A week in the life of Max Yip

7:00 am: I start my week checking emails and preparing my son for kindergarten.
10:15 am: Meet with Asia eDiscovery Team. We have a lot of projects ongoing, so we talk through logistics and staffing.
4:50 pm: Join a call with UK eDiscovery Team to support a fast-moving project. I’m creating a tailor-made application to automate certain file redactions.
8:00 pm: I share the first version of my application with my UK colleagues for testing. I make custom-made applications for our team about a once a month, usually when I see a process that is unnecessarily cumbersome or labor intensive. It’s satisfying to create a solution that makes my colleagues lives easier.

10:15 am: Confirm onsite data collection for a project in Beijing. It’s a tight turnaround, so I secure my air tickets for this afternoon and double check my collection equipment.
8:12 pm: Arrive at my hotel in Beijing. I check everything again and confirm the collection details with my client’s counsel. Apart from the technical skills, the most important element to success as an eDiscovery consultant is being well-prepared in order to anticipate the needs of the project and build trust with the client.
9:00 pm: Facetime with my wife and son. Read him a bedtime story and watch him fall asleep.

8:30 am: Meet with the counsel to setup the data collection environment. While I enjoy many aspects of my job, my favorite is onsite collection. Even though the technical tools I use are similar project to project, each collection has its own unique case background which requires different strategies to ensure that the collection is smooth and successful. There’s always a different challenge that I need to solve which gives me a sense of satisfaction that no other aspect of my job can match.
9:15 am: The custodian is delayed, so collection will likely be pushed to tomorrow.
12:15 pm: Confirm that the collection will happen tomorrow, which gives me and the counsel an opportunity to get lunch.
4:10 pm: Receive initial feedback from the UK team on my redaction app. Spend the afternoon incorporating their feedback and making improvements.
9:30 pm: Facetime with my wife and my little boy. Tonight, I sing him songs as he falls asleep.

8:00 am: Meet with client and work on the data collection off the custodian’s PC and mobile device.
11:15 am: Complete the data collection, followed by another lunch with the counsel. Building relationships with my clients is a highlight of my job. Typically, the lawyers I work with aren’t technical but are eager to learn what’s new on the technical side, making for very fascinating conversations.
8:00 pm: Discuss current workflow with my UK colleagues. Our global presence allows us to offer our clients around the clock coverage and requires a lot of collaboration across our offices.

8:00 am: As one project ends, another begins! Confirm with a new client a time to collect his data today. I have a great and supportive team which makes juggling my many projects manageable.
2:00 pm: Meet with my client and his counsel to complete the collection.
6:15 pm: Start investigating the data I collected to prepare a forensic report for the client.
9:30 pm: Reach my son on Facetime! We practice counting to ten in three languages. 😊
10:00 pm: Pack everything to prepare for my flight to Shanghai tomorrow. Excited to get started on my next case!

A Week in the Life of Max Yip