In-House E-Disclosure Teams Should Not Be Vilified

Cabo Concepts Ltd v MGA Entertainments (UK) Ltd & Another¹ has caused much agitation among litigators and e-disclosure professionals. Just three weeks before the start of the trial in this case, the defendants informed the court that they had missed approximately 84,000 documents² due to errors in the data collection process underlying their disclosure. This process had predominantly been carried out by the defendants' in-house IT team. The repercussions for the defendants were substantial: the trial was adjourned for over two years; the defendants were ordered to produce detailed evidence as to the cause of the failings; the disclosure exercise had to be redone with an independent e-disclosure provider; and the claimant was entitled to recover its costs thrown away on an indemnity basis.