Enterprise ediscovery data migration

QUICK SUMMARY

Migrating ediscovery data to the cloud

Foley & Mansfield, a national law firm based in Minneapolis, had been using a legacy, on-premise ediscovery platform for over a decade. When the vendor notified Foley & Mansfield that they were sunsetting their product, the team set out to identify a new cloud-based platform that could support their litigation practice for the next 10+ years.

Foley was looking for cost-effective software with more advanced functionality than their previous platform. They also needed to migrate many terabytes of historical case data with work-product intact – and without breaking the bank. 

Foley & Mansfield selected Nextpoint as the firm’s new cloud-based ediscovery platform. In close partnership with Nextpoint’s Data Strategy and Client Success teams, the Foley team successfully prepared the data, executed the migration and implemented firmwide training to drive adoption. 

Six months after selecting Nextpoint, all case data and work product had been cleaned up and successfully migrated, and the firm’s user adoption of ediscovery software increased by 20%.

The Nextpoint team’s ability to problem solve and trouble shoot was unmatched,” says Amy. “The technical team who did our migration was dedicated to making our migration successful.”
^{Amy Koski, Litigation Support Services Manager}
_{Foley & Mansfield}

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THE CHALLENGE

Migrating terabytes of historical case data

Foley & Mansfield, a national law firm based in Minneapolis, had been using a legacy, on-premise eDiscovery platform for over a decade. When the vendor notified Foley & Mansfield that they were sunsetting their product, Amy Koski, Foley’s Litigation Support Services Manager, gained approval to identify a new cloud-based platform that could support Foley’s litigation practice for the next 10+ years.
Foley had three primary business objectives that Amy needed to satisfy in the selection of a new eDiscovery platform: 

1. Software Functionality: The chosen software needed significantly more advanced features and functionality than their existing legacy, on-premise platform.
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2. Data Migration: Foley needed the ability to migrate many terabytes of historical case data with work-product intact. Foley’s attorneys regularly rely on case matters that can be decades old, so the data and work-product needed to be successfully migrated in full.
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3. Comprehensive Cost: The migration fees as well as the annual subscription needed to prove cost-effective. Foley maintains large amounts of active data over extended periods of time. Capping or eliminating data hosting costs altogether was therefore a top priority for the firm.

Amy had overseen a data migration years earlier. That experience had been extremely disruptive to Foley’s business, so she was determined to apply the lessons learned to this migration. 

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THE SOLUTION

Migrating all data to the Nextpoint cloud-native platform

Foley & Mansfield selected Nextpoint as the firm’s new cloud-based eDiscovery platform. In close partnership with Nextpoint’s Data Strategy and Client Success teams, Amy and her litigation support colleagues (Elisha Nelson, Jacob Harder, and Keith Pool) successfully prepared the data, executed the migration and implemented firm-wide training to drive adoption. Six months after selecting Nextpoint, all case data and work product had been cleaned up and successfully migrated into Nextpoint, and the firm is experiencing higher monthly software utilization rates than before. 

Foley did not merely want to migrate their existing data “as is,” for portions of the data set had never benefited from a thorough QC review. As is often the case with legacy data, it lacked consistent naming conventions, contained duplicate documents, etc. Recognizing the opportunity to improve the quality of the data prior to migration, Amy and her team invested time to properly prepare the data by standardizing coding panels, removing duplicate documents and truncating data when appropriate. The clean-up effort prior to migration enabled Foley attorneys to identify important documents more easily in the Nextpoint platform. 

Once the data was prepared, Amy and her team migrated Foley’s data in a phased manner based on practice groups. The benefit of a phased migration enabled Amy and her team to focus on each practice group’s data and address any unique issues with the work product. After each practice group’s databases had been migrated and undergone quality control tests, Amy terminated the group’s access to the old legacy platform. 

Another benefit of sequencing the data migration by practice area was that it enabled Amy to align her training and onboarding plans around each group. Foley offered numerous online and on-site training in the weeks following each migration, making it possible for all users to attend regardless of office location and time zone. “After we went live with Nextpoint, we spent the first two weeks focused exclusively on user end support and training,” says Amy. “In our Minneapolis office, we responded deskside to requests and carried a tablet with us to be able to make access and permission changes on the fly while assisting the users.”

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THE OUTCOME

eDiscovery software adoption is up 20% firmwide

Following a comprehensive work plan, Amy and her team successfully prepared and migrated Foley & Mansfield’s legacy data in collaboration with Nextpoint’s Client Success team. 

“The Nextpoint team’s ability to problem solve and trouble shoot was unmatched,” says Amy. “The technical team who did our migration was dedicated to making our migration successful.” 

Today, Foley & Mansfield’s data and work product is fully searchable and available in Nextpoint’s feature-rich, online repository, and more than 200 active monthly users are accessing the data. 

“There hasn’t been a single day that we haven’t been happy with our decision,” Amy says. “My team and our users are so happy to be Nextpoint converts! Our user adoption is up 20% … Thank you for the product we moved into. Thank you for the product it has become over the last year. Thank you for the work you put in daily to make it better. Your passion and dedication to customer service and experience is second to none.”

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