Richard brings with him over 10 years of eDiscovery experience, 20 years of Information Technology (IT) experience and a variety of certifications and education experiences. He has the right blend that allows him to work with both the Legal and IT communities to bring projects to a successful completion in both the eDiscovery and general IT areas.
Q. What are the major differences between working at home and in the office?
“Although we had the technologies to work remotely, I found that the dependence of always being online felt more stressful because what we discuss or share during meetings (internal or client facing) are topics that are not normally known to family members who were in the house at the time. And although I may have sequestered myself to a room in the house, the potential for interruptions because I was there, it added a need for me to further communicate with family when I was going to be in a meeting and when they could interrupt me. Honestly, working at the office was a much more productive environment allowing me to focus on the tasks at hand with minimal distractions. During the 6 months that our office was working remotely, I worked in the office as we still had some client requirements to be available to receive shipments or to send shipments out. The few days that I did work from home were because of other reasons where it was more convenient.”
Q. What has been your biggest challenge during the pandemic?
“So many things come to mind that were and are still real challenges to a lot of people during this time. Whether it was added stress, the isolation, or lack of separation of work from home life, they all have an aspect of mental health. For me personally, working with our team, managing our corporate response to COVID-19, and my family members to ensure that everyone (home, work, staff, family) felt supported and safe was a big challenge…staying active, looking forward, having fun and understanding how you are changing your work / life balance are all things that help us to stay positive, focused, and adapt to this ever-changing world.”
Q. How has working at an eDiscovery company benefited you?
“I have learned and grown in so many different aspects in my work and personal life thanks to working in the eDiscovery field. I have gained a lot of confidence in myself and have very supportive coworkers who encourage me to achieve my goals and more!”
Q. How did working from home change your workflow?
“It changed my workflow by having to figure out different ways of communicating and working together with various projects. In an office space, you can just walk to the individual’s desk. Whereas online only, sometimes you have to wait a little longer for them to become available.”
Q. What has been your biggest challenge during the pandemic?
“My biggest challenge would have to have been not isolating myself. It is so easy just to stay in one spot all day working then just go to bed right after. We still need that time to call a friend and stay in our regular routine.”
Q. How have you been staying active during COVID-19?
“I spent some time learning how to tile our basement dive gear room, and then moved onto the basement washroom and the family room, as well as a number of other projects around the yard. All of which helped all of us in our household to spend time outside, and to have more useable living space in the house. During the summer, my wife and I spent almost every other weekend scuba diving in the local lakes, taking in the wrecks that lay anywhere from 20 feet to 150 feet of water.” Click here check out one of their dives from June 2021 in Tobermory, Ontario.
Q. What do you do for fun outside of work?
“As mentioned in my bio on the website, I collect Star Trek memorabilia and I continue to watch all the new series that have been coming out. I also play drums and participate in my local church’s band. Scuba diving and Sharks… both of which are part of the reason why I chose to sponsor Fins Attached.” You can check out some of Richard’s Shark Videos Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlAKqkFPILA and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7AYndCanEg
Q. What are you excited about for the rest of 2021?
“I am excited with some upcoming travel within Canada, and we have a dive trip that has been rescheduled from the start of the pandemic that we are still hoping will move forward in November 2021.”
Q. What is your favourite part about working at NearZero Discovery?
“I have multiple perspectives to consider in answering this question… As an employee, I love the challenges that are presented from our clients, exploring data, new and old, working through the details to get to the final desired outcome through the software tools that are out there. As a business owner, I have a desire to grow and further establish our company as an industry leading service provider by focusing on our FAST & SECURE approach . Ensuring quality customer service and providing all of this at a cost that is reasonable and affordable.”
In Closing
“As we close this blog series out with “getting to know” me… I want to thank my team: Britt-Lynn, Kobra, and Tarrie – without you NearZero Discovery would not be what or where we are today. We have grown over the last 14 Years from being just a single employee, to a full-service eDiscovery service provider, and truly addressing client needs for both our legal and corporate clients.
To those of you that may be reading this article and are not currently a client, I would like to invite you to contact us to start a conversation about how we may be able to assist with your eDiscovery related projects.”
Would you like to learn more about our services? Email [email protected] or call 289-803-9730. We would be happy to share more details about our self-service or fully managed eDiscovery services!
