2021 State of E-Discovery

Exterro has released its 2021 report on The State of E-Discovery . Here are some key findings about the direction the industry is heading in.

• 45 percent of legal departments have reported an increase in legal disputes as a result of the COVID pandemic, while only 7 percent have reported a decrease.

• 38 percent of electronic discovery professionals have taken on more responsibilities because of the pandemic.

• There has been an increase in the number of legal departments with a legal operations specialist, a 39.4% increase since 2015.

• Legal departments are using e-discovery technology to save time and money, and do more work in-house.

• 35 percent of legal departments still use ad hoc electronic discovery processes.

• 71 percent of smaller legal departments don't have an electronic discovery team.

• 56 percent of legal personnel have performed electronic discovery remotely.

• 50 percent of government agencies have processes to collect data.

• 87 percent of government agencies have increasing volumes of data.

• More than half of respondents reported having an 'immature' electronic discovery function.

• 40 percent of businesses see more disputes arising from data privacy and cybersecurity issues.