Electronic data discovery is expensive. But EDD costs are often hidden in lengthy, contingent price schedules: $400/hour for forensic collection, $50/ GB for data extraction, $350/GB for migration to the review platform, $0.06/doc for technology-assisted review, $.03/page for .tiff conversion, so forth and so on. The last schedule I reviewed had 54 separately priced categories.
Though I am familiar with the lexicon — e.g., de-NIST, near-line storage, logical unitization — I only have a vague sense of how these categories aggregate into a projected bottom line.Like most lawyers, I have neither the depth of knowledge to immediately translate the unit prices into final cost projections, nor the breadth of experience to be comfortable that I am getting a fair price. For the same reasons, all-in pricing schemes (e.g., $900/GB collected) are only minimally more transparent or digestible. EDD is among the things I do, not my primary focus. So, for me, a cost-comparison spreadsheet was a necessary tool. And my sense is that I am not alone.
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