Interview: Toby Berryman, Director and Founder – Rolf Berryman

Following on from my interview with Ben Hammerton I wanted to continue to speak with industry experts from all angles and I am very grateful that Toby Berryman has answered my call.

I have known Toby for over a decade and someone who I have a tremendous amount of respect for, both as a friend and industry expert.

In his own words:

I am a director and the founder of Rolf Berryman, a boutique recruitment consultancy,  specialising in the legal and legal technology sectors.  I have been lucky enough to have  worked with start ups, vendors, global consultancies and corporations in multiple jurisdictions, on almost every continent. I live in Brighton and have three children.

Toby Berryman, Rolfberryman

How long have you recruited for eDiscovery?

Since 2009…

Can you tell us how you got into recruiting and recruiting for eDiscovery?

I was doing legal recruitment, which literally froze over night, when the credit crunch hit. I then saw an advert in the Gazette posted by an e discovery company looking for lawyers who might want to go into business development. I phoned them up and they were my first e discovery client.

Do you think it is important that a recruiter fully understands the eDiscovery marketplace in order to recruit for it?

Absolutely. We need to understand the different roles and who’s who in the market. If we are going to have any value for candidates we must be able to give them really good information. That includes lots of the things that job specs can’t tell you. Like; what’s the culture like, what do people really say about working there, the list goes on…

How do you see the eDiscovery marketplace changing over the next few years?

The marketplace changes, and has changed, constantly; whether it is through consolidation, new entrants, evolving technology and as the nature of the work evolves too. E discovery skills are very transferable into analytics, data governance etc.

Are you seeing a more diverse request for technology experience when clients ask you to find candidates? Or is it still find me an RCA level candidate?

It does feel like that there are more viable competitors to Relativity entering the market place. Companies like DISCO, Reveal and Servient seem to be doing well. At one point the RCA was commanding more money but less so now as, I guess, more people have it. Quite a few of the employers, who are Relativity houses through and through, will insist on experience with Relativity. Others, especially some of the consultancies, want to be seen as software agnostic, so are less insistent on Relativity experience. Law firms tend to be less concerned too.

How do you keep up with the ever-changing eDiscovery market? How do you apply that to identifying candidates?

I have a genuine interest in the technology and my job means that I talk to people in the industry constantly and I find it fascinating hearing about the new advances that are being made and how they are applied..

It means that I am networking in an ever growing and diversifying pool, which is great, as it keeps it very interesting.

How have you had to adapt your business for COVID? Do you miss being in the office with your team?

We have been fortunate in that we have not had to make any redundancies. Business is down but ok. I absolutely miss the banter and lunches in the pub!

What advice would you offer someone looking to start a new career in eDiscovery?

Be open minded as there are lots of different directions you can take and be prepared to work hard!

Outside of recruiting what do you like to do to let off some steam?

Go to the pub (in my dreams). I coach rugby and like keeping fit so I can attempt to keep up with my kids.. We are very fortunate to have the South Downs and the sea on our doorstep and we take full advantage of both.