The Hidden Costs of eDiscovery and How AI Can Help

The legal industry faces a critical challenge: the volume of documents in modern litigation has exploded, but traditional review methods haven't kept pace.

The True Cost of Traditional eDiscovery

Law firms typically pay between $1.50 and $2.00 per document for human review. For a case involving 2 million documents, that's $3-4 million in review costs alone. Add in the time factor—manual review can take months—and the total cost becomes astronomical.

Breaking Down the Costs

• Document processing: $0.25-0.50 per page
• Manual review: $1.50-2.00 per document
• Quality control: Additional 15-20%
• Project management: 10-15% overhead

The AI Alternative

Star AI eDiscovery uses advanced natural language processing to review documents at a fraction of the cost: just $0.10 per document. More importantly, AI review is faster (days instead of months) and often more accurate than human review for routine categorization.

Case Study: Texas Law Firm

A mid-sized Texas law firm reduced their per-document cost from $1.75 to $0.10, saving $190,000 on a single case. The AI system processed 2 million documents in 3 days—a task that would have taken their team 6 months.

The Bottom Line

AI doesn't replace lawyers; it empowers them to focus on strategic work instead of tedious document review. The cost savings are immediate, and the competitive advantage is significant.