Saw discovery costs triple since 2010 at my firm

I remember back in 2010 when a medium case might cost us $15k in document review. Now the same size case runs closer to $50k because everyone demands digital forensics and predictive coding. Anybody else seeing their outside counsel budgets balloon like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

eric_murphy361mo ago

Has anyone else's e-discovery vendor started sending holiday cards signed from their team's "AI assistant"? My firm's litigation support costs have doubled since 2016, but what really gets me is the new "data hygiene" line item that appears on every single bill now. I swear, my last case had more bytes than brain cells involved in figuring out how to store it all. My outside counsel once tried to bill me for a standing weekly call just to "discuss preservation strategy" for a case that hadn't even been filed yet. At this rate, I'll have to start teaching summer school just to pay for discovery.

the_phoenix1mo ago

Is it really that bad though? I mean yeah costs are up but lawyers have been crying wolf about discovery expenses since before I started in real estate. You're telling me a weekly preservation strategy call is somehow the straw that breaks the camel's back? I've sat through countless pointless meetings in my line of work that go nowhere. And calling it "data hygiene" sounds like they're just repackaging something they were already doing. Maybe it's not the end of the world, maybe it's just lawyers trying to justify their billable hours with fancy new labels.