Proportionality analysis applies the Rule 26(b)(1) factors to electronic discovery, assessing data volumes, collection and review cost, the availability of the information from other sources, and its importance to the issues.
It supports limiting scope, shifting cost, or declining production of inaccessible sources.
Alternative Names:
ESI Proportionality, Proportionality Assessment
Why it Matters?
Proportionality arguments succeed when supported by numbers and fail when asserted generally. The components courts respond to are custodian counts, data volumes in gigabytes, projected review hours at a stated rate, and vendor estimates for processing and hosting. Assembling those figures requires the data map and volume estimates that many organizations lack, which is why the argument is unavailable to parties who never mapped their environment.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What makes a proportionality argument succeed?
Why can some parties not make the argument?
