, professional
organizations, and technology providers that are offering programs which
deliver content designed to train and certify participants as having demonstrated
skill or expertise on industry concepts, subject matter, or applications.
As these options have grown, so too has the
active debate surrounding them. From one extreme of skepticism, to the
other of pride and advocacy, these initiatives draw out a wide range of
opinions regarding their legitimacy. Ultimately though, the debate
largely seems to center around two central themes: quality and value.
With respect to quality, some of the key questions are:
·
Which programs
contain the most comprehensive content?
·
Who is involved
in designing and delivering this content?
Regarding value, the key questions include:
·
Will the
certification/training lead to additional (or new) professional opportunities?
·
Does it
adequately (and reliably) reflect expertise?
·
Is it a sound and
justifiable investment?
This blog series will attempt to help the ILTA
audience answer some of the above - but do so in a unique way. We will
offer no opinions ourselves, but rather will present the opinions and thoughts
of others - in Q&A format. It is our hope that by providing the
insights of a variety of educators, technologists, hiring managers, recruiters,
and some of those who hold related certifications, we will create a forum for
dialogue on the above issues and more.
A with all things ILTA
- your voice and input is crucial and we welcome it.
Please comment with your
thoughts.
Steve Clark
Director of Litigation Support,
Lathrop & Gage LLP
Joy Holley
Director of eDiscovery Services and Litigation Support, Bryan Cave LLP
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To begin with we introduce two organizations offering industry certifications:
The Georgetown Law
eDiscovery Practice Support Distance Learning Program
Response
Submitted By:
Robert Alan Eisenberg, Program Chair
reisenberg@empirediscovery.com
Tell us about the program(s).
The Georgetown Law eDiscovery Practice Support
Distance Learning Program is a comprehensive on-line course of study in
eDiscovery Practice Support. The program is the first of its kind that is
presented by a premier law school in the United States. It is a
Certificate Program requiring 30 credit hours of study, including, a
“flipped” classroom methodology, each course including formal on-line
classroom sessions as well as on-line interactive sessions with class-mates and
instructors. The program will provide written course research and study
material and contemplates opportunities for both in person educational and
professional networking.
Describe your target audience.
The program contemplates a “student body”
comprised of members of virtually the entire eDiscovery discipline’s
demographic. We anticipate that our “audience” will be made up
of practice and litigation support professionals presently in the field
(including paralegals and legal assistants), both in the law firm and corporate
realms, those first seeking entry to the eDiscovery Practice Support
profession, technologists, consultants, as well as attorneys, newly minted
members of the Bar, JDs and law students. We believe that due to (i)
the troubled economy and the resulting stark realities of a weak job
market; (ii) a new pragmatism in considering employment opportunities
in the practice of law and (iii) the growing importance of technology in the
practice, an increasing number of practitioners are viewing practice support as
a viable alternative career path, amenable to continuing employment and
personal development as well as an enhanced quality of professional
life. Moreover, we believe that among attorneys and would-be attorneys
there will be a significant representation in our classes of those that are
seeking the general know-how and skill set which the training will provide,
together with a highly valued Certification, without desiring to enter the
eDiscovery Practice Support Profession itself.
What are program goals?
E-discovery Practice Support has become an area
of vital significance to both litigator and Practice Support
Professional and presently constitutes a critical infrastructure for the
discipline of litigation practice; it is the hard wired, worldly practical
reality in which the legal reasoning and trial strategy of those in litigation
practice must live within and master, especially in the federal system, where
trials themselves are exceedingly rare and cases frequently turn on the outcome
of a litigation’s discovery phase. Indeed, arguably, the
acquisition of a working knowledge of eDiscovery Practice Support has
become vital for the well-schooled, sophisticated litigator, as well
as the practice support professional. The program’s goals are to provide a
comprehensive course of study for both practitioner and practice support
professional in the entire field of eDiscovery Practice Support and, by
extension, in eDiscovery Technology. The training will not only
significantly enhance the skills of those in the eDiscovery discipline, but,
among other goals, will (i) serve to standardize the skill set that is
optimal for those in the eDiscovery arena in general and those in practice
support in particular; (ii) aid law firm and client alike in the avoidance of
liability and reputational damage for improperly executed eDiscovery; (iii)
reduce the cost of eDiscovery, in general; (iv) relieve law firms and
other organizations from the need to provide both remedial and more advanced
eDiscovery training for new hires or those changing their job roles within an
organization and (v) meet the exigencies of the exponential growth of data
stores in the burgeoning universe of “Big Data”. It is also a program
goal to be instrumental in meeting the “clarion call” of Rule 1 of the FRCP,
that is: “…to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of
every action and proceeding.”
Please provide a brief overview/outline of your
curriculum/program.
The curriculum is made up of 10 courses, 30
credit hours, including the following:
Course 1. Overview: Evolution of eDiscovery Technology,
Management and Operations
Course 2. Sources and Phases of eDiscovery Data
Course 3. Foundational Tools and Data Processing Basics
Course 4. Production
Course 5. Analytics and Technology-Assisted Review
Course 6. Global Data Considerations
Course 7. Strategic Project Planning and Management
Course 8. Managing Vendors, Negotiating an SOW, and Budget
Issues
Course 9. In-House v. Outsourcing on a Strategic Department
basis
Course 10. Metrics and Trending
Describe your faculty and representative credentials and
backgrounds.
The faculty is comprised of some of the best and
brightest in the field of eDiscovery Practice Support and eDiscovery Practice,
including gifted senior level eDiscovery Practice Support Management
Professionals and Project Management Specialists, as well as eDiscovery
attorneys and technologists. In organizing a faculty the emphasis was not
only upon gathering the most effective instructors and content providers, but
to provide as lecturers those with profound practical, as well as innovative,
experience in the field of eDiscovery Practice Support.
What are the associated
costs?
As of this writing the cost of tuition which
includes classroom instruction, interactive sessions, access to instructors and
course material has not been established.
What is the end result?
Among other significant benefits noted above,
the end result will be the granting of a Certificate in eDiscovery Practice
Support from Georgetown University Law Center, a premier law school and the
only major law school that sponsors a permanent CLE annual conference in
eDiscovery, The 2-day Advanced eDiscovery Institute, which held its 10th annual
conference in 2013 as well as hosting the unique eDiscovery Training
Academy. More importantly, a graduating student will be provided an
education in the discipline of eDiscovery that is, for all practical purposes,
sui generis.
Are there renewal or re-certification requirements?
It is contemplated that programs will be
introduced that will provide renewals or updates of the eDiscovery Practice
Support Certificate to be granted upon completion of all the requirements for
graduation from Georgetown Law’s eDiscovery Practice Support Distance Learning
Program.
Association of Certified eDiscovery Specialists (ACEDS)
Response
Submitted By:
Robert Hilson, Executive Director
rhilson@aceds.org
Tell us about the
program(s).
The Certified E-Discovery Specialist (CEDS) examination is not a
test of knowledge of any product, training course or software. It is the first independent
e-discovery certification program, constructed by a global task force of more
than 50 professional e-discovery practitioners chosen by ACEDS. The exam
adheres to strict psychometric competency principles to assure that it is a
legally defensible, fair, unambiguous test of knowledge and skill. A leading psychometric
testing firm, Kryterion, advises ACEDS to assure testing soundness and
security.
The experts who participated in the long process of constructing
the examination identified and made an extensive analysis of the job tasks that
are performed by the various e-discovery disciplines. That work was
supplemented by the results of a global field survey that ACEDS conducted.
These processes identified and helped fashion the 15 major areas on which the
examination focuses. ACEDS, under the guidance of Kryterion and professional
practitioners, conducts a yearly review of the examination for content,
clarity, accuracy, and to assure it is in keeping with current e-discovery best
practices.
Describe your target audience.
From professionals who are at the front lines entrenched in
e-discovery to those that handle only one area sporadically, ACEDS provides
training and certification to persons who handle electronically stored
information in their work. Some of the practitioners that can benefit from CEDS
certification are:
- Corporate, law firm, and solo attorneys and their staffs
- Paralegals
- Litigation Support Professionals
- Information and Records Managers
- Technologists
- Judges
- Compliance Officers
- Project Managers
- Forensic Examiners
- Service Provider Personnel
What are program goals?
To help professionals in various disciplines improve and certify
their e-discovery knowledge and skill, advance their careers, grow their
professional networks, and increase overall competence in e-discovery and
related fields.
Please provide a brief overview/outline of your
curriculum/program.
The CEDS certification exam probes 15 e-discovery fields as
selected by a global taskforce of practicing e-discovery specialists and
validated by an ACEDS-sponsored survey. These include:
- Information Management and Litigation Readiness
- Project Planning
- Litigation Hold Implementation
- Collection Planning and Implementation
- Data Processing
- Data Culling
- Review Planning
- Document Review
- Data Production
- Project Management
- Legal Framework and Obligation
- International Discovery
- Ethics
- Technology
- Budgeting
Describe your faculty and representative credentials and
backgrounds.
The ACEDS professional staff has years of certification,
training and member association experience. The CEDS certification follows the
same principles of psychometric soundness, integrity and professionalism, as
promulgated by the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE). It was
constructed by a task force of practicing e-discovery specialists, including
attorneys, consultants, litigation support persons, corporate e-discovery
directors, information technology practitioners and others. The ACEDS advisory
board is similarly comprised, and includes a member of the Federal Rules Advisory
Committee, the general counsels of a major cruise line and hospital chain,
several leading e-discovery attorneys, and the director of e-discovery for a
major healthcare provider.
ACEDS was recently acquired by BARBRI, Inc., which has helped
more than 1 million lawyers pass the bar exam and is evolving to meets other
legal education needs for a broad spectrum of professionals, including
attorneys and individuals in heavily regulated fields.
ACEDS is strictly vendor-neutral and unaffiliated with any product,
software, law firm, consulting firm or government agency.
What are the associated
costs?
The CEDS examination fee for ACEDS members is $795, and $595 for
persons in any government or military agency or academic institution.
Non-members of ACEDS pay $995 to take the exam. The fee includes an extensive
CEDS Exam Preparation Manual in electronic format and admission to one of 700
ACEDS-Kryterion Testing Centers worldwide. The cost of membership is $195 ($145
for government).
What is the end result?
A CEDS-certified professional, by passing the rigorous,
independent examination, earns a credential that validates knowledge and skill
in e-discovery through a scientifically verifiable standard. ACEDS believes
that professionals who earn the CEDS credential gain significant short term and
long term job and career benefits. The credential has been obtained by persons
at many large, global organizations, including Dell, Sony, General Electric,
Bayer, Ford and AT&T, among others, and Am Law 200 firms. Organizations
also regularly express a preference for CEDS-certified persons in job ads.
What other benefits come with the above?
By obtaining the CEDS credential, certified persons:
- Increase their career options across industries and professions,
- Elevate their standing in the e-discovery field, and become more
attractive to prospective employers,
- Increase their credibility in court,
- Become more valuable to their respective law firms,
corporations, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, technology
companies, or legal staffing firms,
- Increase their income potential,
- Validate their skills to clients, co-workers and superiors,
- Become more valuable to litigation support departments, and
- Help make the justice system more accessible, efficient, and
economical.
By certifying their employees or hiring certified persons,
organizations:
- Show clients and customers they are committed to e-discovery
competence, and reducing risks and costs,
- Improve their credibility in court and to regulators,
- Increase redundancies and bridge communications and technical
gaps between personnel in various departments, and,
- Reduce the risks and costs associated with electronically stored
information.
Are there renewal or re-certification requirements?
Two years after a candidate earns the certification, a
CEDS-certified professional must show evidence that he or she has earned 40
continuing education credits in the interim. ACEDS members pay $150 to
re-certify. Nonmembers pay $250. Government employees pay $100.
Do you have any metrics or other information to quantify the
value of the program/certification in the marketplace?
Since the exam was released in November 2010, about 1500 persons
have earned or begun the process of earning the CEDS credential. Certified
practitioners are in more than 15 countries. In addition, several service
providers have made certification a condition of employment, and it is
increasingly appearing in job ads of top organization as a preferred
credential.