Apt **
New York, NY **033 Phone 212-***-****
E-mail abob8g@r.postjobfree.com Ashly D. Suedkamp
Experience
Highlights Nine years of sound legal experience as a qualified attorney with a
specialized understanding of electronic discovery and litigation
support gained while working at prominent New York law firms.
Develop and implement eDiscovery best practices for a newly founded
litigation branch of a major international law firm while managing,
mentoring, and acting as a liaison among the various levels of the
Dispute Resolution practice group and associated firm departments.
Extensive experience in consulting, project coordination, team
management and development, training, vendor relations, data
management, data culling, including knowledge of EDRM (Electronic
Discovery Reference Model), and numerous discovery tools and
document management systems (Ringtail, Kroll, Concordance 10,
Opticon, IPRO, Relativity, etc).
Professional 01/2011 - present Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP New
Experience York, NY
Practice Support Manager/Senior Staff Attorney
Provide supervision, project management, and guidance to contract
attorneys through a variety of staffing and managed review agencies
locally, in a variety of on-shore locations, as wells as overseas.
Lead structural implementation of paralegal department by creating
best practices and protocols as well as managing fifteen paralegals
and litigation support staff across the North American offices.
Develop, implement, and manage electronic discovery best practices
and related case management protocols for the Dispute Resolution
Practice Group for the North American offices.
Recruit, train, develop, and manage litigation support staff,
including eDiscovery and paralegal staff.
Establish and maintain vendor relationships, both locally and
remotely, advise associates and partners on vendor evaluation and
selection, and manage deadlines and quality assurance of vendors'
work product.
Develop and present Continuing Legal Education programs to the
Dispute Resolution practice group.
Develop and refine search logic to aid in culling data sets by
incorporating artfully crafted search terms using linguistic
elements as well as innovative technology available in various
review platforms.
Selected to attend elite Coaching for Performance training seminar
for managers in London and participate in Smart Managers
development training in Frankfurt, Germany.
08/2009 - 12/2010 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP New
York, NY
Staff Attorney
Recruited by former Covington & Burling LLP attorneys to join the
newly established U.S. litigation practice group (est. Jan 2009) to
help develop the U.S. litigation support services and staff
attorney departments.
Assist with development, implementation, and management of
electronic discovery best practices and related case management
protocols for the litigation practice group.
Assist with training, coordinating, and managing of various
electronic discovery related activities including mentoring
paralegals and litigation support staff and acting as a liaison
between litigation support staff, associates, and firm
administration.
Assist with recruiting, hiring, training, and managing of
litigation support staff.
Assist in the creation of end user and technical documentation for
litigation practice systems.
Monitor current developments and industry trends relating to
electronic discovery by establishing vendor contacts, requesting
vendor meetings, and attending informational seminars.
Establish and maintain vendor relationships, both locally and
remotely, advise associates and partners on vendor evaluation and
selection, and manage deadlines and quality assurance of vendors'
work product.
Educate and administer basic training of case management tools and
in-house litigation software to attorneys and paralegals.
Work with case team, litigation support services, and vendors to
develop organizational procedures for data specific to clients'
needs while creating and maintaining project documentation ensuring
a clear audit trail.
Provide guidance on project function and structure.
Proactively identify and escalate issues and potential risks to the
electronic discovery process.
Assist with online review databases, e.g., create tags, build/run
complex queries and searches, conflict checks, print requests, and
production preparation.
Evaluate and select of document review platforms, legal staffing
agencies, and alternative review strategies.
Develop and refine search logic to aid in culling data sets by
incorporating artfully crafted search terms using linguistic
elements as well as innovative technology available in various
review platforms.
Conduct document review for responsiveness and privilege issues and
create corresponding privilege logs and supporting documents
required for interview, deposition, and trial preparation.
02/2005 - 07/2009 Covington & Burling LLP
New York, NY
Staff Attorney and Senior Staff Attorney
Develop and refine search logic to aid in narrowing data sets by
incorporating artfully crafted search terms using linguistic
elements as well as innovative technology available in various
review platforms.
Monitor industry trends and advancements in technology relating to
electronic discovery by establishing vendor contacts, requesting
vendor meetings, and attending informational seminars.
Assist with the coordination and management discovery related
activities.
Supervise temporary personnel and serve as a liaison between
temporary employees, supervising associates, and law firm
administration.
Conduct document review for responsiveness and privilege issues and
create corresponding privilege logs and supporting documents
required for interview, deposition, and trial preparation.
09/2002 - 01/2005 Law Pros Legal Placement Services
Morristown, NJ
Attorney
07/2004 - 01/2005 Porzio, Bromberg, & Newman P.C.
Morristown, NJ
Draft pleadings, Consent Orders, and Stipulations of Dismissal
relating to pharmaceutical litigation. Prepare case evaluations
and summaries for associates, national counsel, and clients.
Review, analyze, and develop database to organize and categorize
discovery. Conduct document review for responsiveness and privilege
issues and create corresponding privilege logs and supporting
documents required for interview, deposition, and trial preparation
03/2004 - 06/2004 Pitney Hardin LLP
Morristown, NJ
Categorize, analyze, and summarize financial information to create
cost site details for use at trial and settlement conferences
regarding indemnification for environmental impact zones.
Supervise document productions. Conduct document review for
responsiveness and privilege issues and create privilege logs and
supporting document collections required for interview, deposition,
and trial preparation
Attorney
09/2002 - 02/2004 Latham & Watkins LLP
Newark, NJ
Delegate, review, and edit assignments of contract attorneys prior
to associate and partner review. Conduct legal research and draft
memoranda on a variety of issues posed by senior associates.
Conduct document and privilege review relating to Y2K litigation.
09/2001 - 09/2002 Superior Court of New Jersey
Freehold, NJ
Law Clerk for the Honorable Alexander D. Lehrer
Researched and drafted legal memoranda for Civil Law and Chancery
Divisions.
Performed small claims mediation as a Court Appointed mediator.
Supervised summer law clerk.
Bar Admission New York
Education 09/1998 - 05/2001 Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, DC
Juris Doctor
09/1993 - 05/1997 University of South Dakota
Vermillion, SD
B.S., summa cum laude, English, Political Science, Psychology
Elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Skills
Excellent written and verbal skills. Effectively communicates with
all levels of support staff, attorneys, management, vendors, and
client representatives. Strong initiative, drive, and ability to
excel at independent and team projects. Successfully develops
quality team relationships and works well within a team-oriented
environment. Successfully completes tasks when given discretion to
exercise independent judgment under minimal direct supervision.
Possesses excellent analytical, problem identification and
resolution skills. Works efficiently and effectively under rigorous
deadlines in high pressure situations. Identifies and analyzes
complex issues and recommends and implements solutions. Excellent
time management skills with a demonstrated ability to manage
multiple, simultaneous projects with consistently high quality
results. Willingness to provide after hours support as necessary.
Ability to train, manage and delegate tasks while maintaining an
active role in personally driving and completing tasks. Ability to
adapt training methods to accommodate varied learning processes.
Strong knowledge of and interest in electronic discovery and
litigation support industry. Proven and demonstrable dedication to
providing superior quality work product and superior client
service.
Outstanding Microsoft Vista / XP / NT / 2000 / 98 / 95, Microsoft
Office (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word), Adobe Acrobat, iManage
Document Management, Carpe Diem Time Tracking and Entry, Ringtail,
Concordance ver. 8 and 9, IPRO ver. 8.5, Opticon, First Advantage,
Relativity, Applied Discovery, Kroll, and a variety of other
electronic discovery databases and review platforms.
References References and additional work experiences are available upon
request.