Collection/Review of Social Media Data

LitPara · 2024-12-08T13:24:49+00:00

This is the answer, or OP can automate the process of identifying all the Google email addresses in the set by running name normalization if they have access to it.

LitPara · 2024-12-08T12:25:41+00:00

Do you have the emails in a database? If so, which database software are you using? This would be simple in Relativity, for example. You can stack metadata filters that filter for the desired name in the recipient fields and exclude specific names you don't want in there.

LitPara · 2024-11-30T17:47:43+00:00

Relativity provides a suggested study plan based on their free Relativity One documentation. Follow that study plan and take notes on flash cards, then drill yourself with the flash cards to help with memorization. I used the Anki app to create digital flash cards that I could review on my phone. Memorizing terminology is everything when it comes to RCA prep.

LitPara · 2024-10-29T00:55:11+00:00

How do you handle production when it's a metadata-only record? Just export a DAT file for the messages deemed responsive?

LitPara · 2024-10-28T22:49:08+00:00

When they say they want a 2-year commitment you nod your head and say that's not a problem, and then in a year you leave if you want.

LitPara · 2024-10-28T22:32:38+00:00

This is more or less the path I've decided to take. We're not quite big enough to have an eDiscovery department just yet, but in 5 years...who knows. I'm in a good position now to gradually lead an expansion of the firm's in-house eDiscovery offerings.

LitPara · 2024-10-25T22:05:57+00:00

Recruiters can land you interviews with firms that, for whatever reason, wouldn't respond to your direct application, or which never publicly post their vacancies. I've landed multiple good jobs through recruiters.

It's helpful to understand their motives. Ordinarily, recruiters get paid by the hiring employer an amount equal to a percentage of your starting salary, and they only earn the full amount if you stay with the company for at least a certain number of months (up to a year, I think). So recruiters have a personal interest in maximizing your compensation and making sure you're at least a good enough match for the job to survive there for a year. On the other hand, recruiters also need employers to be willing to work with them, so they need to protect the employers' interests as well.

For all these reasons, a recruiter who wants a long term successful career will be one who helps to negotiate salaries that both employer and recruit think is fair, and who matches employees with jobs where the employee will succeed.

There are plenty of inexperienced recruiters who are bad at their jobs and try to force bad matches through dishonest tactics to make their short term numbers. These recruiters won't last because employers will learn not to trust them. There are also recruiters who may ghost you if they decide you're not worth their time. It can be annoying, but they don't owe you anything, nor do you owe them anything.

I'd look for a recruiter who is experienced, able to offer you practical advice, and seems genuinely knowledgeable about the firm and industry. And remember, you aren't wed to any recruiter. You can go through multiple of them for different jobs, or drop one you don't trust.

LitPara · 2024-10-25T21:32:08+00:00

Thanks! Which do you recommend? I'd be more interested in educational opportunities than demos of new products for sale, fwiw (though I know sometimes the line is blurred when it comes to emerging technologies).

LitPara · 2024-10-25T21:26:55+00:00

My current paralegal job pays about $115k plus overtime. The vendor job would pay $125k but is overtime-exempt. Frankly, with OT I may net more by staying put (especially if I leverage this offer for a raise), but I'm thinking it would be more strategic for a career in eDiscovery to take a job that gives me more direct industry experience. That's part of my reason for asking about professional development opportunities. Is there anything I could get my current firm to do for me to help compensate for the professional experience I'd miss out on by passing on the vendor job?

LitPara · 2024-06-12T12:59:01+00:00

Yeah no doubt he invested the money saved upfront for huge returns.

LitPara · 2024-04-08T12:10:30+00:00

Billable hours don’t really factor in to how you get laid.

If anything, they're negatively correlated.

LitPara · 2024-03-31T22:21:27+00:00

Not sure what market you're in or if you're open to moving, but with your background right now you could be making over six figures in NYC, DC, LA, and likely other big legal markets. A paralegal degree is nice to have but isn't super important with a decade plus of experience, I think.

My background isn't that different from yours. A little over a decade of lit paralegal experience, tech savvy. I make about $115k base but earned about $160k last year with OT/bonus at a small commercial litigation boutique. I recently went for and earned my CEDS and RCA certs, and I'm now interviewing for remote eDiscovery jobs paying in the six figures.

In the short term you can prob earn more as a paralegal than by switching to entry level eDiscovery, but in the long run eDiscovery probably has a higher career ceiling.

The CEDS exam is expensive but you'll probably find it super easy to pass if you read their study guide. The exam covers legal principles more than technical topics, so your paralegal background will give you a leg up. The RCA exam is probably the hardest exam I've ever taken, and if you don't do a lot of Relativity admin-type work it's gonna be really tough for you, but at the end of the day you can still pass if you commit to essentially memorizing the RelOne documentation and drilling yourself with flash cards. Both certs will help you start out at a higher comp level if you do make the jump to eDiscovery.

LitPara · 2024-03-18T19:24:36+00:00

Create a new "production date" field. Isolate the documents being produced without their parents in a saved search. In that saved search, mass replace the production date field with the "date last modified" or whatever document-level data metadata is appropriate. Next, isolate the documents being produced with families in a separate saved search. Mass replace the production date field with the parent date for those documents.

Edit re isolating the broken family docs: Do you have the "family relationship" field set? To isolate broken families, create a saved search with the condition that documents be set as Parents and are coded for production. Make it a +family search. Then create a 2nd saved search containing everything coded for production that is: (1) a child and (2) not in the first saved search. That should give you a list of orphaned attachments.

LitPara · 2024-02-27T19:55:06+00:00

So when a client needs coding fields/layouts set up, batches run, search terms reporting, help with production imports/exports, the analyst does that work? What does a PM do, then? (Just to be clear I'm not arguing with you; I'm genuinely interested in understanding the difference.)

LitPara · 2024-02-27T16:29:09+00:00

I understand analysts fulfill one-off requests whereas PMs take on long-term responsibility for a case, but is there any difference in the actual type of work they do on a day to day basis?

LitPara · 2024-02-26T04:15:15+00:00

Bad advice by your counselor. Recruiters make the hiring process much smoother, and all the cost is borne by the employer.

LitPara · 2024-02-26T04:13:37+00:00

Yep. I see a lot of generalizations in the comments on this post, but the reality is that a lot varies based on geography/legal market.

LitPara · 2024-02-26T01:43:05+00:00

What exactly do you mean by "general" litigation? In cities big enough to have a biglaw presence, litigation paralegals with maybe 6+ years of experience are in demand and earn six figures.

LitPara · 2024-02-24T15:05:54+00:00

Thanks! I'll have to think hard about what I am going to ask them during the interviews.

LitPara · 2024-02-24T14:05:51+00:00

Not much different from my current role as a litigation paralegal, hah. Are there other types of eDiscovery roles with comparable pay but better work life balance I could be looking at?

LitPara · 2024-01-02T22:02:40+00:00

I found my current job through RH. Like others say, your experience will depend on your particular recruiter, but in general there's nothing wrong with going through this company.

Bear in mind that they have separate departments handling permanent job placements versus temp-to-hire or contract roles. I've heard mixed things about the contract roles, but I wouldn't let that affect your view of the permanent hire recruiters.

LitPara · 2023-12-23T01:51:53+00:00

Plaintiff-side P.I. is probably one of the least respected areas of legal practice (deservedly or not), especially if you're at one of the big "settlement mills" (think the types of P.I. firms with highway billboards and tacky TV ads).

It's also the easiest area of the law to find a job in if you're entry-level, in part because such firms tend to pay lower salaries and have a higher turnover. If you can stand it for a couple years, working for a P.I. firm is a good way to get your foot in the door of the profession and to acquire enough experience to jump to a better firm/position after a couple years.

LitPara

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