Q&A: Thuy Nguyen Shares Top Trends and Language Requirements in Managed Review

Thuy, what are the top trends currently impacting managed document review in your region? 

We have a strong team of document reviewers at FTI Technology, who are great at merging technology and human elements to best serve client needs. Foreign language skills are at the top of the list of in-demand capabilities, as our clients often need experienced review attorneys with local language fluency at a moment’s notice. With increasing globalisation and cross-border commerce, we’re seeing a rise in demand for a widening variety of language capabilities in document reviews. For example, we’re seeing demand for Find Facts Fast capabilities in Turkish and Italian and complex merger clearance reviews in Norwegian. We’ve had recent matters where reviews in one or two languages led to second phase reviews involving additional languages wherein multilingual teams with French, German and other fluencies were required. There’s more infusion of multiple languages in documents, which wasn’t as common even a year or so ago.

How do you find qualified reviewers with the necessary language skills? 

We have an extensive roster of candidates at FTI Technology and our management team has a strong approach across recruiting, development and retention. When candidates consider where they want to work, we’re often at the top of the list. That’s because of how we lead and work with our teams. Our approach is collaborative and transparent, which is a management style many appreciate. We also offer training sessions to upskill reviewers should they want to develop and learn more, and we offer these learning opportunities remotely and in person.

How do you identify as early as possible what foreign language capabilities you’ll need to handle a dataset? 

During our early case assessment phase, we use different language identification tools to build the right team as quickly as possible. For example, we have a tool that identifies the primary and secondary languages present in documents. And based on those initial identifications, we resource the team according to the volume of each language. While this is a common practice in the industry, FTI Technology has a very high bar, and we’re rigorous when it comes to quality.

What workflow strategies do you have to anticipate additional foreign languages? What happens when an unexpected language comes up during a review?

With our expertise in foreign language reviews, we have different workflows depending on the specific project’s requirements. We’re very flexible, so we can adapt the workflow to the demands of the project as it’s progressing. For example, some cases might start with no known language needs. Then, additional languages are revealed as the matter progresses. Sometimes, there’s a rare language, or there might be a higher proportion of languages other than English. With our robust roster, we can pivot quickly. We can dynamically adapt a workflow to meet the project’s volume and complexity.

What other considerations do you cover with and for clients? 

We’ve worked on projects where machine translations could be used, depending on the cost and risk tolerance, as well as client needs. In other cases, our reviewers have been called in to assist with these tasks. There’s also a combination approach of machine language tools and reviewers, where we balance technology and human resources efficiently to best match the case needs. We make sure the client provides input as to their priorities and concerns at the outset and throughout.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your team or the work? 

Our roster is strong, but we’re always working to make it stronger. We’re looking for more multilingual reviewers, team leads and review managers. And it’s exciting that our current candidates help us reach additional language speakers in certain countries when needed.
 

The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of FTI Consulting, its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals.