Legal document review platforms can get expensive because small, early decisions accumulate into larger ones later. When teams collect too much data or review the wrong documents, costs increase. Teams can use technology early to prevent unnecessary expenses.
It's no surprise that legal document review costs a lot of money. Most legal teams understand this. What they don't realize is why it's so expensive.
Many legal teams assume the size of the case or quality standards dictate the price. The real issue is actually a series of small decisions turning into big bills later on.
Controlling cost means teams taking their time instead of rushing. This doesn't mean they should skip steps or lower their overall quality. It just means teams should decide the best place to channel their efforts while eliminating work that does nothing to move the case forward, especially once eDiscovery is involved.
1. Scope Early and Stick to It
Over-collection is one of the quickest ways to exceed a review budget. Teams are notorious for collecting items "just in case," which only results in reviewing documents that are never used. Team members are afraid of missing something important, so they pull everything.
This includes:
- All mailboxes
- All drives
- All dates
To avoid this, teams should focus on date ranges tied to actual events. They should also choose custodians based on involvement, not just job title.
Targeted data sources are also ideal. Once these guidelines are in place, they have to be enforced.
Scope creep is real, and it might not feel expensive when it's happening. Weeks later is when the real cost shows up, often during early case assessment.
2. Reduce the Data Before People Ever See It
Removing documents before review saves money. Reviewers should never be the first ones to clean data. By applying data deduplication early, the slow and expensive cost of removing duplicates later is avoided.
This also allows teams using eDiscovery platforms to shrink review volume before it reaches human reviewers. Reviewers spend time reviewing documents that actually matter.
3. Use Review Tiers Instead of Treating Everything as High Risk
Documents don't all deserve the same attention. When they're treated the same, it wastes time and costs money. Instead:
- Have a first-level review for basic relevance
- Impose a second-level review for privilege or sensitive issues
- Create focused quality checks only on higher-risk material
This approach prevents over-review from racking up bills and works well across most legal document review platforms.
4. Calibrate Reviewers Early So Decisions Stay Consistent
Hidden costs often lie within inconsistent review decisions. This is because reviewers tend to interpret issues differently.
From there, escalations can occur or re-review may be required. All of this costs money.
Be sure to have the following guidelines in place:
- Clear issue definitions
- Real examples of what is in and out
- Discussion of edge cases
- Fast feedback early in the project
When teams take a few hours to align reviewers, they can save costs over time, regardless of the discovery platform being used.
5. Use Technology to Prioritize, Not Just Store Documents
Reviewers should have access to the most relevant documents first. This helps them learn faster and understand patterns. This also improves scope decisions.
Some helpful tools include:
- Email threading
- Communication mapping
- Search-driven workflows
- Basic relevance ranking
When reviewers access key documents early, teams can use batch data processing and data batching to refine scope. From there, they avoid reviewing material of little value.
6. Match Reviewer Skill Level to the Task
When the wrong people do the wrong work, things become expensive. For example, senior reviewers should not tag low-risk documents. Junior reviewers should not handle complex privilege decisions on their own.
Specialists should not review routine material. All of this wastes expertise and costs money. Instead, lower-cost reviewers should handle simple work, and complex decisions should be escalated.
Specialists should focus on areas where judgment matters, especially when supported by legal eDiscovery software.
7. Reduce Turnover and Prevent Re-Review
Re-review is arguably one of the most expensive problems in document review. It adds up quickly. Some common causes include:
- Instructions changing mid-review
- Poor documentation of decisions
- Reviewers not aligned on issues
To prevent this, lock protocols before scaling, always write decisions down clearly, track changes to scope or other issues, and communicate updates consistently across the eDiscovery food chain. This type of stability saves teams money and time, no matter which eDiscovery platforms they rely on.
8. Measure Cost Per Decision, Not Just Document Volume
Reviewing 100,000 documents doesn't help teams if the majority of them weren't useful. Instead, focus on:
- Cost per reviewed document
- Cost per responsive document
- Consistency of reviewer speed
By tracking these numbers, teams can tell whether review effort is producing results or wasting time and money during legal document review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Faster Review Always Mean Lower Cost?
Not necessarily. Without structure in place, speed can lead to mistakes. This then leads to re-review, which costs money.
What Is the Role of Technology in Cost Management?
When used early, technology can help during scoping, filtering, and prioritization. When a team uses tools only after review starts, their value is often limited.
How Do You Know When to Stop Reviewing?
When the value of new documents drops below the cost to review them, it's best to stop. This means teams need to watch patterns instead of reviewing everything.
Is Sampling Defensible for Reducing Review Volume?
Yes, but it must be done deliberately. Teams should document everything properly and have clear goals in mind.
What Is the Average Document Review Speed?
On average, reviewers process about 60 documents per hour. This can go up or down depending on how complex the documents are and affect cost.
Cost Control on Legal Document Review Platforms
Reducing cost on legal document review platforms isn't about doing less work. It's about teams doing the right kind of work at the right time.
Although they may not realize it, team members have more control over cost than they think. Items like scope, staffing, workflow, and early decisions all play a significant role in sticking to a budget when working within modern eDiscovery environments.
To save time and money, Logikcull automatically deduplicates data. Teams benefit from bulk tagging and redaction features, preventing costly re-review. Schedule a demo to better understand how we help teams match effort to risk assessment.
