Nov. 4, 2009 (PR Newswire) -- NEW YORK, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN), the global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance their enterprise value, today announced the results of an FTI-funded study of in-house counsel and e-discovery professionals. The findings, as well as several tips from interviewees on how to control e-discovery costs, are available for download from FTI Technology and highlight many of the common steps companies have successfully taken to reduce the overall cost of e-discovery.

"Nearly three years after the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) were amended, many corporations have made great progress in implementing both short-term tactical and long-term strategic plans for e-discovery," said Adam Cohen, senior managing director of FTI Technology. "The study highlights specific e-discovery best practices in effect today at leading corporations, and can serve as a practical guide for all corporate counsel in targeting and improving this complex and costly process."

Among the findings:

--  Legal review: 72% of respondents cited legal review as the most
expensive phase of e-discovery, and gave numerous suggestions from
experience on how corporations could reduce costs.
--  Using fewer providers: 97% of respondents cited using fewer providers to
support the e-discovery process as one of the more important
considerations in the selection process.
--  Defensibility: The most important factor for selecting both software and
legal services was defensibility, with 62% naming it as a top factor in
selection of e-discovery software and 52% for legal services.
--  E-discovery vendor viability: Ahead of cost, corporate counsel
prioritized selecting a provider with long-term viability, given many
uncertainties in the rapidly evolving e-discovery market.