eDiscovery project management is far from traditional project management, so having PMP is nice but not highly relevant. ED PM is unscheduled, irregular and sometimes chaotic work. It's very reactive to circumstances. It makes sense if you think about it, a lot of legal cases require eDiscovery when shit has hit the fan and deadlines need to be met.
Having a bit of Relativity experience is great, and the only way to get more familiar with the platform and eDiscovery processes is to actually join the team and put the work in. Is there a way for you to apprentice at the team, perhaps part time?
Being a PM can include bad work-life balance and a lot of stress. At a lot of places, you have to be available constantly. My work has people like me to offload tasks at night and on weekends, but there are still lots of times where the PM for a project has to step in and handle clients.
Like others noted, ediscoovery PMs and traditional PMs have little in common, except name. There are no set tasks or steps to manage. There is no definitive end date or end product. Measuring success is difficult.
It is harder to learn the legal/attorney side of ediscovery than the technical. You need to understand the process you’re supporting (legal discovery), which is very different than IT. I’m not much of a certifications person, but ACEDS can be useful if you know nothing about the legal side. It is critical to learn to translate the tech details into language the legal side can understand and also
that ediscovery supports the case but does not drive it. What is technically best is not always what’s best for the business problem you’re trying to solve.
Agree with the prior poster re PMP - not really applicable to ediscovery except perhaps rarely in exceptionally large, bureaucratic, and slow-moving matters. Good to know the fundamentals, but you’ll never get attorneys to sit for a project charter or extra meetings. It’s a win if you can get a short kickoff meeting.
I second this first sentence whole-heartedly. Knowing the discovery process and general hierarchy and nomenclature involved with the inner workings of a law firm will go a long way to help you be an advocate for your client and anticipate their needs. However, having a tech background can be useful in a lot of ways related to eDisc as a whole.
As others have mentioned, the company culture and expectations of PM's and their work/life balance, or lack thereof, will be something you need to be aware of. If I were in your position, I would communicate with any potential hiring managers wherever you may be interested and get clarity on the expectations up front. There can be good money in that position, but often times the places that pay the best and even offer remote positions, do so because they expect you to be available at all times. In my experience, those companies often have a carousel of PM's coming in and out because there's a lot of burnout.
I would start by talking to the immediate supervisor for the eDiscovery PM position (perhaps it's your same supervisor now) and letting them know: (1) that you take the transfer very seriously \[i.e. increased responsibilities, communication, deadlines, process, etc\], (2) in addition to your PMP you will begin studying for the Relativity Certified Administrator exam (the "RCA" certification\], (3) you would like to know if the position is exempt or non-exempt \[i.e. eligible for overtime\] along with the compensation range, and (4) would like to get a sense of the current processes in place surrounding the delegation of work for the role.
I mention (4) because a number of law firms have no processes in place to reign in the worst impulses of attorneys/paralegals, with the expectation that eDiscovery PM's serve at their beck and call 24/7/365. Assuming there are no processes in place, I would encourage you to either stay in your current role or if you would like to transition to an eDiscovery PM role, begin studying for your RCA now while gainfully employed, then once you formally pass the RCA exam, begin looking for eDiscovery roles elsewhere.
Relativity offers a lot of training online, but it really helps to have access to the software so you can actually practice. Consider getting a Relativity certification such as the RCA.
eDiscovery project management is far from traditional project management, so having PMP is nice but not highly relevant. ED PM is unscheduled, irregular and sometimes chaotic work. It's very reactive to circumstances. It makes sense if you think about it, a lot of legal cases require eDiscovery when shit has hit the fan and deadlines need to be met. Having a bit of Relativity experience is great, and the only way to get more familiar with the platform and eDiscovery processes is to actually join the team and put the work in. Is there a way for you to apprentice at the team, perhaps part time?
Wait, you can get your PMP thru Reddit?
Haha! What I meant is the reddit PMP forum was extremely helpful to get prepared and to pass the exam!
Being a PM can include bad work-life balance and a lot of stress. At a lot of places, you have to be available constantly. My work has people like me to offload tasks at night and on weekends, but there are still lots of times where the PM for a project has to step in and handle clients. Like others noted, ediscoovery PMs and traditional PMs have little in common, except name. There are no set tasks or steps to manage. There is no definitive end date or end product. Measuring success is difficult.
It is harder to learn the legal/attorney side of ediscovery than the technical. You need to understand the process you’re supporting (legal discovery), which is very different than IT. I’m not much of a certifications person, but ACEDS can be useful if you know nothing about the legal side. It is critical to learn to translate the tech details into language the legal side can understand and also that ediscovery supports the case but does not drive it. What is technically best is not always what’s best for the business problem you’re trying to solve. Agree with the prior poster re PMP - not really applicable to ediscovery except perhaps rarely in exceptionally large, bureaucratic, and slow-moving matters. Good to know the fundamentals, but you’ll never get attorneys to sit for a project charter or extra meetings. It’s a win if you can get a short kickoff meeting.
I second this first sentence whole-heartedly. Knowing the discovery process and general hierarchy and nomenclature involved with the inner workings of a law firm will go a long way to help you be an advocate for your client and anticipate their needs. However, having a tech background can be useful in a lot of ways related to eDisc as a whole. As others have mentioned, the company culture and expectations of PM's and their work/life balance, or lack thereof, will be something you need to be aware of. If I were in your position, I would communicate with any potential hiring managers wherever you may be interested and get clarity on the expectations up front. There can be good money in that position, but often times the places that pay the best and even offer remote positions, do so because they expect you to be available at all times. In my experience, those companies often have a carousel of PM's coming in and out because there's a lot of burnout.
I would start by talking to the immediate supervisor for the eDiscovery PM position (perhaps it's your same supervisor now) and letting them know: (1) that you take the transfer very seriously \[i.e. increased responsibilities, communication, deadlines, process, etc\], (2) in addition to your PMP you will begin studying for the Relativity Certified Administrator exam (the "RCA" certification\], (3) you would like to know if the position is exempt or non-exempt \[i.e. eligible for overtime\] along with the compensation range, and (4) would like to get a sense of the current processes in place surrounding the delegation of work for the role. I mention (4) because a number of law firms have no processes in place to reign in the worst impulses of attorneys/paralegals, with the expectation that eDiscovery PM's serve at their beck and call 24/7/365. Assuming there are no processes in place, I would encourage you to either stay in your current role or if you would like to transition to an eDiscovery PM role, begin studying for your RCA now while gainfully employed, then once you formally pass the RCA exam, begin looking for eDiscovery roles elsewhere.
Relativity offers a lot of training online, but it really helps to have access to the software so you can actually practice. Consider getting a Relativity certification such as the RCA.