LAWTECH GURU BLOG by Jeff Beard

eDiscovery 2.0: Early Case Assessments Reduce Risks and Costs

If expensive “brute force” reviews of large volumes of electronic documents can be called eDiscovery 1.0, then Early Case Assessments are very much part of a more refined eDiscovery 2.0 approach. The benefits from performing an ECA include learning key information earlier in the matter, improved identification of relevant documents and e-mails (and their custodians), and reducing costs by sampling data prior to an extensive document review. Using a combination of tools and savvy approaches, companies can greatly reduce their risk and review costs (which is often a staggering 80+% of a matter's total discovery cost).

I just published an extensive discussion of ECA's at InsideCounsel's Inside Tech column, including useful data analytics, social networking analysis of e-mails and IMs, and concept search. Those of you interested in Judge Grimm's take on the limitations and problems inherent with keyword searches in the recent Victor Stanley, Inc. v. Creative Pipe, Inc. decision (involving the loss of privilege) will appreciate a discussion of his observations in context of an effective Early Case Assessment.