Electronic Discovery is More than Data

I’d like to share an article that I believe makes a very timely and important point for legal professionals. Discovery is still strategy—it’s still finding the facts you need to support your case—but the game has changed. As the author points out:

"There’s a fairly common theme to those who dislike electronic discovery—it’s too expensive and just ramps up the cost of litigation. I do understand that costs of discovery are more upfront now, but I would argue that the “enormous costs” of discovery are because lawyers still aren’t doing it right. What you aren’t seeing is that the process you need to use has changed, and the costs you see are just upfront versus further down the line in a case."¹

I would add that discovery can be an expensive proposition—if you are not prepared and if you are managing the discovery process more reactively than proactively. The good news is that, properly implemented, eDiscovery can be substantially more efficient than traditional paper-based document review. The article states, and I heartily agree, that while today we can harness technology to do all the work for us, the costs are not really that different. What’s different is the volume of data; and you control the cost by controlling the volume. The author sheds some light on how this can be accomplished.

Feel free to visit the Legal Services page of our website for additional insights on industry trends including white papers, case histories and more. These are based on our many years of experience helping enterprises reduce document review and overall discovery costs. Additionally, our alternative pricing models demonstrate that eDiscovery does not necessarily have to entail high upfront costs. Visit our website to learn more.

1. Twigger, K. (2017) “Stop Equating eDiscovery With Data—It’s Not That Simple.” Above the Law, May 9 2017.