eDiscovery Daily Blog
Looking Back at Predictions That I Made Three Years Ago: eDiscovery Predictions Revisited
Sometimes, in addition to the many other resources that I use to look for blog post ideas, I like to look back at my old posts from the past to see if there’s a topic that warrants a fresh look. When I did that yesterday, I stumbled on two posts that comprised six eDiscovery predictions for 2014 that I wrote three years ago. I thought it might be fun to look back at those posts to see how those predictions fared.
Here are the six predictions that I made back then:
Prediction 1: Predictive coding technologies will become more integrated into the discovery process, for more than just review.
Prediction 2: The proposed amendments will be adopted, but it will be a struggle.
Prediction 3: The eDiscovery industry will continue to consolidate and many remaining providers will need to continue to reinvent themselves.
Prediction 4: Data security will be more of an emphasis than ever, yet we will continue to see more data breach stories than ever.
Prediction 5: Small to medium sized law firms will need to leverage virtual resources more than ever to compete.
Prediction 6: Educating attorneys on eDiscovery best practices will continue to be a slow, painful process.
Let’s take a look at them, one by one:
Prediction 1: Predictive coding technologies will become more integrated into the discovery process, for more than just review.
Well, we have all been perhaps a little optimistic and maybe a bit overzealous on the pace of adoption of predictive coding technology, maybe even more so with its application to other areas besides review. And, according to Gartner, machine learning (the technology behind predictive coding) is at the Peak of Inflated Expectations. So, we’re probably a bit behind where I thought we would be at this point.
Nonetheless, there have been strides. The Information Governance Initiative launched in February 2014 (after my predictions, I might note – I had no advance intel) with a mission of “sounding a call to arms that current information practices are unsustainable in our increasingly big data world, and that IG solutions exist that better leverage new technology and smart practices”. And, we’ve certainly seen a greater emphasis on data discovery recently (prior to litigation related legal discovery). So, it’s happening, just not as quickly as I expected.
Prediction 2: The proposed amendments will be adopted, but it will be a struggle.
As we know by now, the proposed amendments were adopted, in December 2015. That may seem like a no brainer now, but it wasn’t back at the beginning of 2014. There was lots of debate over controversial Rule 37(e), which addresses sanctions for spoliation. Eventually, Rule 37(e) was amended (not once, but twice) and the Rules amendments proceeded through the adoption process fairly smoothly the rest of the way. Now, “intent to deprive” is perhaps the key phrase to determine whether sanctions will be assessed (and, if so, how severely). So, I think I got that one right. :o)
Prediction 3: The eDiscovery industry will continue to consolidate and many remaining providers will need to continue to reinvent themselves.
Are you kidding me? This one has clearly come to pass. According to my calculations (from Rob Robinson’s list of mergers, acquisitions and investments on Complex Discovery), there have been 110 transactions since the start of 2014 (sure, some of them are investments, but there are a lot of acquisitions and mergers as well). Here are a few names that have been acquired or merged over that time: Applied Discovery, Recommind, Huron Legal, Orange Legal Technologies, Content Analyst, D4, Daegis, Kiersted Systems, Brainspace, Equivio, EQD and Kroll Ontrack.
As for the reinventing themselves, the automation revolution in eDiscovery is clearly forcing some providers to change their focus toward SaaS automation. OK, maybe it seems like this was an easy one to predict, but in 2014, not everyone was seeing a clear trend toward consolidation in the industry. I don’t hear anybody debating that point today.
That was so fun that I think I’ll save the last three predictions for tomorrow! Stay tuned.
So, what do you think? Has eDiscovery evolved like you thought it would? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.
Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.