David C. Dobson, CEO of Epiq.

Get out the nameplate engraver. On Wednesday, David Dobson was announced as the new CEO of Epiq, a legal service company with a hand in everything from e-discovery to regulatory and compliance tools.

Right now Dobson is focused on learning Epiq's growing portfolio of technology and figuring out how the company can leverage these tools to distinguish itself in a crowded North American marketplace. Dobson's tech background should serve him well when it comes time to brush up on all of those instruction manuals: He previously worked as the CEO of global e-commerce platform Digital River and also spent time at IBM and CA Technologies.

“I'm not an attorney. I am a technology executive with a lot of experience. That I think is the primary reason, which is how are we going to leverage technology to drive current and future source of value for our customers and for our business,” Dobson said.

The hiring of Dobson caps off a busy year for Epiq—or potentially kicks off another one. Last January the company dropped half of its name, going from “Epiq Systems” to just plain “Epiq” following a successful merger with global legal process outsourcing and litigation solutions hub Document Technologies Inc. (DTI).

What remained of 2018 was devoted to aggressive growth. In June, Epiq bolstered its settlement and bankruptcy solutions with the purchase of Garden City Group (GCG), a former legal services subsidiary of claims management provider Crawford and Company. On Monday, it was  announced that Garrestson Resolution Group (GRG) and its Mass Tort Client Dashboard would also be joining the Epiq family.

“We think the growth in front of us in terms of our current positions in some of the markets that we've recently either grown into or acquired into like GRG or GCG represent significant future opportunities for us to be able to expand,” Dobson said.

There's expanding and then there's expanding. Dobson is looking to capitalize on beachheads (and several offices) that Epiq has already established overseas on continents like Europe and Asia, hoping that a global footprint will help to set the company apart, especially in the eyes of clients eager to facilitate their own global relationships.

“I think we can bring the assets and knowledge that we've developed in markets like the U.S. and North America and apply it to emerging markets—in Asia predominantly—and be a step ahead of our competitors,” Dobson said.

All of that growth still begins and ends with tech. The company already maintains a number of branches on its legal services tree, with court reporting, e-discovery, restructuring, and bankruptcy, but Dobson wants to identify additional pain points that can be leveraged into future sales. He said information governance is one area where he could see Epiq attempting to make a name for itself, while data analytics and machine learning also offer tantalizing possibilities.

In the end, Epiq's growth might be more about trying to keep place with their clients than their competitors.

“They're now grappling with the impact of technology for them and what we want to be is… the undisputed leader in helping our clients and customers forward with new opportunities to make their businesses more efficient by leveraging and employing technology solutions,” Dobson said.