The digital universe doubles every two years, according to a December 2012 report from International Data Corporation. Companies are legally responsible for the growing Electronically Stored Information (ESI) created during business operations. In the event of a lawsuit, your business must be able to find and produce case relevant information.
Adopting an eDiscovery tool, either on your system or as a Software as a Service (SaaS), prepares your company for potential litigation and provides you with an edge at the earliest stages of your lawsuit.
One of the most expensive parts of litigation is identifying the relevant evidence in the massive amounts of stored data, and pulling that evidence from electronic storage without reducing or destroying it. A recent controversial Forbes article claimed that the cost to process, review, cull and produce a single gigabyte of data exceeds $7,000, but defensible eDiscovery doesn’t have to be so expensive. Choosing the right tool dramatically lowers costs, without sacrificing quality.
Leverage Technology to Reduce Costs
A rigorous analytics program is essential to discovering all evidence. Although there has been a lot of buzz about predictive coding, it has some disadvantages, including the risk of revealing privileged data and the over-production of non-relevant data. While simple keyword searching may not be sufficient to meet your discovery needs, a tool that employs concept clustering and one-click-entity searching will give you comprehensive, defensible results.
Your ideal software should be easy to use, so time isn’t lost learning a complicated system. Customized access levels keep team members on task and ensure document security. Cross browser compatibility allows easy access on all devices, maximizing your efficiency.
Having an eDiscovery tool in place before the 26(f) “meet and confer” session of your lawsuit gives you an advantage over your opponent, because you will already have a good understanding of your discoverable data. To maximize the benefits of a well-prepared 26(f) conference, make sure a member of your negotiation team understands the nuances of various data formats. Don’t go into a 26(f) session blind.
While eDiscovery software has many benefits, it should not be confused with do-it-yourself discovery. Implementing the right technology early enough in your litigation lifecycle significantly lowers cost, partially by cutting down on the amount of data the legal team must evaluate. However, the software cannot actually perform the review. Only a lawyer can review evidence.
Take Control of Your eDiscovery
Producing your own native files using eDiscovery software (as opposed to ordering them from a litigation support team) can save you $300/gigabyte. Every case is different, but if your production is 10, 15, or even 20 gigs, that’s a sizable savings. In addition to reducing costs, the right eDiscovery tool allows you greater control over your own productions. Prep a production for downloading, and decide what metadata is released.
Don’t worry that you’re on your own if you decide to implement an eDiscovery software solution. WarRoom Document Solutions offers hosting, training and support in all of our software products, and our Boston and Providence litigation support teams provide whatever additional customized services you require, at any point in your case, regardless of whether you are using our software. Both our software products and our service are flexible; we adapt to your needs.
Put our 19 years of industry experience to work for you; let us help you become litigation ready. Decrease your cost and risk of sanctions while increasing your chances for a favorable outcome. For advice about which software would best meet your regulatory and business requirements, call us at 1-855-WarRoom.
