In the winter of 2021, eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey more than 50 participants chose to answer at least one of the optional business operational metric survey questions in the quarterly survey. 31.5% of survey respondents reported Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) as increasing in the winter of 2021. This is an incremental increase approaching 10% from the 21.9% reporting DSO as increasing in the fall of 2020. It is also the highest percentage of respondents reporting DSO as increasing since the introduction of business operational metric questions to the eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey in the winter of 2019.
A Lifting of the Fog? Winter 2021 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey Results
This is the twenty-first quarterly eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey conducted by ComplexDiscovery. It is also the fourth time the survey has been conducted during the current pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to alter life as we know it. It also continues to alter the business landscape of everyone in the eDiscovery ecosystem. 2,332 individual responses have been received from legal, business, and technology professionals across the eDiscovery ecosystem since the inception of the survey. 60 respondents shared their opinions as part of the most recent survey.
eDiscovery Mergers, Acquisitions, and Investments in 2020
Since beginning to track the number of publicly highlighted merger, acquisition, and investment (M&A+I) events in the eDiscovery ecosystem, ComplexDiscovery has noted at least 453 M&A+I events between November 2001 and December 2020. In considering M&A+I events in 2020, the following findings, drivers, data points, and tracking charts may be useful for understanding the activity patterns of these business events between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020.
Closing Fast? A Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Transaction Update (December 2020)
As highlighted in the July 9, 2020, blog post from the FTC, increased interest in levels of M&A activity has warranted that the Bureau of Competition’s Premerger Notification Office (PNO) share the monthly figures for Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act filings. This increased activity can be seen in the strong HSR reported transaction numbers for December 2020. December had 192 reported transactions, the highest number of monthly reported transactions in any December between FY 2010 and FY 2021.
Relativity Acquires VerQu
According to Relativity CEO Mike Gamson, “It’s imperative that the legal and compliance industries stay ahead of and evolve with the changing nature of work in organizations globally. Enterprise communications will continue to shift rapidly and scale from traditional channels like email toward chat and collaboration platforms. That’s why Relativity is committed to investing in technology that connects directly to native cloud data sources for surveillance and e-discovery workflows, evolving the data paradigm from documents to include conversations.”
A Unicorn Unleashed? X-Road® 7 Beta Version Released
X-Road® implements a set of standard features to support and facilitate data exchange and ensures confidentiality, integrity, and interoperability between data exchange parties. Recently the Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS) highlighted the beta version release of X-Road 7 Security Server software.
DISCO Closes Funding Round of $100 Million
According to DISCO CEO Kiwi Camara, “Legaltech is booming now, and the industry’s real growth has only just begun. Over the next five to 10 years, legaltech will emerge as the next high-growth category of enterprise software. We are delighted to see investors acknowledge DISCO’s position as the category creator and category leader for legaltech. Legal departments and law firms are embracing the power of artificial intelligence to automate away the parts of the practice of law that don’t require human legal judgment, freeing great lawyers to do the work that only they can do.”
High Five? An Aggregate Overview of Five Semi-Annual eDiscovery Pricing Surveys
As we are in the midst of a pandemic that has dramatically influenced the eDiscovery ecosystem, we are still seeking to understand the pandemic’s impact on pricing economics. With the need for this understanding in mind, the aggregated results of five semi-annual eDiscovery Pricing Surveys conducted by ComplexDiscovery may be helpful for discovery professionals as they consider pricing sentiment, trends, and trajectories through the lens of the past with an eye toward the future.
Off to the Races? A Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Transaction Update (November 2020)
As highlighted in the July 9, 2020, blog post from the FTC, increased interest in levels of M&A activity has warranted that the Bureau of Competition’s Premerger Notification Office (PNO) share the monthly figures for Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act filings. This increased activity can be seen in the strong HSR reported transaction numbers for November 2020. November had 424 reported transactions, the highest number of monthly reported transactions in any month between FY 2010 and FY 2021.
Balancing Relevance and Reality? Winter 2021 eDiscovery Pricing Survey Results
Based on the complexity of data and legal discovery, it is a continual challenge to fully understand what is representative of industry-standard pricing for the delivery of eDiscovery products and services. With this challenge in mind, the semi-annual eDiscovery Pricing Survey is designed to provide insight into eDiscovery pricing through the lens of 12 specific pricing questions answered by legal, business, security, and information professionals operating in the eDiscovery ecosystem. The winter 2021 survey was open from November 21, 2020, until December 3, 2020, and had 79 respondents share their understanding of current pricing for selected eDiscovery services.