ACT Litigation Services Lauds American Bar Association's Opinion on Outsourcing

Market Wire, September, 2008

ACT Litigation Services, Inc., a leading provider of digital document management, electronic discovery and document review for corporate legal departments and law firms, commends the American Bar Association and its Standing committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility for its recent Formal Opinion 08-451, titled "Lawyer's Obligations When Outsourcing Legal and Nonlegal Support Services." The opinion, issued on August 25, 2008, concludes that U.S. lawyers are free to outsource legal work to lawyers or nonlawyers in or outside of the country and lays out some ethical ground rules for doing so.

According to the opinion, "a lawyer may outsource legal or nonlegal support services provided the lawyer remains ultimately responsible for rendering competent legal services to the client," as long as:

--  The lawyer makes reasonable efforts to make sure the conduct of those
    to whom tasks are outsourced is aligned with his or her own professional
    obligations and the attorney retains "direct supervisory authority."
--  The lawyer discloses to and receives consent from the client.
--  The fees charged must be reasonable and otherwise in compliance with
    the obligations under Rule 1.5 governing the use of contract attorneys, and
--  The lawyer must avoid assisting the unauthorized practice of law.
    

ACT's document review offerings have successfully grown utilizing the principles of the ABA's opinion from day one. "Our review teams are managed by experienced, U.S. licensed attorneys who work closely with each client's counsel to instruct, supervise and certify each review project," said Jeff Samples, Director of Client Services at ACT. "Our review process is designed to incorporate the client in all aspects of the review thereby ensuring direct supervisory authority and control remains with the client and their outside counsel." Close communication and shared supervision, along with ACT's fee model, which caps costs at a predictable per-page rate, has made ACT a leader in the field of document review.

More information, including a link to the opinion itself, is at http://www.abanet.org/abanet/media/release/news_release.cfm?releaseid=435 .

About ACT Litigation Services, Inc.

Established in 1986, ACT Litigation Services (ACT) provides digital document management, electronic discovery and litigation management consulting to clients from the country's largest law firms and corporations. A private company based near Los Angeles, California, ACT was founded by engineers to offer a deep understanding of technology and process control in managing high profile, complex litigation. The company offers a full range of discovery-related services, including consultation, collection, conversion, hosting and production, as well as metrics-driven document review. For more information about ACT, call (661) 284-6401 ext. 222 or visit www.actlit.com .

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Contact Information: Craig Lee ACT Litigation Services, Inc. Tel.: 661.284.6401, ext. 222 E-mail: Email Contact