It is estimated that the number of criminal and civil cases brought to trial or ending in arbitration on an annual bases is over 30 million in the United States alone. Increased volumes of lawsuits and files to manage plus recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) allow a much shorter time to produce information relevant to a lawsuit.
Limited Time to Respond:
Once the discovery notice in hand, attorneys may have as little as 30 days to prepare for a “Meet & Confer” session with opposing counsel. Per the FRCP, attorneys must disclose: “a copy—or a description by category and location—of all documents, electronically stored information, and tangible things that the disclosing party has in its possession, custody, or control and may use to support its claims or defenses, unless the use would be solely for impeachment” at the session. Within 14 days of the Meet & Confer, the parties must submit a discovery plan to the court. Finally, after receiving a formal discovery request in writing by the opposing party, an organization must respond within thirty days.
Excessive Outsourcing Costs:
Traditional eDiscovery approaches of relying on tape backups and outsourcing all legal review are expensive, exposing companies to delays and the risk of overlooking critical documents and emails. Substantial and avoidable costs are often incurred because far more documents and emails are collected and sent to outside legal services to be reviewed than are necessary. We’re not suggesting you eliminate outside legal review services, but why not take control of the process and cull down the amount of files sent outside for review? – The savings easily pay for your in-house system with the first case.