Proceedings peculiar to US proceedings "Discovery"
2020/2/27
Introduction to Discovery (2/7): Three essential questions for selecting a discovery venter
2020/2/27
Introduction to Discovery (1/7): Don't leave the choice of discovery vendor to others!
Dealing with international proceedings is difficult for the company alone
Reasons why it is dangerous to choose a vendor that is left to a lawyer or a local corporation
American civil proceedings differ in many respects from Japanese proceedings.The biggest difference is the presence or absence of "discovery".In the United States, when a proceeding is filed, it is required that the parties have a forum for discussion before the trial is conducted by the court.The important procedure performed at this time is "discovery", which is a procedure for the parties to obtain evidence from the other party and a third party.The purpose of this system is for both the plaintiff and the defendant to correctly recognize the "facts" and resolve them as much as possible by conducting discovery and showing evidence before the trial.
Severe penalties are set for any falsification or concealment of evidence during this discovery stage.Of course, the proceedings will also be at a disadvantage.Don't be distracted or leave it to others just because it's one of the procedures.
Point
When choosing a discovery vendor, it's a good idea for the company to take a firm initiative as a party, rather than relying solely on the opinions of others.Otherwise, you will be charged a huge fee for the work that you could have omitted.
In the case of Company S headquartered in Japan
One day, a law firm in the United States contacted me saying, "We will review Company S, which is preparing for a proceeding, in the United States, so please send us the data."However, the company's proceedings have already been agreed to be undertaken by our discovery vendor. I have not received a report from the General Manager of the Legal Department of Company S that the vendor will be changed, and when I actually checked with the General Manager of the Headquarters, "I do not know such a story. I have decided on it. "However, a few days later, the general manager contacted me, "I want you to do what the law firm says."When asked about the situation, the law firm had voluntarily signed a one-year contract with as many as 70 lawyers and was already preparing for a review.If you ask a vendor other than the American vendor designated by the lawyer (in this case, our company) for review work, the defense costs for these 1 people will be wasted, so I'm sorry but I want to cancel the order. ..For example, in the above example, if you sign a contract with 70 lawyers, it costs about 70 billion yen even for one year.However, if you take a method that costs as little labor as possible, such as by using technology such as predictive coding (review work is done using a computer), it will be possible to reduce the cost to about 1/30. I will.
Why law firms want to choose a vendor directly
Litigation Support Department selects vendors
Think about why this happened.American law firms usually have a department called "Litigation Support" under a lawyer.Lawyers are rarely directly involved in the selection of discovery vendors, and it is common for this department to work with external vendors to carry out discovery work.
In the case of Company S, if we receive an order for discovery, the American vendor will run out of work, the ligation support that bundles it will also have less work, and the mens will not be able to keep it.It is probable that he talked through a lawyer there.
Consider cost as a litigation strategy
With 1 billion yen in legal fees per year, it is clear that it will be difficult to continuously respond to proceedings over several years.If it costs only 30 million yen a year, you can compete for 1 years with a budget of 3 billion yen.It's just a budget comparison, but the difference is clear.Depending on the nature of the proceedings, it is quite possible to develop a strategy and bring it to a favorable settlement if the cost is one tenth.In this way, cost control is not just a cost reduction, but an indispensable strategy for deriving a favorable reconciliation.
Japanese companies must have solid initiatives as parties to ensure proper cost control.You can't control costs or proceedings by leaving it to an American law firm or a local corporation that has been sued.
How to choose the right discovery vendor
Review costs account for most of the discovery costs.Therefore, it is very important to select a discovery vendor who will be in charge of the review.In addition to lawyers, American law firms have a department called Litigation Support, which is responsible for selecting vendors when a discovery case occurs, and lawyers are basically responsible for selecting vendors. I'm not involved.
In the event of an international proceeding, it is the lawyer who communicates directly with the client, but even if there is an advisory contract with the lawyer at the time of the proceeding, there is no contract with the discovery vendor.
Therefore, basically, the client should be able to freely choose a discovery vendor, but there are many cases where the legal department of the head office is unfamiliar with the discovery procedure or leaves it to the local subsidiary to leave the vendor selection to a lawyer. ..
Lawyers will then choose vendors recommended by Litigation Support to boost their law firm's sales.It may be that you choose not by the superiority or inferiority of work quality, but by the amount of profit margin and merit.In this case, even if Japanese companies ask the criteria for vendor selection, they may only get biased answers.
Point
Make it clear in the contract that the vendor will be selected by the company.
