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Building a Business Case for eDiscovery Automation

| Written by Imogen Fraser-Clark

Legal professionals have found themselves in a uniquely difficult position this year.

As if the combination of rising workloads and static headcounts wasn’t enough, law firms and general counsel alike are under pressure to be more efficient, in order to combat rising eDiscovery costs.

So how can these seemingly contradictory challenges be resolved?

The answer is simple: automation.

Unfortunately though, it’s not enough to know that automation is the answer. You need to secure buy-in from senior management, and it will take more than just your word to influence such an investment decision. This means building a case that doesn’t just insist on the benefits of automation, but proves them to be irrefutable facts. That’s why we’ve put this checklist together for you.

Read on and build your business case for eDiscovery Automation.

Building a convincing business case for a new innovation is all about quantifying the impact it can make.

Not just relaying reported benefits, but presenting some compelling evidence that shows them to be true. Proof of the tangible impacts this change has realised for other organisations.

It has numerous benefits, but three of them are key from a business perspective:-

  1. Speed and efficiency
  2. Cost savings
  3. Reduction of error

We’ll look sequentially at each key benefit, delving into the details, and backing up each point with some data.

 

Benefit 1: Increased speed and efficiency

Speed_linesWith many legal teams under pressure to get more done with the same (or fewer) resources, this is probably the most pertinent point.

Rather than a completely exhaustive manual review, advanced eDiscovery technologies can help you reduce your case load and get to the relevant documents faster.

  • According to data from Thomson Reuters, eDiscovery automation can reduce the time it takes an average lawyer to locate a key document from 51 minutes, to 16 minutes. 
  • Tools like Continuous Active Learning can eliminate the need to review 50-90% of documents in an average collection
  • And even basic application of AI and Machine Learning tools (such as Concept Clustering) can increase review speed by 15-20%.

 

With the proportionality of litigation processes being more heavily monitored and sanctioned than ever before, any technology that saves you time and money, and allows you to produce more proportionate responses, is well worth investigating.

 

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