BELLEVUE, Wash., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Applied Discovery®, a leader in comprehensive electronic discovery products and services today announced the availability of the Applied Discovery 2009 Survey on E-Discovery Project Management.

Applied Discovery conducted the survey to gauge how corporations and law firms are evolving as the practice of e-discovery industry matures. Experienced attorneys, information managers and litigation support professionals involved with litigation and investigations at leading corporations, law firms and government agencies took the time to thoughtfully reflect on the challenges they are facing in these turbulent times. While budgets and resources are under greater pressure than ever, the technical complexity and rapid growth of potentially responsive data have intensified the challenges of e-discovery.

In this survey, e-discovery professionals of all backgrounds overwhelmingly identified planning, scoping and project management as critical to e-discovery project success. While the importance of these key roles was apparent in the survey results, it was also clear that there is room for improvement. As one respondent summarized, all stakeholders and participants need "a better understanding of the issues and themes of the defense before e-discovery starts." Other comments stressed the importance of identifying an overall project manager, and involving litigation support staff early in the process.

Carrie Davey, director of client services at Applied Discovery commented, "Though 87% of respondents assessed it as critical, only 8% were satisfied with the clarity of objectives and plans defined in their last e-discovery project. This dichotomy really highlights the fact that technology and tools are just one component of success in e-discovery. There is no one foolproof approach -- every matter poses unique challenges. There is still no substitute for expert guidance in project planning, data scoping, and document review methodology and training -- key cornerstones of our consistently successful approach to managing complex e-discovery projects."

Applied Discovery project managers are experienced attorneys and paralegals with skills in forensics, search, and e-discovery technologies. Working together with clients on a 24x7 basis, they contribute to project planning, guiding the establishment of processing specifications and refining document search processes, and provide training to document reviewers to maximize the effectiveness of e-discovery while reducing cost and risk.

The published survey results are being sent to respondents this week. The report is also available for download at www.AppliedDiscovery.com/Survey (free registration required).

About Applied Discovery

Applied Discovery (www.AppliedDiscovery.com) is a leading provider of comprehensive electronic discovery services to the legal industry. Its award-winning review platform is used by the nation's top corporations and law firms for complex e-discovery matters. Applied Discovery is based in Seattle, with East Coast headquarters in New York City and regional offices in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Applied Discovery was acquired by LexisNexis in 2003.

LexisNexis® (www.lexisnexis.com) is a leading global provider of content-enabled workflow solutions designed specifically for professionals in the legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting and academic markets. LexisNexis originally pioneered online information with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. A member of Reed Elsevier (NYSE: ENL; NYSE: RUK) (www.reedelsevier.com), LexisNexis serves customers in more than 100 countries with 18,000 employees worldwide.

    CONTACT:
    Tammi Coulter, Applied Discovery Senior Marketing Manager
    425.467.3035 or Email: tammi.coulter@AppliedDiscovery.com

SOURCE Applied Discovery