Early Case Assessment
Early case assessment refers to estimating risk (cost of time and money) to prosecute or defend a legal case. Global organizations deal with legal discovery and disclosure requests for electronically stored information "ESI" and paper documents on a regular basis.
Over 90% of all cases settle prior to trial. Oftentimes an organization will spend significant time and money on a case only to find they want to settle for whatever reason. Legal discovery costs are usually the most burdensome financially to both plaintiff and defendant. Often, and during cases in the United States, an opposing party will strategize on how to make it as difficult as possible for you to comply with the discovery process, including time and cost to respond to discovery requests. Because of this, organizations have a continued need to conduct early case assessment to determine their risks and benefits of taking a case to trial without painful settlement discussions.
Benefits
- Quickly assess the prevalence of keywords, issues and potential liabilities within data
- Estimate the potential scope of an impending legal hold and collection
- Acquire metrics for a full cost-benefit analysis
- Identify themes and patterns that can shape the strategy
- Gain better insight to steer settlement conferences
- Pinpoint weaknesses in internal systems that warrant future attention