The era of specialization is upon us, so it should surprise no one that a laser-focus firm such as Medical Research Consultants (MRC) flourishes. MRC, according to Met. Corp. Counsel, Dec. 2006 at 18, provides nurses who are trained to support defendants in mass tort and personal injury litigation. MRC’s staff understand how to analyze the conditions alleged by plaintiffs, how to assemble pertinent medical evidence and records, and generally how to complement with medical knowledge the legal skills of law firms and the technology skills of lit support vendors.
MRC is but one of a large number, I am sure, of targeted litigation vendors. The existence of these satellite providers, revolving around law firms and law departments, allows for unbundling aspects of litigation. They also highlight the importance of litigation management: effectively bringing to bear in large cases a team of service providers (For more candidates for this team, see my posts of Oct. 20, 2005 on settlement counsel; of Nov. 14, 2005 and Sept. 18, 2006 on offshore document-review teams; Oct. 24, 2005 on decision analysis specialists such as Bruce Beron and Marc Victor; Feb. 9, 2006 on document discovery vendors; July 4, 2006 on litigation and trial consultants; July 11, 2006 on court reporters; and July 14, 2006 on class-action claims firms.).