The following article is part one of a two-part series.

The conventional wisdom about the e-discovery marketplace has been that maturation means consolidation and commoditization, and that wisdom seems vindicated. Earlier this year, Legaltech News reported DTI's acquisition of Merrill and Epiq's purchase of Iris, further evidence that consolidation in the e-discovery space is rampant.

Likewise, I recently ran a large RFP for a corporate client where every participating vendor beat the incumbent pricing, some by as much as 50 percent. While my price comparison and reverse-auction protocols deserve credit, much of the cost savings was attributable to the passage of time. In the few years since the client last went out to bid, market forces had driven prices down considerably.