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There are dozens of top 10 predictions for 2018 in the information security and legal technology ecosystem circulating online; however, there are none that focus specifically on the impact cybersecurity and e-discovery trends will make on job and talent availability in the year ahead—until now. TRU Staffing Partners enjoys a unique perspective on the human capital recruitment behaviors and career pursuits of tens of thousands of job seekers and hiring managers in the legal and information protection community.

Here are our Top 10 predictions for 2018 and how they will impact the hiring practices of law firms, corporations, consultancies, software companies and service providers around the globe:

1. E-Discovery and …

For e-discovery professionals looking for rapid vertical and financial growth, being a traditional ESI professional may not be enough to accelerate your career even further in 2018 and beyond. This year will officially usher in the need to augment your e-discovery career with another complementary area of expertise. That “and” could be privacy, GDPR, information governance, blockchain, analytics, cybersecurity, compliance or AI.

With so many ripe and yet to be commoditized areas of tertiary and overlapping disciplines permeating the market, jobs are now opening up for e-discovery professionals who have extended their talents into other areas. If higher compensation or a new challenge is driving your job search, begin a quest for a dual discipline in e-discovery and …

2. Cloud Adoption Shifts Hiring Back In-House

For legal technology, the ability for corporations and law firms to engage vendors and shift data storage to the cloud gives them the flexibility and scalability necessary to reduce costs and consume only what is required, when it is required. This trend will cause the hiring pendulum to swing back in-house as firms and corporations take greater control of their data, but they will not be looking for talent with the same skills as in years past.

Law firms will be much less focused on hiring the voluminous technical and tactical talent often required to run in-house litigation support profit centers and much more focused on highly consultative project managers, namely those with legal analytics and managed service provider relationship management experience. Corporations will follow this pattern in an effort to reduce costs and avoid falling victim to fire-drill transactional pricing from external providers. Both law firms and corporations will augment their staff with contract talent to stay lean in-house with full-time headcount.

3. Contract ESI Staffing Becomes the Norm

Just as firms and corporations will aim to control and scale data storage on consumption, so too will they augment their human capital with scalable contract staffing solutions, specifically in e-discovery. For the first time in a decade, supply for project management, ESI processing and forensic collection talent will outweigh the demand in full-time positions. This, coupled with employer desire to staff-up only when litigation spikes and the candidate-driven desire for a gig-economy lifestyle, will lead to contract opportunities and contract talent becoming the legal technology industry norm.

From 2012 to 2016 TRU witnessed a 44 percent increase in contract staffing requests, and from 2016 through 2017 this increased another 22 percent. By 2022, cybersecurity will very likely follow the current contract ESI talent trend, but for now, demand still far outweighs supply to make this path the norm for information protection pros.

4. Consolidation to Reinvention

There were a number of meaningful mergers and acquisitions in the e-discovery vendor space this year, but consolidation peaked in 2016 and is slowing down, not speeding up. In 2018, vendors will begin their move toward reinvention instead of consolidation. The nature of this reinvention will be closely tied to the “e-discovery and” principle. Do not be surprised if cybersecurity companies (or their private equity/venture capital parents) begin to buy ESI companies and vice versa in 2018 and beyond. New streams of revenue will be needed in both disciplines to meet VC ad PE-mandated year-over-year financial growth. Highly consultative talent that can bridge the skills gap will command the highest premiums in compensation as service providers begin to reinvent their core reputations.

Additionally, expect to see cybersecurity software companies merge. The vast patchwork of brands needed to put together a secure network will slowly consolidate, just as software did in e-discovery, to make everything from vulnerability assessment to threat monitoring seamless within one tool. Fast-forward three to five years, and the same consolidation will occur in cyber services companies.

5. Blockchain Begins

In 2018, the legal and security communities will uniformly gain a better understanding and appreciation for what blockchain is and can do for their businesses and practices. The “immutable ledger” technology known as blockchain has begun to work its way into areas like smart contract creation, transactional law, driverless car technology and much more than just Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

While having skills and experience dealing with blockchain will most certainly provide career and salary negotiation leverage, knowing how to manage the AI that typically sits on top of blockchain may prove even more valuable for technologists. Lawyers who can help sell and service blockchain-related initiatives are also increasingly prospected.

6. Certification Separates You

Certifications now more than ever separate individuals from the masses when competing for jobs. In ESI, ACEDS holds fundamental dominance while software specific certifications from Relativity, Nuix, iConect, EnCase and others frequently drive job qualifications. In security, the options are vast and nuanced from CISSP, OSCP, IAPP's, GIAC's, and more.

While there is a slight backlash in the cyber community around a perceived overvaluation of certification, it cannot be denied that getting certifications makes you more desirable to most hiring managers. Acquired skills aside, individuals who take the initiative to self-certify demonstrate the self-starter cultural dynamic always prized when assessing for promotion or net new hiring.

7. Analytics Expected, Not Desired

For legal technology service providers, swift delivery of legal analytics solutions is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity. In order to compete on RFPs with the larger and more dominant players in the industry, ESI vendors must have legal analytics professionals on staff. Most vendors want this talent to also have a J.D. as they will run point on pre-discovery consulting as well as developing the complex workflows associated with technology-assisted review. If a provider wants to win larger projects or managed service contracts with firms and corporations, it must have an offering and strategy around predictive analytics.

For individuals looking to propel their career in this arena, the Relativity Assisted Review and Analytics Specialist certifications are paramount and immediately separate you from the pack. Experience running analytics on other tools is also valued, but the e-discovery industry still focuses on tool-specific skills and the Relativity ecosystem is much larger than any other software.

8. Relativity Reigns Supreme

There is no question that individuals with Relativity skills and specifically Relativity certifications are in higher demand than any other professionals in the e-discovery space. Hiring managers still rank these product-specific skills as the number one requisite for consideration; furthermore, as contractors continue to replace direct hires for many middle market staffing needs, certifications in Relativity instantly put you a cut above the competition sight-unseen. TRU found that in 2017, 40 percent of all candidates successfully placed as project managers or analysts had their RCA (Relativity Certified Administrator).

As the RCA becomes required, rather than just desired, specialty certifications in the Relativity ecosystem are what will distinguish individuals from their peers. The most desired specialist certifications are the Analytics, Assisted Review, Infrastructure and Processing certifications from Relativity. Having Relativity Expert or Master status almost guarantees you to reach an interview for a job even if you lack the actual experience needed for the position.

9. From Generalists to Specialists

For the most part in the Am Law 200 and many corporate Fortune 2000, hiring managers are seeking cybersecurity talent with a broad continuum of proactive and reactive skills. These generalist hires speak to a lack of available talent to fill multiple compartmentalized needs across an organization. The largest and most regulated corporations are turning the corner from an interest in hiring generalists to a focus on hiring specialists.

However, law firms hiring security talent remain content with cybersecurity generalists and will outsource and engage consulting firms for specialized skills, risk scoring and assessment or complex tabletop exercises. This will likely not change until law firms become as regulated as their corporate clients, a trend many are waiting to take shape particularly overseas where the lines continue to blur between what is considered a corporation versus a law firm.

10. ESI Elephant Hunting, Cyber Bits 'n' Bytes

As the ESI service provider world continues to polarize between large organizations and companies under 35MM$/year, so too does the profile of business development professionals in the market. Larger providers are generally going to seek heavy-hitters with previous success selling 5-10MM$/year in business with a healthy split between ESI and document review. Few up-and-comers will be given a chance or trained by a large provider without this kind of track record. Conversely, smaller discovery shops will typically only pay a fraction of what large providers will in base pay, but may offer much higher variable percentages that equalize total compensation.

The bigger challenge for any ESI vendor looking to hire sales staff is differentiation. In a commoditized market, the truly proven legal technology sales pros are looking for companies with something new and forward-thinking to offer their clients. Doing more of the same under a new logo is no longer motivating a job change for the exceptional or even the average e-discovery business development representative. The exodus of ESI sales reps from the space will continue in 2018, making it harder for companies to acquire plug-and-play talent. The cyber vendors are not as intent on hunting elephants, in deal size or in sales talent, but the market is getting more competitive and cybersecurity and cloud providers feel the pressure to bolster sales outreach to capitalize on a currently fractured and undereducated marketplace. Levees eventually break, and in 2018 employers in cybersecurity will loosen their expectations and alter their hiring profiles to make room for people outside of cyber. E-discovery providers will not follow this pattern and are expected to continue to wait for the proven reps to come to market.

 

Jared Coseglia is the founder and CEO of TRU Staffing Partners, an Inc 5000 Fastest Growing American Company 2016 & 2017 and National Law Journal's #1 Legal Staffing Agency, and has over 15 years of experience representing thousands of professionals in e-discovery and cybersecurity throughout the world.