eDiscovery is an unavoidable part of modern litigation and regulatory response, but for many corporate legal teams, it’s also an uncontrollable cost center.
What starts as a straightforward matter can quickly spiral into six- or seven-figure discovery bills. And often, the most significant portion of that spend is attributed to reactive workflows, inefficient collaboration with outside counsel, or late-stage data surprises that could have been mitigated earlier in the process.
It’s a classic case of “sunk cost,” and unless legal departments change how they approach discovery, they’ll continue to absorb unnecessary costs without achieving better outcomes.
Why In-House Teams Overpay for eDiscovery
Many in-house legal departments rely on outside counsel to “handle eDiscovery”, and that typically means outside counsel’s preferred vendors, processes, and pricing. While that may feel efficient, it often leaves the corporate team with:
All of this leads to increased spend and decreased control. Even worse, eDiscovery costs often show up as a surprise on invoices, long after key budget decisions have been made.
When litigation budgets are tight and legal departments are under pressure to do more with less, eDiscovery should be a process you control, not one that controls your budget.
Treating eDiscovery Like a Strategic Business Function
Forward-thinking legal departments are shifting their mindset. Rather than treating eDiscovery as a pass-through expense or a service managed solely by outside counsel, they’re creating repeatable internal workflows that reduce both spend and risk.
Many are building internal playbooks that align processes across teams, documenting vendor selection criteria, leveraging the same platforms across cases, and retaining matter knowledge in-house.
I’ve been working on something similar and recently wrote an eBook, “Your Biggest Corporate Legal Cost Isn't eDiscovery”. It outlines a defensible, budget-conscious approach to build institutional knowledge across matters, create cost-predictable workflows, and collaborate more effectively with outside counsel.
When legal teams start treating discovery as a business function that is backed by technology and expertise, they eliminate the wasted costs that come from starting from scratch every time.
The First Step is Awareness
Sunk costs don’t come from poor decisions, they come from invisible decisions. The moment corporate legal teams own some of the eDiscovery strategy, they gain clarity on what's working, what's not, and where dollars are being lost.
If you’re ready to get out of the sunk cost cycle, we invite you to download our free eBook, Your Biggest Corporate Legal Cost Isn't eDiscovery. It’s packed with practical steps you can take today to bring strategy, efficiency, and transparency to your discovery process.
**This post is an updated version of one we previously published, The Sunk Costs of eDiscovery, updated specifically for in-house legal teams looking to reduce risk and take control of their litigation strategy.