eDiscovery Daily Blog

• February 10, 2017

It must be our week for surveys.  Yesterday, we covered the Complex Discovery Winter 2017 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey results.  Here’s another set of surveys that look at critical trends for AmLaw 200 law firms and Fortune 500 corporations.

In the past several days, The Cowen Group (TCG) has released two surveys: The AmLaw 200 eDiscovery Critical Trends Report and the Corporate eDiscovery Critical Trends Report.  Here are the top 5 takeaways identified by David Cowen for each report:

AmLaw 200 eDiscovery Critical Trends Report: 75 of the AmLaw 200 participated in this survey

1. Top Three eDiscovery, Data or Information Governance Pain Points: 1) Variety of data sources (46%), 2) Institutional resistance to change (41%), 3) Volume of data growth (39%).
2. In the next six months, 78% of respondents anticipate their eDiscovery/Litigation Support workload will increase.
3. 38% of respondents expect their litigation support/eDiscovery group or department to increase in size in the next six months.
4. In the next 6 to 12 months, 91% of respondents would like to increase their usage of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics.
5. The top five technology investment priorities are: 1) Review technology (42%), 2) Project management workflow software (41%), 3) Predictive analytics (36%), 4) Matter management (33%), 5) Knowledge management (29%).

Corporate eDiscovery Critical Trends Report: 44 of the Fortune 500 participated in this survey.

1. In the next six months, 7% of respondents anticipate their eDiscovery/Litigation Support workload will increase.
2. 77% of respondents expect to increase their use of predictive analytics and artificial intelligence in the next 6 to 12 months but many lack the internal resources to execute.
3. 43% of the F-500 will increase their use of strategic partners and vendors in response to the increase in eDiscovery workload and complexity of tools and technology in 2017.
4. 85% of corporate counsel will not be adding staff- thus relying more on strategic partners and service providers.
5. The top four technology investment priorities are: 1) Project management workflow software (40%), 2) Knowledge management (34%), 3) tie Review technology and Legal Hold (each at 31%).

For more information or to request a full copy of the AmLaw 200 and/or Corporate Discovery reports, click on the appropriate links above.

The Cowen Group stays busy!  Here is a link to their 2016 eDiscovery and Litigation Support Salary Report we covered back in November.

So, what do you think?  Do any of these numbers surprise you?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.