When you are involved in a lawsuit, you want to do everything possible to give yourself the best chance of winning your case. Sometimes, hiring legal counsel is not enough. Many attorneys suggest or work with litigation support specialists. These are things you should consider before agreeing to hire litigation support specialists.
Identify Your Needs
Each litigation specialist has different skills. For example, banking litigation support specialists will be adept at reviewing banking records. Therefore, your first step is to identify the skills you need in your support service provider. Don’t forget to evaluate their communication skills and passion for the work while you assess their aptitudes, competencies, willingness to learn and attention to detail. Also, ask for copies of their certifications.
Assess Your Budget
The last thing you want to do is build a litigation strategy that you cannot afford to implement. Once you establish a budget, you should ask your prospective litigation support specialists what they charge by the hour. This will help you determine how much of their time you can afford. It will also give you an idea of what the going rate is. Beware any specialist who offers you an especially low price and those whose prices are significantly above the average. Choosing a firm or professional based solely on price can result in reduced service quality.
Analyze Your Workload
You should also analyze your workload. Determine what tasks you can do yourself, such as collecting documents and preliminary analyses. You may also be able to handle the data entry and other organizational duties.
As you are interviewing service providers, ask how you can make their process easier. The more you can streamline the litigation support specialists’ workload and process, the less time they will have to spend on organization and other tasks.
Do your due diligence and be sure you are prepared for the expense and requirements of a litigation specialist.
