New service concept in e-discovery technology emerges.

• Position: E-DISCOVERY

As e-discovery technology moves beyond litigation into the realm investigation, the volume of data continues to grow, making it difficult for many corporate legal departments to keep up. They are searching for a solution that is agile, up-to-date, and economical--a solution that provides control over their data, said Lynn Frances, a legal technology analyst, in her recent article in Metropolitan Corporate Counsel.

Historically, legal departments that wanted to maintain tight control over their data have kept it in-house. Some built such large litigation support departments that they could have been fully operational e-discovery services companies. When technology wasn't changing as quickly, the in-house model was a valid option for those that could afford the up-front investment, according to Frances.

Predictably, the do-it-yourself (DIY) solution wasn't viable for smaller organizations that couldn't afford the investment in technology and personnel or that chose to focus on their core business. They chose outsourcing as the solution.

In the outsourcing model, corporations relinquished control of their data, workflow, and protocol to outside counsel and e-discovery service providers. "Unless they established their own case-tracking and analysis systems in-house, general counsel, whose cases were spread among various service providers, lacked the business intelligence...