Law firms and corporate legal departments are increasingly turning to outsource talent to help them manage growing litigation caseloads and navigate new federal rules pertaining to electronic discovery and litigation management.

A growth in caseloads, more time-intensive early-stage litigation and internal recruiting difficulties are all key factors driving law firms and corporate legal departments to increase this reliance on contact legal professionals.

WalkerSearhGroup works with law firms and corporate legal departments to assist in the contract, temporary or direct-hire placement of attorneys' paralegals and legal administrative professionals. We staff and manage on-site, off-site and remote litigation projects including activities such as witness interviews, document review, case preparation and, increasingly, e-discovery.

Our legal professionals are fully qualified to conduct standard and/or case specific reviews and make required determinations on relevance, privilege and confidentiality.

E-Discovery

E-discovery is a particularly critical part of litigation support today, because new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have increased the complexity and time associated with litigation on the front end. Discovery now accounts for 50% of the litigation costs of the average case, and up to 90% of the litigation costs in cases in which it is actively pursued. A typical Fortune 500 company has 125 ongoing legal matters at any given time, with at least 75% of those requiring e-discovery A survey of corporate clients conducted by the law firm of Fulbright and Jaworski revealed that e-discovery is the #1 litigation-related burden for General Counsel at companies with annual revenues exceeding $100 million.

This headache is anticipated to become more intense as companies and law firms desperately seek attorneys who can be entrusted with e-discovery issues. Unfortunately, the shortage of highly skilled, experienced candidates in specific practice areas often hinders them in their efforts to keep pace. As a result, law firms and corporations are desperately trying to find better ways to deal with the discovery boom, and contract lawyers appear to be the answer.

WalkerSearchGroup's qualified project attorneys can conduct a wide range of professional functions including:

• Draft pleadings, trial motions, interrogatories and trial and appellate briefs.
• Draft contracts, agreements, disclosures, loan papers and documentation for corporate transactional matters.
• Review and analyze key materials such as documents from opposing counsel, research from paralegals and other associates, privileged information or information produced for opposing parties.
• Handle required court appearances such as motions, appeals and preliminary or arbitration hearings.
• Interview expert witnesses.
• Oversee litigation support teams to ensure that projects are accomplished in accordance with the lead attorney's directions.
Assist in the development of case and trial strategies.
• Fill highly specialized needs for matters that require specific expertise (medical, high-technology, government, etc.)