It's clear that discovery costs are usually high, so figuring out how to cut those costs is in everyone's best interests. Effectively saving on the discovery process can increase your profits, and it can also save your customers' money. The following are a few things you can do to cut spending on your discovery processes.
Avoid Chasing Ghosts
It's easy to start chasing documents, especially if these documents are important. You might think that doing so could help you win your case, but chasing these documents could lead to higher costs.
While there's nothing wrong with looking for certain documentation, it's important to know when to quit. The longer you do this, the more you're spending, and you may not even need this document. Focus more on what you have rather than what you don't have.
Utilize Today's Tech Search
Sometimes, you have to search for data regarding your case or potential cases. This could take a long time and could also cost you a lot of cash. The good thing is you don't have to do this. You can use today's technology to save a little more.
You can do things like use a legal case search to help you find new cases or build the case you're working on now. This AI-powered search will help you gather actionable data faster and cheaper; that's a big deal. The more you save, the more you can spend on other ways to improve your case.
Don't be an Obstructionist
Discovery could be used by some to drag something out more than it needs to. Don't be the person who does that because you'll end up embittering your opponent and the court.
Everyone can see that you're trying to use the discovery process to drag things out. The reality is that most litigators don't win their cases by dragging them out. Work with what you've got in good faith, which should take you a long way.
Fight the Data Dump
Sometimes, discovery costs rise because clients aren't told how important it is to avoid data dumps. While it may be strange to tell clients to sort through their documentation before handing it to their lawyer, it's important to say. Some clients just give their lawyers everything, thinking that the lawyer will sort through the paperwork.
While this is true, they'll sort through it, but it'll take a long time. It'll frustrate the customer. Be sure that clients know how much better things will be if documentation is properly sorted or labeled beforehand. Your clients may not love to hear this, so tell them that doing so will save you money, and those savings will be passed down to them.
Securing Key Documentation
Every so often, during the process of gathering documentation, some key documents are placed among regular documents. It makes sense to put all of them together, but it could also be a bad thing, especially later on. If you want to reduce your spending during discovery, it's important to identify all key documentation and place those in a secure place.
Doing this should ensure that this type of documentation can be found when needed. Failing to do so could lead to lost documentation or unnecessary discovery requests. It could even look like a client is hiding documents, and that's not a good look. Highlight how important it is to ensure that key documentation is easily found at all times, and effectively avoid the cost of chaos.
Get Ahead of Electronic Discovery
Clients should do their best to input as much data into a computer file or a cloud file to make it easier on you later. Being able to discover data on the computer or the cloud reduces your discovery costs. If that isn't enough, it also helps speed up the case, and that's in everyone's best interest.
It means that a settlement may be around the corner. It could also mean that you can tell your client that a solution may be reached faster since you don't have to worry about sorting paper documentation since it's digital. This may take some time to do, but it's worth it.
You've got all the tips and tricks to try to reduce the cost of discovery. Hopefully, some tips help you in this case along with all future cases, too.