How can electronic discovery costs be shared between relevant parties (cost shifting)? How costs be reduced?
• Identify, preserving, collecting, reviewing, and producing electronic data can be extraordinarily expensive, particularly if the needs of the matter require discovery of relatively inaccessible data, such as data stored on backup tapes. Ordinarily, each party bears its own discovery costs; however, some courts have ordered discovery costs shifted in whole or in part where the requesting party seeks particularly burdensome discovery. See, e.g. Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC, 217 F.R.D. 309, 317-324 (S.D. N.Y. 2003) (setting forth methodology for determining whether cost-shifting is appropriate). • In terms of cost reduction, organizations can employ a variety of techniques before and during litigation in order to reduce the costs of complying with discovery. Prior to the beginning of litigation, an effective and reasonably document management program can help ensure that the organization does not accumulate data it does not need. If data not otherwise subject to preservation obligations
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