Corporate Counsel Take Piecemeal Approach to Litigation Technology, Catalyst/Bloomberg Law Survey Finds
Cost Concerns Both Drive and Inhibit Legal Departments' Broader Adoption of Advanced Litigation and E-Discovery Technology
Oct 24, 2017, 13:04 ET
DENVER, Oct. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Although corporate counsel overwhelmingly recognize the importance of technology in helping them control rising litigation costs, most have not adopted a comprehensive strategy with respect to purchasing and deploying e-discovery technology. While nine out of 10 have used or plan to use e-discovery technology, 72 percent continue to purchase products on a piecemeal, as-needed basis.
At the same time, corporate counsel increasingly favor the use of advanced technologies such as technology assisted review (TAR) and data analytics. Of those who use e-discovery tools, 73 percent say they have used TAR in the past two years. Across the board, 80 percent of corporate counsel say they encourage their outside counsel and vendors to use machine learning, and 72 percent say the same about data visualization and analytics.
These are among the findings of a survey of 130 chief legal officers, general counsel and in-house attorneys, "Managing Litigation: E-Discovery Resources Survey Report." Conducted by Catalyst and Bloomberg Law, the survey sought to accurately gauge the role that technology plays in corporate discovery.
"General counsel today are faced with an increasingly difficult array of challenges from growing data volumes, pressure to operate like a business unit, and visibility into managing budgets and cases," said Robert Berger, Catalyst's vice president of marketing. "Even though they are increasingly using e-discovery technology to address these challenges, they're still chasing matters one at a time and not developing longer-term strategies to save on e-discovery costs and benefit from technology."
While most of the corporate attorneys surveyed said they want centralized access to securely managed document repositories for cost savings and security, only 19 percent have what they would consider a global platform and most still handle their matters as separate, individual matters. The leading concern inhibiting broader adoption of technology is cost, the survey found.
Nevertheless, corporate counsel cite automation and advanced e-discovery technology as among the top ways to better manage costs now and into the future. Many are also looking at performing a greater proportion of e-discovery work in-house.
"Although many respondents are diligent about closely monitoring their e-discovery spending, there is an even larger number looking for further advantages and gains by using machine learning and data visualization," said Berger.
You can download the survey results here.
About Catalyst
Catalyst designs, hosts and services the world's fastest and most powerful document repositories for large-scale discovery and regulatory compliance. For more than 15 years, corporations and their counsel have relied on Catalyst to help reduce litigation costs and take control of complex legal matters. To learn more, visit catalystsecure.com or follow the company on Twitter at @CatalystSecure.
SOURCE Catalyst