This is a special series of "In Their Own Words" Spotlights featuring speakers at the upcoming ARMA & ILTA LIT-Con conference.  InsideLegal.com is the premier media sponsor of LIT-Con.

Who are you?  What firm are you with?  What is your role?
Mary Pat Poteet with DLA Piper US LLP.  I am the Director of Litigation Support.

What is your firms’ specialty/niche? 
DLA Piper became one of the largest legal service providers in the world in 2005 through a merger of unprecedented scope in the legal sector. While large in scale, the merger strategy was simple – to create an international legal practice capable of taking care of the most important legal needs of clients wherever they do business.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the legal technology industry now and in the upcoming year?
Biggest challenges right now is identifying the right technology for the dollars available.  Budget constraints have made technology acquisitions difficult.

How can the legal vendor community work with you best?
Email!  Phone calls are extremely disruptive where as email can be tagged and flagged for follow up!

What advice would you have for legal vendors trying to compete in this crowded marketplace?
Don’t tear down your competitors.  Tell me how you are different – what sets you above the others and makes you more valuable.

What associations are you active in?
ILTA, EDRM

What online resource (website, blog, etc.) is most useful to you (i.e., you use it everyday)?
EDRM.net, ILTANET.Org, Ediscoverylaw.com

What are you speaking about at LIT-Con?
Internal Ediscovery Policy and Procedure and Law Firm Attorney Departure Protocol