Akerman today announced PineWest Data Intelligence, a new service division of the firm that helps law firms, corporations, and government agencies manage, analyze, and act on their data. PineWest grows directly out of Akerman’s eDiscovery practice — recognized by The Legal 500 2026 U.S. guide as among the leading eDiscovery teams in the United States — and extends the team’s data expertise beyond litigation to the full range of challenges organizations face as data volumes grow and regulatory obligations multiply.

PineWest’s services address data-intensive needs across the legal and compliance lifecycle:

• Information governance consulting: Data mapping, data minimization and disposition programs, legacy data remediation, and litigation readiness to reduce data risk and cost before disputes arise.
• eDiscovery and litigation data services: End-to-end discovery strategy, data processing, hosting, advanced analytics, technology-assisted and AI-accelerated review, and managed document review for litigation, investigations, subpoenas, and regulatory matters.
• Privacy and data subject request fulfillment: Scalable workflows for locating, reviewing, redacting, and producing personal information in response to Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) and related obligations under U.S. state privacy laws, GDPR, and other laws.
• Transactional data diligence: Large-scale contract and document analysis supporting M&A due diligence, integration, and post-closing obligations.

PineWest’s services combine dedicated legal, technology, and project management professionals with advanced data processing, analytics, and AI-enabled review tools, designed to deliver efficient, cost-conscious outcomes that are defensible under scrutiny from courts and regulators.

“Clients face data challenges that don’t stop at the boundaries of a lawsuit: twenty years of legacy data no one can defend keeping, a flood of privacy requests, a data room with a hundred thousand contracts,” said Scott Meyers, Chairman and CEO of Akerman. “PineWest takes the team and the capabilities our clients already trust for eDiscovery and makes them available to any organization with a hard data problem.”

“Every engagement we take on is, at its core, a data problem: find what matters, protect what’s sensitive, and deliver a result that is defensible,” said Elan Hersh, Managing Director of PineWest. “We’ve spent years building the people, processes, and technology to do that at scale in discovery. PineWest brings that same discipline to privacy fulfillment, transactions, and information governance, working alongside any counsel a client chooses.”

The launch strengthens Akerman’s position in the Alternative Legal Services Provider market, a segment Thomson Reuters values at more than $28 billion, in which a majority of corporate law departments now engage providers directly for data-intensive work such as eDiscovery and litigation support.

The PineWest team is led by Managing Director Elan Hersh, alongside David Grasher, Dan Degener, Emily Bartkowicz, Ray Gentile, and Karen Vester.

For more information, visit www.pinewestdata.com.

About PineWest Data Intelligence
PineWest Data Intelligence is a division of Akerman LLP delivering eDiscovery, litigation support, privacy request fulfillment, transactional data diligence, and information governance consulting to law firms, corporations, and government agencies. Built on Akerman’s nationally ranked eDiscovery practice, PineWest combines legal insight, advanced technology, and disciplined project management to deliver defensible, cost-effective outcomes across the full data lifecycle.

About Akerman
Founded in 1920, Akerman LLP is an Am Law 100 firm recognized by Vault among the nation’s most prestigious law firms. The firm has more than 700 lawyers and business professionals throughout the United States.