A pattern or a trend?

• In recent years there has been increased demand for document review services coming from law firms within Europe.
• This article examines the reasons behind this demand for managed document review services and ponders whether it is a short term increase or a long-term trend.

Document review as an unbundled legal service has traditionally been used most heavily by litigation teams, particularly in the US and the UK where e-discovery is a requirement. Perhaps unsurprisingly continental Europe has been slower to adopt e-discovery technology. If an EU lawyer has heard of e-discovery technology and managed document review services, it is likely they would feel these services were more relevant to colleagues across the Channel and the Atlantic.

However, in recent years there has been increased demand for document review services coming from law firms within Europe. E-discovery providers such as Kroll Ontrack have recently unveiled review centres in Germany and Poland, as well as offering managed review services from their offices in France, the Netherlands,