E-discovery demand is likely to bounce back from the current recession, but who meets that demand, and just how contentious and difficult the work is, may be markedly different from pre-COVID days. In the Legaltech News article “Brave New World: 5 Ways COVID-19 is Changing E-Discovery,” Vanessa Barsanti provides insight on the decrease of discovery fights during COVID-19.

E-discovery practitioners have heard the message loud and clear: With a global pandemic causing unprecedented economic and social disruption, now is not the time for trivial squabbles.  “I think there is an opportunity to reach more agreement with the other side.  I think at least right now people are a little hesitant to file motions to compel or write discovery letters to the court [or] ask for court intervention when there are so many crisis issues in the world,” Vanessa Barsanti, partner at e-discovery boutique Redgrave, told Legaltech News.

When a court does intervene, however, it may not be as patient as it was in pre-COVID days.  “We’ve seen some pretty serious crackdown opinions from courts on what might be perceived as more petty issues and a kind of parental scolding of, ‘Go work this out and come back to me if you can’t,’” Barsanti added.

Read the full Legaltech News article here.