Understanding the Problem: Why Overcollection Occurs

The collection of Electronically Stored Information (ESI) is a critical component of discovery in modern litigation. But not all collection is the same. Some legal teams take a surgical approach to collection, while others view it broadly. The results can vary dramatically in terms of efficiency, costs, and legal exposure.

Overcollection of ESI in eDiscovery typically occurs because of one or more of these reasons:

    • Attorneys fear missing relevant information
    • Case teams lack the tools to effectively evaluate data before collection
    • Processes and decisions between in-house legal teams and outside counsel are inconsistent

But overcollection isn’t just expensive – it increases risk exposure!

The Hidden Dangers

Conventional wisdom might suggest that collecting more data provides a safety net. In reality, overcollection creates more problems than solutions. Here’s why:

1. Increased Risk of Mistakes and Security Breaches

More data in play means more people involved in handling and reviewing it. This increases the likelihood of human error at every stage through which the data passes. Examples of such mistakes include:

    • Accidental disclosure of privileged, confidential, or sensitive information
    • Inconsistent coding of documents or inadvertently incomplete productions
    • More cybersecurity vulnerabilities as a result of more data in more places

2. Lengthy Legal Holds and Future eDiscovery Risks

Overcollection often results in data being held too long, which increases the risk that the data will be subject to future discovery on other cases. Reasons for this:

    • Managing large amounts of data that could be subject to multiple legal holds can be a complicated task, especially without the right systems in place.
    • Corporations often lack the resources to consistently monitor, track, and execute timely lifting of holds and data disposition.
    • The data may be stored on provider systems, which can be a more arduous task to delete.

3. The Domino Effect of Overcollection on Total eDiscovery Costs

Excess data collected naturally leads to more costs downstream, and the financial impact is substantial.

Taking a look at the estimated costs for 15 custodians, let’s assume:

      • Average 50 GBs collected per custodian x 15 custodians = 750 GBs
      • Processing and hosting of 750 GBs x $10/GB x 12 months = $90,000
      • Review of 75 GBs at $50/hour = $262,500 (estimates 10% volume typically reviewed, 3,500 docs per GB, review rate of 50 docs/hr)
      • Total cost for just 15 custodians = $352,500 for this case only

If the data becomes relevant to additional future cases, these costs could multiply.

Now imagine if you can eliminate 25% of this data before collection. That’s a savings of $88,125!

Best Practices to Prevent Overcollection

1. Utilize Early Case Strategy (ECS) Tools

The recent innovation of technology that powers discovery scoping can help legal teams analyze and categorize data before collection, with tools and metrics to articulate relevancy and burden during negotiations.

2. Implement Intelligent Data Collection Techniques

Collection techniques are constantly evolving, especially with emerging data sources. It is critical to keep up to date on new technologies or work with a consultant who is consistently evaluating innovative solutions to facilitate so you can use the most targeted, non-disruptive, and efficient collection services available.

3. Leverage Defensible Data Minimization Strategies

Many overlook the art of data minimization. At each stage of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM), there are powerful methods to reduce the volume of data moving downstream to the more expensive phases of eDiscovery. These innovative methods can defensibly reduce the time needed for review from months to days.

How Prism Litigation Can Help

Prism Litigation’s long-standing mission is to help legal teams defensibly reduce the amount of data moving downstream. By leveraging the most targeted collection solutions and data minimization techniques available, Prism empowers organizations to minimize costs and mitigate risks in an increasingly complicated legal landscape.

Contact Prism Litigation today to learn about our early case strategy and intelligent data collection tools and data minimization techniques.