If You Want to Save Money on E-Discovery, You Can

Anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with this blog knows we believe that, for many organizations, in-sourcing e-discovery operations and implementing an e-discovery platform make good sense. The benefits are clear-cut and real. It helps you ensure you’re complying with the requirements of the FRCP, reducing your risk of data spoliation and accompanying sanctions. It gives you visibility into the process, allowing you to understand where you’re succeeding, where you could do better, and make appropriate changes. It saves time, increases efficiency, and facilitates coordination between legal and IT.

But at the end of the day, a lot of these benefits really boil down to what is metaphorically and literally the bottom line in business. Do they save money?

In our 3rd Annual Study of Effective Legal Spend Management, produced in partnership with the Blickstein Group, respondents to the survey answered with a definitive “yes.” The survey of almost 70 in-house e-discovery and legal operations professionals, representing large enterprises including over 30 Fortune 500 companies, found that there are many ways to save money on e-discovery spend—all you need to do is embrace and implement one or more of these proven methods.

• Using e-discovery technology
• Bringing more of the e-discovery process in-house
• Negotiating lower rates from providers
• Single-source provider or preferred provider program
• Litigation executive overseeing the e-discovery group

Each of these methods were in use by more than 70% of the responding organizations, which demonstrates that for many organizations, saving money on e-discovery remains a priority. What is even more impressive, though, is that for each of these methods, at least 89% of those using that method found it to be somewhat or highly effective.

Unsurprisingly to me (and hopefully anyone who visits this blog semi-regularly), the two most effective methods for saving money on e-discovery were bringing more of the process in house and using e-discovery technology.

Of course, avoiding obstacles on the path to cost savings is also important to choosing and implementing a method. Thankfully, the report has good news on that front as well. The survey asked respondents to evaluate four common impediments to controlling e-discovery spend on a scale of 1 (no impediment) to 5 (major impediment):

• Low transparency into the status of tasks
• Limited cost reporting for e-discovery spend
• Multiple service providers used
• Undefined processes

None of the four impediments averaged above a 2.5 on this scale. In short, these obstacles to saving money are more accurately described as excuses than major difficulties. 

If you’d like to find out more about how enterprises are managing their e-discovery spend, download this report from Exterro and the Blickstein Group today.