eDiscovery is not expensive, eDiscovery done badly is !

Too often I hear “I just find eDiscovery so complex and frustrating and usually turns out to be more expensive than I expected”.

But it does not have to be this way.

The objective of the discovery process should be to get only what you need and do so in a way that is quick and cost effective.

These days the exercise is not helped by the share volume of information that is potentially available. The skill is to come up with methods and leverage the use of technology to get rid of what you don’t need so that you can devote your energies at only looking at what matters most.

Still reliance on traditional based practices

What is expensive and time consuming is not eDiscovery, but the reliance on traditional methods to manage information that can be more effectively managed electronically.

Many are needlessly spending thousands of dollars on an eDiscovery process that is not required. Even today, many are simply replicating how they have always managed discovery in a traditional paper-based world. With the proliferation of electronic information, these practices only add cost and burden to the exercise.

This is evidenced by those that continue to spend considerable time and money scanning and listing documents, post the review exercise which is the most expensive part of the discovery process. A process that simply should not be required on most matters.

Working smarter

It is about being smarter about how we approach eDiscovery.

We should all be looking at smarter ways to tackle the discovery process. Any option that facilitates getting to the most important information quicker and cheaper, whilst helping to isolate irrelevant material, cannot be a bad thing !

To do this we need to turn our mind to the practical discovery requirements, earlier in the process.

If you find discovery expensive and time consuming, then invest an hour at the outset of a matter to try and work out the best way to approach the discovery exercise. The time invested at the outset could save thousands down the track, not to mention lessening the burden for you and your firm.

Let me know if I can help you approach your next discovery exercise.