[Podcast] HaystackID® in the EDRM Illumination Zone: Mark MacDonald and Sam Morgan

Even the most experienced legal teams wrestle with uniquely complex discovery challenges. Facing large data volumes, multiple stakeholders, specialized technical documentation, and tight deadlines, these cases regularly involve hundreds of millions, sometimes billions, of dollars at stake. Project records accumulate over years across disparate systems with everything from design drawings to change orders to collaboration platforms to jobsite video feeds to IoT sensor data. Legal and eDiscovery teams must work to bring structure and defensibility to data ecosystems that were simply not designed with litigation in mind. 

A recent episode of the EDRM Illumination Zone podcast explored these exact pressures. Hosts Mary Mack and Holley Robinson sat down (virtually) with HaystackID’s Mark MacDonald, Vice President of Enterprise and Strategic Accounts, and Sam Morgan, Director of Legal Solutions, to discuss why construction discovery pushes traditional eDiscovery approaches to their limits and how legal teams are adapting their workflows to meet the moment. 

Construction Discovery Defies Simple Playbooks 

Construction disputes rarely resemble conventional commercial litigation. A single matter has a plethora of moving parts, like: 

• A prime contractor.
• Multiple tiers of subcontractors.
• Insurers.
• Design firms.
• Government entities.

Each participant brings its own systems, retention practices, and inconsistencies. When diving into these intricacies with Mack and Robinson, MacDonald explained how misunderstandings about eDiscovery can create real exposure in this environment.  

“People assume eDiscovery is just pulling email and pushing a button,” he said. “In construction cases, that assumption causes problems quickly. The data volumes are massive, the sources vary widely, and the consequences of mistakes are significant.” 

This complexity extends beyond technical challenges to fundamental questions about risk and resource allocation.  

“The biggest misconception is that eDiscovery costs too much,” Morgan said. “What often gets overlooked is the cost of handling it poorly. When you’re dealing with critical infrastructure or large-scale projects, shortcuts tend to show up later, and not in a good way.” 

Complexity Starts Before Review Begins 

Discovery challenges in construction matters often surface long before formal litigation. Project data lives across shared drives, collaboration tools, construction-specific platforms, drawings, schedules, and increasingly, nontraditional sources such as jobsite video and wearable devices. 

The sheer volume catches many teams off guard.  

“These cases generate far more data than most people expect,” MacDonald said. “Plans, change orders, drawings, communications, safety data; it adds up fast. Attorneys depend on specialists to help identify what matters and keep the process organized.” 

That volume becomes exponentially more difficult to manage when multiple organizations enter the picture, each with its own data practices and custodians. Coordination becomes critical.  

“You’re dealing with primes, subs, multiple subs, sometimes government entities,” Morgan said. “Our role is helping legal teams keep all of that moving forward in a way that stays efficient and defensible.” 

Gaining Early Insight Without Losing Control 

In construction disputes, timelines compress quickly. Yet rushing into full-scale review often drives costs without improving outcomes, a trap that ensnares even experienced teams. During the conversation, MacDonald and Morgan shared that early data insights are the leverage point that lets legal teams stay on top of the matter before review expenses spiral out of control. 

Early case intelligence fundamentally reshapes the way legal teams approach a dataset. Instead of starting with broad assumptions or keyword guesses, teams can quickly identify who’s involved, how events unfolded, and where the real issueshide. Early case assessment AI provides “a working summary of the dataset,” MacDonald noted, giving attorneys visibility into timelines, key players, and patterns while they can still influence strategy. 

Morgan drove home a critical distinction: early insight delivers value long before formal review begins, and it doesn’t require judicial approval to prove its worth. Construction teams routinely face massive productions dumped on tight deadlines, forcing rapid but defensible decisions about the next steps.  

Data = Data (Regardless of Format) 

Construction discovery defies standard eDiscovery pipelines. Beyond the usual email and documents, these matters include CAD drawings, project management platforms, surveillance footage, and data streams from jobsite sensors and connected devices. Each source comes with its own technical quirks and procedural headaches, making one-size-fits-all workflows risky. 

Morgan described HaystackID’s approach as deliberately adaptive, built around coordination rather than conformity. Instead of forcing unfamiliar data into conventional processing paths and hoping for the best, specialists focus on normalizing each source while keeping the entire process moving.  

“We treat data as data, regardless of format,” Morgan said. “Our teams normalize complex sources while running multiple workflows in parallel, so progress doesn’t stall.” 

MacDonald pointed to an accelerating trend that’s reshaping discovery strategy in real time: the proliferation of nontraditional data sources. Wearables, jobsite video, and safety monitoring systems now surface routinely, layered on top of traditional project records. Each demands its own handling approach, yet they all need to land in a review environment where legal teams can evaluate the full picture. When those disparate pieces finally click together coherently, MacDonald noted, both efficiency and quality jump, but getting there requires flexibility from the start. 

Applying AI with Guardrails 

As generative AI (GenAI) increasingly becomes part of construction discovery, the conversation has shifted from whether to adopt it to how to deploy it responsibly. That’s why HaystackID deploys a deliberate approach to balancing innovation with risk management.  

“We operate on closed LLMs, remove analyzed data within set timeframes, and maintain SOC 2 controls,” Morgan said. “Clients gain efficiency without introducing unnecessary risk.” 

The key lies in treating AI as an accelerant for human judgment, rather than a substitute for it. MacDonald framed the technology as an extension of proven practices rather than a wholesale reinvention of discovery workflows. Early intelligence helps teams rapidly understand what they’re dealing with: who’s involved, what happened when, and where the exposures lie. But responsive and privilege review still demands expert judgment and validation at every turn. AI changes how quickly teams can get oriented; it doesn’t change the need for rigor once they do. 

That rigor depends on more than technology alone; it requires seasoned professionals who understand both the tools and the terrain. Morgan described HaystackID’s team-based delivery model as critical for construction clients who lack large internal eDiscovery teams.  

“We help experienced construction attorneys operate with the backing they need,” he said. “That collaboration makes a real difference.” 

Our expertise shows up not just in execution, but in guidance. Many construction attorneys are maneuvering discovery complexities for the first time in a given matter, and explaining workflows, surfacing hidden risks, and walking through tradeoffs becomes as valuable as running the technology itself. The best outcomes emerge when technical capability and collaborative education work in tandem. 

When Mistakes Carry Hefty Price Tags 

Construction discovery leaves little room for improvisation. High dollar values, public safety implications, and dense data environments demand disciplined approaches from the outset, not halfway through when problems surface. The margins are too thin and the consequences too severe for trial and error. 

As MacDonald put it, “You can’t cut corners and expect good results.” 

For eDiscovery and legal technology professionals working in construction matters, the discussion reinforced a clear reality: early insight, structured workflows, and experienced teams are the baseline when billions of dollars and critical infrastructure hang in the balance. 

More About Mark MacDonald 

 Mark is a seasoned eDiscovery professional with over 20 years of experience helping corporate legal departments design and implement effective and defensible ESI management models. He is a certified eDiscovery specialist (CEDS) and a thought leader in the industry, with expertise in legal hold, data breach, digital forensics, advanced analytics, managed review, and eDiscovery playbook development. Mark has managed thousands of matters and served as an expert witness across various industries and types of cases on several occasions. Since January 2023, Mark has been the Vice President of Enterprise and Strategic Accounts at HaystackID, responsible for consulting and supporting clients on best practices and workflows across the entire legal data lifecycle, leveraging HaystackID’s unrivaled blend of customer service, talented professionals, and innovative technologies. Mark’s mission is to ensure that his clients benefit from technology-driven, scalable, and cost-efficient solutions that address their unique ESI-related challenges and goals.  

More About Sam Morgan 

Sam Morgan is a Director of Global Legal Solutions at HaystackID. Harnessing over two decades of industry experience, Sam drives immeasurable value for his law firm and enterprise clients. Having worked as a paralegal at leading AMLAW 100 firms, Sam knows firsthand the challenges that in-house teams and eDiscovery practitioners face, and provides clients with tailored strategies and solutions to overcome these obstacles, such as handling ballooning data volumes and a proliferation of data sources. Sam has a proven track record of success for some of HaystackID’s most prominent global corporate and law firm clients.