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Reduce Your Costs
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Understanding & Controlling
Litigation Costs
Litigation is a cost of doing business and a burden to a company's bottom line.
Litigation costs are rising due to a variety of variables. One of the key drivers of increased cost is due to the accumulation in volume of data that a company generates during the normal course of business. There are over 200 billion emails generated per day, and that's just emails! Remember most employees have access and create working documents utilizing software such as Microsoft desktop applications, custom design & engineering applications, blackberries and iphones, and countless other applications.
As 'vendor' fees have risen, outside counsel has started passing the bills direct to the in-house legal team from the onset of the case. Outside counsel is increasingly shifting the cost responsibility directly to the client to take take this burden off their shoulders. After all, outside counsel is focused on creating a winning case for the client, not focused on managing the case budget. So it is up to the in-house legal team to take control of these outside costs and to forge valuable relationships in order to take control of their budget.
In the past, when developing a budget for any new litigation the primary focus of the in-house legal team was invested into choosing an outside counsel based on their domain expertise and fee structure. However, given the nature of the current litigation environment the responsibilities of the in-house legal team have become more complex. Seasoned legal veterans know the additional costs involved with litigation such as expert retention, depositions, trial support, court reporters and discovery related fees can trump the fees of outside counsel. In fact, some reports have shown that discovery related fees alone can directly account for upwards of 50% of the total litigation budget pending the decisions made by the legal team to handle document review. Furthermore, the discovery approaches utilized during litigation will impact attorney hours throughout the lifespan of the matter.
The primary function of a discovery partner is to take ownership and present well thought out and cost-conscious discovery strategies to both the in-house and outside counsel legal teams. To make an impact, this discovery expert must get involved early on with any new litigation, become familiar with previous litigation matters, understand and present the appropriate technologies available, and have a familiarity with both broad and specific nuances which can be deployed during the discovery process. All of these values impact the budget and enable cost control.
In general, a discovery partner understands how to impact the budget by i.) limiting the impact of litigation on normal business activities, ii.) controlling resources spent on non-relevant data, and iii.) fostering communication between all parties involved (in-house legal team, IT department, and outside counsel). So why doesn't every corporation engage a discovery partner early on? Because it is hard to find someone you can trust. A Trusted Discovery Partner knows that there is never a one-size fits all approach and that all litigations are unique. Many discovery companies have a conflict of interest offering only a few specialized software applications, and so it is important to find a discovery partner who is platform and technology agnostic. BlackStone Discovery specializes in working with in-house legal departments and outside counsel to develop budget conscious solutions for litigation discovery.
Working directly with a Trusted Discovery Partner impacts the entire litigation budget. A discovery partner's role begins before a new litigation becomes active by introducing strategies and defining costs. During a matter a discovery partner must adapt and change; after litigation a discovery partner must be proactive in preparing for future related matters once the case concludes.
Look to BlackStoneDiscovery.com and upcoming emails for specific cost-savings approaches for litigation discovery.
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