Some e-discovery providers are beginning to feel the pinch of global supply chain disruptions that are pushing the delivery dates of items like hard drives and laptops by months, raising the cost of vital technologies, and delaying the speed at which digital evidence can be recovered from the field. Fortunately, clients and their timetables don't appear to be feeling the brunt of those difficulties—yet. 

"I am not yet personally seeing any direct impact resulting from the supply chain issues, but I suspect any impact would not be immediate. A prolonged supply chain disruption is not sustainable, so we may see realized effects some months down the line, especially given that litigation activity has generally increased," Anna Mercado Clark, leader of the data security and privacy and e-discovery and digital forensics practice teams at Phillips Lytle, said via email. 

Clients may not be feeling the effects, but some e-discovery vendors have certainly noticed a difference. Take, for instance, shipping times. Mary Mack, CEO and chief legal technologist at EDRM, noted she's heard complaints from providers about how backlogs at the U.S. Post Office, FedEx and other carriers are impacting reviews, with drives containing digital evidence from the field taking longer to arrive—if they arrive at all.