Great article by Dr. Gavin Manes of Avansic, who gives you 5 ways to improve your eDiscovery communication, or any communication!

In the article (Say What? 5 Ways to Improve Your eDiscovery Communication, available here) Gavin discusses how every single day, we make phone calls, offer input during meetings, write emails, and send texts. More than most, legal professionals understand the power of these spoken and written words, and that the right combination of terms can be the difference between persuasively conveying an idea and losing a case. Communicating well in legal technology has the added complexity of technical jargon and industry shorthand. Understanding your client’s needs and conveying those needs to any outside help is the keystone of successful projects.

No matter how good you are at communication, there is always room for improvement and Gavin provides some useful considerations and information to consider. First, he addresses the mode of communication and whether it should be written (e.g., email, text, Slack, etc.) or verbal (e.g., call, face-to-face). Gavin also includes a sample conversation between a vendor and a client that may help pinpoint some areas of improvement on both sides.

But perhaps my favorite part is when he discusses the “5 C’s” of communication, the first of which is:

Clarity. You need to make what you’re asking for very clear, doubly so if there have been multiple discussions, a long time between discussions, or a number of different parties involved. Anyone who has come to the end of a critical conference call feeling muddier than at the beginning knows the importance of this element. A legal technology example of this is the confusion between a ‘production’ and an ‘export.’ Some may consider those interchangeable, some may not, and even at the risk of not sounding like the smartest person in the room, it’s very important for vendors, opposing parties, judges, and any friendly parties to understand exactly what that word means when it is used.

So, what are the other “4 C’s” that complete 5 ways to improve your eDiscovery communication? Check out Gavin’s post here to find out what he says! It’s just one more click! I hope I communicated this effectively enough for you to check it out! 😉

So, what do you think? What considerations do you have for better communication on eDiscovery projects? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Image Communicate by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.