What Are Litigation Support Companies and What Do They Provide?

Litigation support professionals help attorneys manage the legal needs and aspects of large-scale litigation and complex litigation. The term large-scale litigation generally refers to litigation that has a broad scope and therefore requires the assistance of more legal experts than smaller scale litigation. The term complex litigation, on the other hand, generally refers to litigation whose increased complexity is defined by a large number of deponents and/or witness, an extremely small time frame within which to try a case, complex information that is difficult to present to a jury in a simplified fashion, etc. Although large-scale litigation and complex litigation refer to different types of litigation, it is not uncommon for them to they occur simultaneously. In any case, attorneys that participate in large scale litigation, complex litigation or both at the same time usually contract with a litigation support service to keep litigation on schedule without compromising the quality of legal counsel.

Ranging from research and documentation of precedents and facts to legal IT support, the type of services performed by litigation support experts depends on the needs of attorneys. Litigation support experts work both independently and as a part of litigation services agencies. In many cases, attorneys prefer to hire litigation experts from well-known litigation services providers, particularly when such providers put their staff through a thorough screening process that examines an individual's professionalism in terms of dress, personal disposition, commitment, etc. Although litigation support experts can possess a variety of skills, they use them to accomplish one thing: by administering to legal duties, they allow attorneys to focus on the primary aspects of a case without becoming distracted by the case's surrounding needs.

Litigation experts usually begin their work by becoming familiar with the general and specific aspects of a case that has been filed or is ready to be filed. After gathering information about the case, they begin identifying precedents, previous legal actions and current laws that are relevant to the case. Presenting it to attorneys generally can have two major impacts on a case: it can strengthen an attorney's developed line of inquiry or reveal the flaws in a line of inquiry based on airtight legal facts and precedents. If a case is won, litigation experts may continue to assist attorneys by determining the proper collection process for damages where applicable. If a case is lost, litigation supporters may continue to assist attorneys in determining whether there were details that emerged during the trial that could serve as grounds for an appeal.