Inside Counsel Give Top Tips for Controlling E-Discovery Costs in New FTI Technology Study

Inside Counsel Give Top Tips for Controlling E-Discovery Costs in New FTI
Technology Study
Webinar and Study Highlight Advice from Fortune 1000 Counsel for Controlling
E-Discovery Costs

NEW YORK, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN),
the global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect
and enhance their enterprise value, today announced the results of an
FTI-funded study of in-house counsel and e-discovery professionals. The
findings, as well as several tips from interviewees on how to control
e-discovery costs, are available for download from FTI Technology and
highlight many of the common steps companies have successfully taken to reduce
the overall cost of e-discovery.

"Nearly three years after the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) were
amended, many corporations have made great progress in implementing both
short-term tactical and long-term strategic plans for e-discovery," said Adam
Cohen, senior managing director of FTI Technology. "The study highlights
specific e-discovery best practices in effect today at leading corporations,
and can serve as a practical guide for all corporate counsel in targeting and
improving this complex and costly process."

Among the findings:
-- Legal review: 72% of respondents cited legal review as the most
expensive phase of e-discovery, and gave numerous suggestions from
experience on how corporations could reduce costs.
-- Using fewer providers: 97% of respondents cited using fewer providers
to
support the e-discovery process as one of the more important
considerations in the selection process.
-- Defensibility: The most important factor for selecting both software
and
legal services was defensibility, with 62% naming it as a top factor
in
selection of e-discovery software and 52% for legal services.
-- E-discovery vendor viability: Ahead of cost, corporate counsel
prioritized selecting a provider with long-term viability, given many
uncertainties in the rapidly evolving e-discovery market. Viability
was
listed as the second most important factor when selecting a software
vendor (by 41%) and a legal service provider (by 45%).
-- In-house control: 86% said they had developed and implemented more
effective and holistic information management, retention and
destruction
policies, and had also reduced the overall amount of data in-house to
streamline review.

-- E-discovery cost savings: Cost was cited as the third and fourth most
important factors respectively when selecting legal service providers
and software.

"As part of this study I spoke with an in-house legal team member that had
reduced their e-discovery and legal fees by as much as $2 million in one year
through implementing more efficient legal review software and processes," said
Ari Kaplan, legal consultant and principal of Ari Kaplan Advisors. "The
findings are exciting in that they go beyond theoretical best practices and
show tangible, quantifiable evidence of the measures that corporations are
using to reduce e-discovery costs today."

The study targeted Fortune 1000 companies and is based on interviews of 29
inside counsel, project managers, records managers, and IT leaders with
responsibility for e-discovery. Representing companies from some of the most
litigious and regulated industries, including financial services, energy and
pharmaceuticals, 93% of respondents were from Fortune 1000 companies and
nearly half of the respondents were from companies with total annual revenues
greater than $10 billion. Interviewees were asked to share their advice with
those just beginning the e-discovery process, and answered a number of
questions relating to the most expensive steps in e-discovery and their own
strategies for controlling e-discovery costs. Interviews were conducted by Ari
Kaplan, legal consultant and principal of Ari Kaplan Advisors, during the
summer of 2009.

FTI will host a November 5th Web seminar on the findings with Ari Kaplan of
Ari Kaplan Advisors and Adam Cohen of FTI Technology. To register for the
event, please visit the FTI Technology site.

For more information on FTI Technology, please visit www.ftitechnology.com.

About FTI Consulting
FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping
organizations protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex
legal, regulatory and economic environment. With more than 3,500 employees
located in most major business centers in the world, we work closely with
clients every day to anticipate, illuminate, and overcome complex business
challenges in areas such as investigations, litigation, mergers and
acquisitions, regulatory issues, reputation management and restructuring. More
information can be found at www.fticonsulting.com.

SOURCE FTI Consulting, Inc.

AT FTI: Kate Andrejack Holmes, +1-206-373-6521, Kate.holmes@fticonsulting.com