Today’s rapidly increasing data volumes require a greater investment in time planning ahead developing a discovery strategy, ensuring you and your client has a smoother and less expensive discovery process.
LawTalk has recently published an article of mine The importance of investing time in developing a discovery strategy (A link to the article can be found here). The article looked in detail at why it is now important to invest more time at an early stage in developing a discovery strategy.
Upfront investment
The new High Court discovery rules require more front loading of work, but this initial work will provide greater value later in the discovery exercise.
Just as you would invest time in planning how to run the matter for your client, time also needs to be invested at an early stage into how to best manage the discovery process. With discovery often being the largest cost of litigation, it is important to invest time in developing a discovery strategy.
For many this may be changing how they have always approached discovery.
Investing the time at the outset can have considerable cost savings down the track – even on the smallest of matters, spending an hour or so at the outset can provide considerable value as the matter progresses.
New strategies are required to try and get to the documents that matter most – and do so quickly, cost effectively and accurately.
Planning a discovery strategy
There is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach to discovery, so it is important to devise a discovery strategy that is tailored to suit the requirements of the case. The time invested planning a discovery strategy can be a tactical advantage to substantiate your discovery approach in advance of the first Case Management Conference and discussions with other parties.
The discovery strategy may include –
- The process to identify and collect documents from the client
- Assessing and predicting the costs involved in each stage of the discovery process
- An approach to search and review documents
- Complying with and modifying the listing and exchange format
Investing time developing a discovery strategy will enable lawyers to make more informed decisions which will pay greater value later in the discovery exercise that can help reduce the cost and burden of the litigation or investigation. This will enable the legal team to have a more comprehensive understanding of the facts and manage the path of the case.
Discovery can be challenging, but investing more time at an early stage devising the most appropriate discovery strategy will help ensure a more proportionate and cost effective discovery process.
