The Tension Between Convenience And Risk

Mark Chesher of Addleshaw Goddard recently shared a useful update that provided examples of e-disclosure mishaps that led to unfavorable outcomes for the parties to a dispute.

As these mistakes are not infrequent, it is useful for eDiscovery practitioners to understand the root cause of such issues, and what can be done to avoid them. A potential cause may be the increasing availability of software that transforms tasks that were previously complex and technical into automated, user-friendly processes.

The potentially significant downside of such innovation is if it lulls its users into a false sense of security, whereby they can complete a task without questioning whether the output it accurate. This tension is as old as technology itself; in sailing, for example, the convenience of GPS and a depth finder is undeniable, but relying on these tools exclusively will cause any skipper to run aground.