Esquire Innovations, Inc.
Case Study
March 5, 2007
Keker & Van Nest LLP Manages Metadata with Esquire Innovations’ iScrub Software
Background:
Keker & Van Nest (KVN) is a fifty lawyer litigation firm located in San Francisco with a 25 year devotion to complex high-stakes civil and criminal litigation on a national scope. The firm has received many industry awards and accolades and in 2005, The American Lawyer magazine (January 2005 issue) named Keker & Van Nest the "Litigation Boutique of the Year," singling out the firm for litigation success in high stakes matters.
The firm litigates and tries cases in state and federal courts throughout California and across the nation, taking great pride in its record of success at trial, motions practice, appeals and in arbitrations, mediations, and other ADR procedures.
This pride and commitment is also evident in KVN’s proactive approach to providing staff with the right technology to serve its clients most effectively. An example of this is the firm’s use of Esquire Innovations’ iOffice System, a suite of document creation and productivity tools, and in particular the utilization of its iScrub metadata management software.
Enter Bobby Bommarito, responsible for KVN’s Application Development and Workplace Learning, focusing on technology customization, its adoption and utilization, and “championing” technology tools such as metadata software.
Why Metadata Management
“While the firm’s Information Technology Department provides the tools to address metadata, our users determine when to use the tools,” stated Mr. Bommarito. The decision to purchase and rollout a metadata management product, in KVN’s case iScrub, was risk management-related and part of the firm’s comprehensive risk management plan. “When looking at past articles and reports documenting metadata misuse, it was an easy decision to invest in metadata scrubbing technology. We are a litigation firm – that’s all we do. The risk associated with sharing documents outside our “electronic walls” is too great to not have a reliable and easy to use metadata tool in place. Specifically with iScrub, we customized it for our environment, created user reference materials, implemented it, and provided information on its benefits and instruction in its use,” added Mr. Bommarito.
iScrub Purchasing Factors
KVN’s purchase of iScrub was not a replacement of an existing system, but represented the firm’s first metadata tool implementation. Key factors for the purchase included:
Comprehensive Solution: Because KVN already had Esquire’s iCreate document creation tool in place, it seemed logical to use its sister product, iScrub. Since that time, KVN has purchased the complete iOffice suite (iCreate, iScrub, iRedline, iDocID) and plans to continue to roll out additional Esquire Innovations applications to help build better documents, increase productivity, and simplify routine tasks. It made a lot of sense to own a “one source” solution.
Relationship: KVN and Esquire have a long term working relationship, which includes input into the development process and new products. Esquire looks to clients like KVN to help it guide future product development.
Competitive Pricing: Esquire provides competitive pricing compared to comparable competitors’ offerings.
Functionality: iScrub has all the features KVN needs to effectively manage metadata. The Outlook integration feature provides the greatest advantage in the adoption process. As a consequence, iScrub is used by everyone at Keker & Van Nest.
Reliability: On the topic of metadata, a reliable product is even more important than relationships and pricing.
Key Strategies for Metadata Control (excerpted from “Managing the Menace of Metadata”, ILTA Whitepaper series: Cracking the Code on Security, December 2006) As the legal community becomes increasingly aware of the damage unintentional disclosure of document information can cause, the necessity for establishing metadata control strategies and parameters becomes blatantly evident: Educating your firm about metadata concerns: Attorneys and support staff who prepare documents should be made aware of what software features may embed metadata (e.g., track changes, comments, document properties), as well as the ramifications of using them. Much of the metadata inherited from the practice of repurposing documents can be eliminated simply by using templates containing minimal metadata. Controlling and managing metadata with third-party metadata scrubbing and management software: Microsoft provides a basic metadata removal tool for Microsoft Word. More powerful third-party applications not only scrub metadata but also allow firms to manage it at a very detailed level. Establishing a firm-wide metadata scrubbing and management policy: Implementing metadata-related policies and procedures can eliminate the need for individual users to decide what metadata gets scrubbed, resulting in a more efficient and standardized scrubbing process. Key users, especially attorneys, should be involved in any decisions about what is automatically removed and what is optional. |
What about iScrub: A Snapshot Key Features Outlook, Lotus Notes and GroupWise Integration: E-mail integration capability to prevent the inadvertent release of confidential information. It is critical to capture documents that are attached to e-mail messages and later published outside the firm. iScrub can require users to scrub all documents sent outside the firm as part of an non-invasive automated workflow process. MetaSealant: A powerful feature that allows users to first scrub a document and then lock it down. Essentially, MetaSealant is a PDF-alternative that keeps a document in its native MS Word format. Batch Metadata Removal: A tool to remove metadata from multiple files, iScrub’s “SpinCycle” utility can remove the metadata from a group of MS Office and PDF files or an entire directory all at once. |
iScrub Efficiencies
Microsoft Office and Exchange have become the desktop standard throughout the legal industry. Having a metadata removal tool tightly integrated with the tools already in use, provides firms a distinct advantage in the training and adoption process. This approach allows firms to implement an important element of a risk management program with little effort.
“iScrub is an inconspicuous program that provides a high level of certainty that confidential information will not be inadvertently released. Implementing iScrub’s Outlook connectivity is a great benefit to Keker & Van Nest. Users needn’t follow a procedure or think about steps – they are automatically prompted if an e-mail message includes Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files. Without minimizing the importance of the metadata issue, iScrub’s unobtrusive presence allows users to focus on other issues and rest assured they won’t unintentionally divulge confidential information. iScrub helps lessen the burden and provides a great benefit,” concluded Mr. Bommarito.
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