B&L Associates

Pricing models, court interpretations may change eDiscovery landscape

November 16, 2011

As industry analysts begin to forecast what's in store for the eDiscovery field next year, pricing models and increasingly aggressive court interventions continue to be cited as potentially significant trends.

The escalating expense of eDiscovery has been a concern from both a business and legal perspective for some time. In a recent Law.com report, industry expert Evan Koblentz suggested that the wide range of prices offered for eDiscovery solutions is causing market confusion, and perhaps compromising the quality of service. According to Koblentz, some firms seem complacent with incurring extreme expenses from traditional services while others may be trading off performance in support of free and open source solutions.

To bring consensus - and sanity - to the marketplace, industry analysts from Daegus expect to see a significant change in pricing models in 2012, potentially driven by legislative intervention.

"To remain competitive, eDiscovery vendors will begin shaking up the stagnant pricing model with alternative fee arrangements and flexible pricing structures," Daegus researchers noted in a recent report.

Judges may also take a more active role in encouraging the development of eDiscovery best practices, according to the report, as the industry's troubles have begun to burden the legal system.