Technology and Litigation: Striking the Balance
Legal Blog Watch explored an interesting question recently about how law firms are seeking to strike an appropriate balance in the use of technology in the discovery process (“Will Technology Displace Lawyers in e-Discovery”). LBW made very interesting use of the American mythical character, John Henry to make its point; I recommend their post.
Law firms have a conflict on this issue. The automation in question would replace billable hours. However, since our clients tend to be below the size threshold for “Big Business,” we normally work in a world where the client has the right to expect that control of litigation costs will be a major value-added contribution by their attorneys. The real issue is how much testing and research needs to be done first to ensure that the technology can effectively deliver on its promise.
And, if the discovery is so extensive that it has to be automated, the parties should probably try really hard to settle.
