What Is eDiscovery?
Before we dive into how to reduce eDiscovery costs and risks, let's first define what eDiscovery is. eDiscovery refers to identifying, collecting, processing, reviewing, and producing electronically stored information (ESI) in response to a legal matter. ESI includes emails, documents, spreadsheets, databases, social media posts, and other types of digital information.
The eDiscovery process can be complex and time-consuming, often requiring the assistance of eDiscovery software and other specialized tools. Furthermore, the cost of eDiscovery can vary significantly depending on factors such as the size and complexity of the case, the amount of data to be collected and processed, and the number of parties involved.
Reducing eDiscovery Costs and Risks
To help legal professionals control the average cost of eDiscovery and reduce risk, eDiscovery software offers a variety of features that can help streamline the eDiscovery process. Here are some of the key ways that they can help:
Illuminating Dark Data
One of the biggest challenges in eDiscovery is identifying all of the relevant ESI. Often, ESI is scattered across multiple systems and platforms, making it difficult to locate and collect. Additionally, some ESI may be hidden or "dark" data, meaning it is not readily accessible or visible to the user. eDiscovery software like Casepoint can help illuminate dark data by providing advanced search capabilities and data visualization tools. These features can help legal professionals quickly identify and collect all relevant ESI, reducing the time and costs associated with the eDiscovery process.
Automating Assignment Workflows
Assigning tasks and managing workflow can be time-consuming and expensive. eDiscovery software can automate the assignment of tasks and workflows, ensuring that the right people are working on the right tasks at the right time. This can help reduce the time and costs associated with manual task assignment and ensure the eDiscovery process is streamlined and efficient.
Conducting Pre-Production Quality Assurance
Quality assurance is critical in eDiscovery, as errors and mistakes can be costly and time-consuming. eDiscovery software provides pre-production quality assurance tools that can help ensure that data is processed correctly and efficiently. This can reduce the time and costs associated with reprocessing data and ensure the eDiscovery process is completed on time and within budget.
How to Lower eDiscovery Costs
While eDiscovery costs can be significant, there are a variety of strategies that legal professionals can use to reduce these costs. Here are some tips for lowering eDiscovery costs.
Content Maps
One of the best ways to reduce eDiscovery costs is to create content maps that outline where critical data resides within the organization. A content map is a document that provides an inventory of all data sources, including email, file shares, cloud storage, and more. By creating a content map, organizations can quickly identify and collect relevant data, reducing the overall volume of data needing review. This can significantly lower eDiscovery costs and improve the efficiency of the process.
Tiering Strategies
Another way to reduce eDiscovery costs is to use tiering strategies. Tiering involves categorizing data based on importance, relevance, and potential risk. Higher-risk data is typically placed in the top tier, while lower-risk data is placed in subsequent tiers. This allows organizations to focus their eDiscovery efforts on the most critical data, reducing the volume of data needing review. Tiering can also help improve the review's accuracy by prioritizing data that is most likely relevant to the case.
Eye Big Expenses
Reducing eDiscovery costs also involves keeping an eye on big expenses. One of the most significant expenses associated with eDiscovery is document review. Document review typically accounts for up to 70% of eDiscovery costs. Therefore, it is essential to reduce the cost of document review by using technology-assisted review (TAR) tools, such as predictive coding. Predictive coding is an AI-based tool that can quickly and accurately identify relevant documents, significantly reducing the overall cost of document review.
Right Sizing of Litigation Budget
Lastly, the right sizing of litigation budgets is crucial to reduce eDiscovery costs. The most effective way to right-size a litigation budget is to use historical data to predict the cost of eDiscovery. Organizations can leverage eDiscovery software to analyze past cases and identify trends in eDiscovery costs. By doing so, they can better estimate the cost of future cases and allocate the appropriate budget accordingly. They will also need the right strategies and tools to reduce costs and control risks of eDiscovery effectively.
While creating the litigation budget, it's important that you consider the costs associated with every stage of eDiscovery. Here are a few tips that can help reduce this cost:
Preservation
In the preservation stage, you identify and preserve potentially relevant information to ensure it's available for the eDiscovery process. To reduce costs in this stage, consider these tips:
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Create a preservation plan: Establish a preservation plan that outlines the scope of the preservation effort, identifies relevant custodians and data sources, and sets out the protocols for preservation. This will help you avoid over-preservation, which can lead to unnecessary costs.
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Use data mapping: Data mapping can help you identify where relevant data is stored, enabling you to preserve only the necessary data. This can save you time and money by reducing the volume of data you need to preserve.
Collection
The collection stage involves collecting relevant data for eDiscovery. Here are some tips to help you reduce costs at this stage:
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Use targeted collection: Rather than collecting all data, use targeted collection methods to reduce the volume of data to be collected. This can save you time and money by eliminating irrelevant data.
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Use advanced search techniques: Advanced search techniques can help you quickly locate relevant data, reducing the time and costs associated with manual collection methods.
Processing
The processing stage involves preparing collected data for review. Here is how you can reduce costs at this stage:
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Use de-duplication: De-duplication can identify and remove duplicate data, reducing the volume of data to be processed and reviewed.
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Use analytics: Analytics tools can quickly identify relevant data and prioritize it for review, reducing the time and costs associated with manual review.
Hosting
The hosting stage involves storing and managing data for review. To reduce costs at this stage:
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Use cloud hosting: Cloud hosting can be more cost-effective than on-premises hosting, as you only pay for the storage and computing resources you need.
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Use scalable hosting: Choose a hosting solution that can scale up or down based on your needs, ensuring you're not paying for unnecessary resources.
Review
The review stage involves analyzing collected data for relevance and privilege. Here are some tips to help you reduce costs at this stage:
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Use technology-assisted review (TAR): TAR can help you quickly identify relevant data, reducing the time and costs associated with manual review.
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Use review workflows: Establish workflows that prioritize relevant data and allow reviewers to work efficiently, reducing the time and costs associated with manual review.
Production
The production stage involves producing relevant data for litigation or other legal proceedings. Here are some tips to help you reduce costs at this stage:
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Use production templates: Use templates that conform to court requirements and streamline the production process, reducing costs associated with manual production.
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Use redaction tools: Redaction tools can help you efficiently redact sensitive or irrelevant data, reducing the time and costs associated with manual redaction.
Post-Production
The post-production stage involves managing data after production. Let’s explore a few tips to help you reduce costs at this stage:
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Implement data retention policies: Implement data retention policies that help you retain only the necessary data, reducing storage costs associated with unnecessary data.
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Monitor compliance: Monitor compliance with data retention policies to ensure you're not storing unnecessary data, reducing storage costs and mitigating the risk of non-compliance.
Best Practices
In addition to the above tips, legal professionals can follow these best practices to help reduce eDiscovery costs and risks:
Develop a Framework
The first step in reducing eDiscovery risks is to develop a framework for handling eDiscovery. This framework should outline the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder, the procedures for identifying, preserving, collecting, and processing ESI, and the technology and tools that will be used. The framework should also address the ethical and legal obligations of the parties and ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
Secure All Relevant ESI
The next step in reducing eDiscovery risks is to secure all relevant ESI. This includes identifying all custodians with relevant ESI and ensuring that all ESI is properly preserved and protected from alteration or deletion. Failure to preserve ESI can lead to spoliation claims, which can be costly and damaging.
Conduct a Thorough Early Case Assessment
Conducting a thorough early case assessment (ECA) is essential for reducing eDiscovery risks. The ECA involves analyzing the facts and issues of the matter, identifying the key custodians and sources of ESI, and assessing the scope and complexity of the matter. The ECA can help organizations determine the most efficient and cost-effective way to handle eDiscovery, reducing the risk of over-collection or under-collection of ESI.
Conduct Focused Search and Data Collection
Conducting a focused search and data collection is another best practice for reducing eDiscovery risks. This involves using targeted keywords and search terms to narrow the scope of the collection, reducing the volume of ESI that needs to be reviewed. Additionally, organizations should use tools and technology to help them identify and collect ESI from multiple sources, such as email archives and social media accounts, while ensuring that the collection is defensible and compliant with relevant laws and regulations.
Ensure Metadata Preservation
Metadata is essential to understanding and analyzing ESI, as it provides valuable information about creating, modifying, and storing electronic documents. Therefore, it's crucial to ensure that metadata is properly preserved throughout the eDiscovery process. Casepoint's eDiscovery software includes tools for preserving and analyzing metadata, ensuring organizations have the information they need to make informed decisions about their cases.
Avoid Custodian Self-Collection
One common mistake in eDiscovery is allowing custodians to self-collect their ESI. This can lead to inconsistent and incomplete collections and the risk of spoliation or intentional deletion of ESI. Instead, organizations should rely on trained professionals to collect ESI, ensuring the collection is defensible and compliant with relevant laws and regulations.
In-House Preservation and Collection
Another way to reduce eDiscovery costs and risks is to handle preservation and collection in-house. This approach can reduce the need for outside vendors and consultants and provide greater control over the eDiscovery process. Casepoint's eDiscovery software includes in-house preservation and collection tools, allowing organizations to handle these tasks themselves while ensuring compliance and defensibility.
Streamline Review
One of the most time-consuming and costly aspects of eDiscovery is document review. However, there are ways to streamline the review process, reducing costs and improving efficiency. Casepoint's eDiscovery software includes advanced analytics and machine learning tools that can help organizations quickly and accurately identify relevant documents, reducing the need for manual review. Additionally, Casepoint offers a team of experienced document review attorneys who can handle the review process for organizations, further reducing costs and improving efficiency.
Improve ESI Management
Finally, improving ESI management is another way to reduce eDiscovery costs and risks. This includes implementing policies and procedures for data retention and deletion and using technology and tools to help organizations better manage and analyze their ESI. Casepoint's eDiscovery software includes tools for managing ESI throughout its lifecycle, ensuring that organizations can effectively manage and utilize their electronic data.
Conclusion
eDiscovery costs can be significant, but legal professionals can reduce these costs while minimizing risks with the right tools and strategies. Casepoint is an eDiscovery software that can help streamline the eDiscovery process, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. You might think that the eDiscovery software cost is a big investment, but it will pay for itself in the long run. Also, follow the tips and best practices outlined above to take control of eDiscovery costs and ensure that the eDiscovery process is completed on time and within budget.
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