This blog post is a summary of the session known as #LPSPG3 - A numbers game: The value of eDiscovery metrics presented at ILTA13. There was a fabulous panel and there was great audience participation.
The lineup included Florinda Baldridge of Norton Rose Fullbright, William Belt of Deloitte, Browning Marean of DLA Piper and the moderator was Beth Patterson of Allens.
The agenda for the session included:
- What are eDiscovery Metrics?
- Why Use eDiscovery Metrics?
- What Metrics Matter Most?
- Collecting Data: Practical Tips
- Useful Tools
Key Takeaways
There were a number of live polls. Interestingly the question “Do you capture eDiscovery metrics? Resulted in responses of 50% mostly and 28% sometimes. These high percentages validating that there was a lot of interest in metrics within the crowded room.
The panelists not surprisingly were pro measurement, with all measuring and analyzing actively for many years. The driver for the various measurement activities predominately stemmed from client demand for accurate and in some cases fixed priced estimates. It was accepted that if you are not measuring then you could not manage. Given that electronic discovery costs remain very high in litigation there rightly continues to be pressure on reducing processing and reviewing costs.
The panelists were of the view that they used metrics to support: cash flow management, drive down costs & make cost savings more apparent; accurate budgeting; manage client expectations up front ; greater quality control; vendor management; and 26f conferences –to enable them to prepare informed proportionality arguments with the courts.
Estimates on the costs to process a single custodian varied. The range which seen to be agreed was broadly USD$18k to USD$25k per custodian. The range was an inclusive all in number which included attorney review time however may not always include project management and ligation support practitioner time. It was agreed that many now use the data per custodian model to estimate and plan for electronic discovery costs. A great tip was to consider or allow for a custodian known as “File Server” to catch all the data which is not associated with a custodian.
The panel agreed that custodian costs were changing and there was a need to keep on top of the metrics as the inputs were decreasing with technology advancement.
There was acceptance that metrics allow the client to “to turn the dial” on service and approach as clients are able to be given data which supports making both tactical and strategic decisions during the discovery phase. These decisions can include throttling or accelerating costs from collection to production using the metrics to inform rather than relying on gut feel or fiction.
There were many vendors in the room and there was also agreement that metrics was a great way to align the vendors, with the law firms and the clients - all relying on the same data points.
The panelists all had their own extensive spreadsheets to calculate and forecast costs and trends. Browning has shared his eDiscovery cost calculating spreadsheet hoping that by sharing, it will continue to improve.
The vendor community was well represented in the room and the majority, through a show of hands, confirmed they were routinely collecting and analyzing electronic discovery data. The panel encouraged law firms to seek from their vendors “end of year analysis data” and to trend this data year on year. The panelists found that analyzing their year on year data was a very effective way to spot trends and drive efficiencies in the process.
There was a call to action by the panel for vendors to share the data metrics with the wider legal community. Most vendors confirmed that they have “out of the can” 3-5 metric reports which can be requested on any matter, many vendors were also happy to customize their standard reports. In addition many vendors also provided online metrics reporting.
The session finished with an Albert Einstein quote “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”
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