Please see below for answers to some of the questions that we frequently receive about our services specifically and offshore document review generally. Please e-mail us at
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or call us at +1 (212) 668-0200, and we will be more than happy to answer your specific questions by e-mail or telephone.
1. What differentiates Cobra Legal Solutions from its competitors?
Five important factors which most clearly differentiate Cobra from its competitors are:
a) At Cobra, virtually everything we do is centered on providing our clients with high quality work product. Document review is Cobra´s primary service offering. We are focused on the document review segment of the market and this specialization requires that we operate our business with an emphasis on quality and efficiency. No single practice or process can ensure high quality work product. It can only result from a commitment to quality that is reflected in each step of the company´s operation: from the people we hire; to the way document reviews are managed; and to the method for delivery of the final product. The methods Cobra uses to ensure high quality work product for any particular document review project can be summarized in four stages: project setup, project management, quality control and final delivery.
b) Utmost importance is given to the client´s confidentiality and data security. At Cobra, we preserve confidentiality and security through rigorous policies and procedures including, but not limited to:
i) Employee background checks ii) Employment agreements mandating confidentiality and security of client information iii) Strict office policies circumscribing electronic transfer of client information iv) Partitioned and secure office space v) Restriction on the use of mobile phones, cameras, personal email and web access, removable-media drives, USB flash and optical drives vi) Separate employees for separate clients, where necessary or desired. Employees who work on a project will not divulge client information to employees working on other projects, as part of their employee agreements. vii) Web-hosted document review platforms allow for continuous, secure access to documents while our attorneys are reviewing them in India
c) Cobra has the pricing plan that best meets your needs – what we call the least cost pricing plan. Cobra´s Least Cost Pricing Plan eliminates the guessing and confusion. Whether you choose standalone document review or the complete bundle, pricing is transparent and designed to provide the lowest cost
i) For standalone document review, clients are invoiced at the lesser of hourly rates or per document price, determined at project conclusion ii) For bundled ESI (Electronically Stored Information) and document review, clients are invoiced the lesser of (1) hourly rates, (2) price per document or (3) price per GB, again with the determination made at project conclusion iii) The price per document (or per GB) effectively caps the total cost of the review, while the low hourly rates provide an opportunity for additional cost savings
d) Cobra's investors are current and retired senior U.S. law firm partners and business executives who provide oversight and direction to management in order to ensure that the highest quality processes and service deliveries have been established and are followed. Please see Professionals: Investor Group for profiles of individual investors.
e) Cobra's U.S. and U.K.-trained management, based in New York and Chennai (India), bring a depth and breadth of experience in the field. As a group, our U.S. and U.K.-trained managers and litigation support services professionals have years of experience with large litigation at major firms such as: Milbank Tweed, White & Case, Cleary Gottlieb, Williams & Connolly, and Alston & Bird. Our managers have held leadership positions in major industry associations. Please see Professionals: Management Team for profiles of individual managers.
2. What are your current service offerings? Cobra provides high quality, cost-effective document review and litigation technology management consulting services for corporate legal departments and law firms. Cobra also has assisted clients in additional areas, and is prepared to discuss with you whether we can be a cost-effective resource for your potential legal-related projects.
3. Does Cobra provide services in addition to document review? While our main focus is high quality, cost-effective document review, our staff is also fully capable of assisting in a wide variety of legal-related tasks. Other services we provide are as follows:
i) Litigation technology consulting ii) Contract management iii) Case summaries iv) Deposition summaries v) Other litigation support services
4. Can you explain more about your litigation technology management consulting services? Cobra can assist in managing a wide range of discovery services where the use of litigation technology is required. We can advise clients on best practices and selection of appropriate vendors and can work directly with them to ensure the processes are performed in an efficient and cost-effective manner, with superior work product quality.
5. How does Cobra handle very large or specialized matters? Our India-based team of over 60 attorneys can handle a variety of large, complex litigation matters. Before we undertake a new project, we want to make sure we fully understand the nature of the project to assure that we can perform up to exacting expectations. Our training programs are designed to enhance the team´s ability to quickly adopt changes and new concepts quickly and effectively. We can partner with you to provide customized training programs or to hire additional personnel to address the unique needs of specialized matters.
6. How is supervision handled for offshore review? Cobra's Project Management team and practices enable our staff and your attorneys to oversee our document review process easily. The Managing Director of Litigation manages the work flow patterns on-site, and directly supervises our attorneys in India, with your attorneys to assist in supervising the offshore review in a manner that meets your objectives and ensures compliance with professional and ethical guidelines, including confidentiality and privilege.
7. With whom would I communicate during a project? We provide a high level of personal interaction on every project. Our team members are available 24X7. Our CEO, Candice Corby, responsible for Cobra´s overall operations, and our Managing Director, Jeff Isenberg, who handles technology related issues, are both available in the United States. Our Managing Director of Litigation, Kevin Clark, who is a U.S. and U.K.-trained attorney on-site full-time in Chennai India, is available to address substantive legal issues and any project specific related questions.
Furthermore, technology provides you access to your data when you need it. Web-hosted document review platforms allow for real-time, instantaneous access to your documents. Your documents are secure; they cannot be downloaded to local servers or computers. Cobra can supplement this access with reports detailing the progress of the entire review, individual reviewers or review folders. Depending on the software platform employed, we can provide flexible reporting options, a variety of sorting and formatting controls, and the ability to access the reports on-line or download them to a spreadsheet. We can also help you leverage tools such as an online team calendar, online bulletin board and automated e-mails announcing changes to ensure that everyone on the review team is informed and up-to-date.
8. How do you resolve problems in India quickly, given the distance and time difference? We provide a high level of personal interaction on every project. Our team members are available 24X7. Our CEO, Candice Corby, responsible for Cobra´s overall operations, and our Managing Director, Jeff Isenberg, who handles technology related issues, are both available in the United States. Our Managing Director of Litigation, Kevin Clark, who is a U.S. and U.K.-trained attorney on-site full-time in Chennai India, is available to address substantive legal issues and any project specific related questions.
9. What quality assurance and control measures does Cobra undertake? Ensuring quality is our highest priority. We believe that the "better, faster, cheaper" approach is not effective unless we can sustain superior quality in our work products. We engage in quality assurance measures at every stage in a client engagement. We not only promulgate quality control best practices but also can integrate our clients' preferred quality control measures into our own. We also conduct comprehensive initial training for our Indian attorney team with the involvement of your attorneys, followed by close audits of all work-product; this helps us correct any misunderstandings or errors and addresses any concerns to ensure superior quality overall.
Our normal practice is to engage in multi-tiered quality control processes throughout the project to ensure consistency and high quality in all stages of service delivery. Our quality control measures can include:
i) Pre-review of documents ii) Sampling iii) Specialized quality control teams iv) Coding conflicts reports v) Specialized searches vi) Close monitoring on-site by U.S. and U.K.-trained lawyers led by the Managing Director of Litigation, in Chennai
We would be happy to send you a proposed quality control work flow plan to illustrate our standard quality control processes and are happy to integrate your preferences and best practices into our work.
10. Does Cobra partner with any contract attorney staffing agencies in the U.S. for purposes of sharing different components of a project? Partnering is always an option, and we are happy to work with the agencies of your choice. Our experienced team can provide consulting services as how to put the best team together to meet your needs.
11. Does Cobra process data? No, Cobra does not process data. However, we have excellent relationships with many processing vendors and will work closely with them on a project, if needed.
12. What is your work flow process for document review? i) Documents for review are sought, located, collected, and scanned to the review platform vendor by the client ii) The Platform Vendor then scans, processes, and loads the documents into the database. Cobra is promptly informed of the uploading iii) The Managing Director of Litigation - accountable for the work flow in CLS - proceeds to give batching and process instructions to the Project Manager (PM) assigned to a particular project; based on the Client requirements and protocol iv) The PM then coordinates with the IT Department to start batching-out the documents to the reviewers v) The first line reviewers review and designate the document per the protocol provided by the client; the team is trained on the protocol and case specifics before the document review process vi) Reviewed documents are Quality Checked by the First level QC team vii) At the second level, an enhanced Quality Analysis is done on the work product before the production set is delivered to the client
13. How do you ensure seamless work flow and delivery of high-quality work product? We have grown rapidly and have earned a reputation for adopting stringent quality control measures at every stage of development of the work product. Our focus on continuous learning and improvement has helped us in creating and following ISO 9001-certified best practices and delivering high-quality, repeatable review results. By integrating our quality control system that adopts Six Sigma methodologies with 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) standard processes, we have achieved systematic control of activities to ensure that the needs and expectations of customers are met. A high awareness level within the team about the required standards has also contributed to our success substantially.
14. How experienced is your management team? Please see About Us: Management Team for profiles of the individual members of our management team. As a group, our U.S. and U.K.-trained managers and litigation support services professionals have years of experience with large case litigation at major firms such as Milbank Tweed, White & Case, Cleary Gottlieb, Williams & Connolly, Baker & McKenzie, Mayer Brown, Godwin Gruber, and Alston & Bird.
15. What Doc. review platform exposure does Cobra have? Cobra Legal Solutions' managers have experience with the major document review platforms, including ADI, Attenex, CaseCentral, Concordance, Documatrix, EED, Relativity, IConnect, Kroll Ontrack, Orange OneO, FTI Ringtail, and Summation, among others. Cobra is platform agnostic.
16. What is the hiring process for your Indian attorneys? Cobra Legal Solutions has implemented a comprehensive recruitment program, designed to identify the best candidates with outstanding reasoning skills and English proficiency.
i) We test a wide range of candidates from across India. ii) We test for English proficiency, reading comprehension capabilities, analytic reasoning skills, and drafting abilities. iii) We interview only the strongest few applicants after each test cycle. iv) The Managing Director of Operations, Managing Director of Litigation, and senior team members conduct the final round of individual interviews.
17. From what tier of Indian law schools do you hire? Attorneys are selected from the most prestigious law schools in India, many of whom graduated with honors. Many of our attorneys are graduates from what are recognized widely as the country's top ten law schools (out of more than 760 law colleges). Examples include: National Law School, Bangalore; ILS Law College, Chennai; Dr. Ambedkar University, Chennai; and Symbiosis Law College, Pune.
18. What on-going training do you provide for your attorneys? Cobra Legal Solutions has a highly interactive training style designed to encourage a participative learning environment in which the team can feel comfortable asking questions and learning from one another. We find that the best training results are from teams motivated to ask questions and a management team prepared to answer those questions precisely and quickly.
Our initial training includes a twelve week course inclusive of: i) U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with a focus on Discovery; ii) E-Discovery basics using the EDRM Model to ensure best practices; iii) Litigation application training (Case Central); iv) Document review training on the dummy database; v) Introduction to U.S. legal research and writing (Bluebook, citations, sources, and style); vi) Introduction to the U.K. legal system (focus on laws of England and Wales). a) Judicial system and Court Structure b) Civil Procedure Act, 1997 c) Legal research and writing
On-going training activities include, but are not limited to: i) Introduction to document review software tools (e.g. Case Central, Documatrix, Discovery Radar, DocHunter, Concordance, Ringtail, Summation, and ADI); ii) Daily reading and comprehension exercises based on current events in U.S./U.K. legal and business fields (Wall Street Journal, The Lawyer, New York Times, and Washington Post); and iii) Training in U.S./U.K. grammar and idioms. iv) Dummy database training and simulation of real time scenarios.
19. How does Cobra ensure client confidentiality? A. Cobra Legal Solutions requires all of our employees and supporting contractors to sign agreements mandating confidentiality and security of client information. Cobra's agreements with its clients provide that parties must resolve any disputes in the U.S. pursuant to the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. We are happy to provide you with a copy of the confidentiality agreements and to incorporate additional language at your request. Employees are subject to background checks before and during employment.
20. What data privacy protections are in place for data reviewed at Cobra's India office? Cobra Legal Solutions has state-of-the-art infrastructure including a world class Data Center, hosting customer data of the highest degree of sensitivity and of a restricted nature. The Center conforms to the highest and most stringent security measures. The tier-one facility offers both physical protection including biometric access controls, state of the art surveillance systems, 24/7 security guards and network protection including multiple firewalls, and password protection. i) Entry to the office is restricted by requiring microchip-embedded swipe cards; ii) Security guards are posted at the entrances; iii) Image capturing devices such as scanners or photocopiers are not permitted; iv) Data capturing devices such as USB flash drives or pen drives are not permitted; v) Workstations computers have no individual printers or devices for removable storage; and vi) All content between CLS and its customers is exchanged over the Internet through a secured VPN connectivity vii) Multiple clients run a VLAN; this ensures that information from one client does not merge with information of another viii) Client related information/materials are safe as it cannot be downloaded to the local system Please see Technology Infrastructure and Facilities for detailed information on our security measures.
21. What technology measures ensure security? First, the hosting platform provides security. In general, we will work on a Citrix (or another terminal server) platform so that no data is downloaded from the hosted database to the reviewer workstations. Second, attorney reviewers are neither allowed to print from their workstations nor allowed to copy anything to a removable media device like a CD or thumb drive (in addition, USBs, CDs, and thumb drives are not permitted in the workplace). Third, Cobra also restricts attorney access to external e-mail and access to the Cobra's facility with a cardkey system and security checkpoints. Please see: Technology Infrastructure tab in the website for more details
22. Where will my data be hosted? Clients will normally have their data hosted in the U.S. If there are data privacy issues involved with the collection of data in a country with strict privacy laws, clients may have their data hosted in the U.K. or the country where the data is collected, depending on the legal judgment of the attorneys overseeing e-discovery or e-disclosure. We work with many of the industry leaders in hosting and, as part of any project undertaken by Cobra, we are directly involved in working closely with the hosting vendor to ensure that client data is absolutely secure during the review and production process. Furthermore, if the hosted platform offers Citrix or some type of terminal-server solution, then none of the client data will be downloaded to the local workstations of the reviewers in India. If the client chooses a web-based application that downloads data to workstations as its hosting platform, then Cobra has strict security measures to ensure that any data residing on any workstation in India cannot be copied, printed or e-mailed by any reviewer.
23. Will we always have instant access to our documents? Under normal circumstances, you will have 24/7 access to the document database via a secure login/password procedure over the internet. If the hosting vendor needs to perform planned server maintenance requiring any downtime, it is usually done during off hours, and the vendor has the responsibility for providing advance notification to users.
24. What types of redundancy measures would be in-place to minimize the amount of downtime? On the hosting side, most of the leading vendors have full redundancy with a mirrored system if there is any significant downtime. During the planning phase of a project, Cobra will advise our clients about these types of issues as it relates to any hosting vendor already chosen or under consideration for a project. Independent of the hosting firm, Cobra has in place a dedicated and secured backup internet line with another leading Indian internet service provider (ISP), if the cause of downtime in India is related to a problem with the main ISP and their line into our facility. We have configured our network in India to default within seconds to the backup line if there is any failure with the primary line to the Internet.
25. How can Cobra help us manage costs? Cobra's talented, highly trained India attorney team provides efficient document review at competitive rates. Effective project management and quality control permit us to control costs further. Cobra can advise on cost-saving litigation technology and can help to manage vendor relationships. Every client has access to real-time reports on incurred costs.
26. When is it cost-effective for my legal department or law firm to choose outsourcing? Outsourcing document review to Cobra is cost-effective for many types of clients. Large legal departments, smaller legal departments, and large and medium law firms can all benefit from Cobra's efficient, trustworthy document review services. Cobra can leverage current organizational resources to handle large document reviews without incurring unnecessary additional expenses. Law firms work with Cobra to provide an additional set of services to their clients without taking on additional permanent personnel themselves. In addition to making use of talented labor at lower costs, outsourcing document review to Cobra means: i) Best practices in project management and superior quality work product ii) Use of our permanent workforce iii) World-class technology for facilitating the review and excellent IT security for the data
27. Can you explain your pricing structure? We integrate our superior services with a cost-effective pricing model to help your firm see the price advantage as we also meet your service expectations. We offer you greater predictability of document review costs. Highlights: i) We have hourly rates, price-per-GB, and per-document-pricing plans ii) No overtime, equipment, facilities charges iii) Per document pricing plan provides fixed-cost alternative to hourly rates iv) Fees billed are reconciled to equal the lowest of the applicable billing methods (esp. during multiple billing cycles)
28. What is Cobra's "Least Cost Pricing Plan"? When choosing a document review company, accurate cost comparisons can be difficult. Performance metrics from previous projects are no guarantee that your project will run efficiently. A low hourly rate is no bargain if the rate of review slows to a crawl, or when multiple layers of more expensive management time are added on. Under Cobra's Least Cost Pricing Plan, document review projects are quoted with three rates: an hourly rate, a per gigabyte rate, and a per document rate. The final amount invoiced to the customer is determined by whichever rate plan (hourly or per document) produces the lowest total cost. Cobra's Least Cost Pricing Plan provides certainty and predictability of costs for document review services. The cost of Cobra's document review is capped by the per document price, and the final cost could be significantly less based on the low hourly rates.
29. Does Cobra have any bundled services? Cobra Legal Solutions and industry leaders have come together to offer bundled pricing on e-discovery and document review solutions. This bundled offer combines leading e-discovery platforms with Cobra's high quality, low-cost offshore document review services, all of which is priced using Cobra's unique "Least Cost Pricing Plan". Under the Least Cost Pricing Plan, projects are quoted with three rates: an hourly rate, a per gigabyte rate, and a per document rate. The final amount invoiced to the customer is determined by whichever pricing method (hourly, per gigabyte or per document) produces the lowest cost.
30. How does Cobra check for conflicts? We rigorously check for potential conflicts by following ABA Model Rule 1.7 prior to every engagement. To comply with the ABA rule, we continuously update data regarding parties currently and previously engaged by Cobra review attorneys, as well as any other involved parties. We immediately disclose any potential conflicts based on our ongoing reviews. We can incorporate any additional preferred conflict check processes into our own.
31. Is Cobra, or am I, at risk of aiding the unlicensed practice of law? The recent American Bar Associations opinion confirms that working with offshore attorneys is ethical, when appropriately managed. ABA Ethics Opinion 08-451 states that it is appropriate for U.S. lawyers to outsource, including to lawyers outside the country, if they protect confidential information and ensure that the service providers are competent, suitably trained, and properly supervised. You can also ensure that you avoid the unlicensed practice of law or breach of other professional guidelines by following the requirements of the applicable jurisdictions. We can provide assistance in assessing your local requirements upon request.
32. How do you address the malpractice risk? We of course attempt to minimize errors through rigorous screening of our attorneys, rigorous training, and stringent rigorous attention to our work, followed by a multi-level quality control process. Having U.S. and U.K.-trained and licensed lawyers on-site in India is a critical part of our effort to provide quality work product. We recognize, however, that from time to time mistakes may occur. Our India attorney team may be covered by your organization's malpractice policy. Notwithstanding, Cobra carries its own errors and omissions insurance
