Litigation costs are particularly hard to control.  Among the reasons for this are the costs of discovery, particularly electronic discovery.  Litigation discovery is a contentious process by which one party may request information from another party.  The scope of information which may be requested includes anything that may lead to relevant information.  Documents, including electronically stored documents, may be requested in this way, formal questions may be posed in writing and individuals may be deposed.    This process is costly, and may also require much time and attention of those involved in carrying on the business of the company.

 

Even apart from discovery, litigation generally tends to be time consuming and unpredictable.  These factors are exacerbated by the emotionalism generated when significant business interests are involved and the natural contentiousness of adverse parties escalates over time.  Common sense, as well as cost management, dictates that for cost control organization and a litigation management plan is valuable. 

 

Key terms for a litigation plan may include defining at the outset what is win for your case.  A win will be defined by your business objectives and should be clear at the outset of the litigation.  Defining roles of key participants at the company within the litigation.  For example, an individual within a company’s IT department will be crucial during the e-discovery phase of litigation.  Another part of the litigation plan is determining a budget for managing costs, and conducting meetings on a periodic basis with counsel to review.  A plan may contain an agreement when the budgeted costs are exceeded or strategy dictates an alternative route not previously accounted for in the plan.    

 

While many barriers to cost effective litigation management cannot be ignored, there remains a view that logic can be imposed to at least limit the unpredictable and sometimes unjustifiable cost of litigation.  See RatnerPrestia Litigation Team.

 

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