IT and legal teams aren’t collaborating on buying decisions, according to a
The vendor-sponsored research revealed that IT and legal teams question each other’s commitment and grasp of e-discovery and regulatory compliance, according to a company statement.
Communication between the disparate departments is worsening, according to the release. Only 54% of respondents described the relationship as "good" or "very good" this year, an 18% decrease from 2009. And, the number of respondents reporting that IT and legal departments were working closer together dropped to 54% in 2010, from 67% last year.
In fact, companies’ priorities concerning e-discovery have shifted over the last year, according to Recommind, an e-discovery software provider. This year, 26% of respondents stated that their IT department placed e-discovery as a high or very high priority—a 14% drop from 2009.
In an
Technology is not the barrier, said Kershaw. "Technology is our friend here, but the legal profession is slow to change and lawyers are risk averse. Lawyers are trained to follow precedent, stare decisis … But if we wake up and consider that technology can help by culling and sorting and sifting and searching, we can be very efficient."
This story was reprinted with permission from Information Management.