About

Ari Kaplan Advisors produces an annual market research report – E-Discovery Unfiltered: A Survey of Current Trends and Candid Perspectives – based on independent, anonymous interviews with 35 professionals responsible for e-discovery decision-making. In 2024, Ari Kaplan personally spoke with eight in-house lawyers, 13 in-house legal professionals, eight law firm partners, and six law firm litigation support leaders about vendor management trends and their direct impressions of the following 27* companies:

Beacon Hill Staffing Cellebrite Consilio Disco Epiq Everlaw Evolver Legal Services Exterro FTI	Haystack Hire Counsel Innovative Driven Integreon KLDiscovery Legalpeople Level Legal Lighthouse Lineal	Magnet/Grayshift ModeOne Nuix OpenText Purpose Legal Relativity Repario Reveal UnitedLex

2024 E Discovery Unfiltered Report COVER

In the field of eDiscovery, Ari Kaplan needs no introduction. And, among those who value industry research that represents the unfiltered views of eDiscovery influencers and decision-makers, Ari Kaplan Advisors’ annual E-Discovery Unfiltered Survey is a welcome and refreshingly readable report that provides actionable intelligence for defensible decisions on vendors and issues in the eDiscovery ecosystem.

-Rob Robinson, (Complex Discovery, May 13, 2018)

84% of the research participants manage e-discovery software and service providers, 83% develop and implement e-discovery processes, and 80% select e-discovery tools and vendors. 71% implement e-discovery tools, 69% develop and implement document review workflows, 66% manage the e-discovery budget, and 43% are responsible for hiring contract attorneys and temporary professionals.

Of the 21 respondents from corporations, five are in technology, three are in energy and utilities, three are in insurance, two are in healthcare, two are in pharmaceuticals, two are in retail, and one each is in banking and credit, consulting, food and agriculture, and telecommunications.

71% work for corporations with revenues exceeding $10 billion, and 100% for companies that generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue. 86% work in organizations with more than 10,000 employees. All eight partners work for large law firms and serve as primary e-discovery counsel. All six of the litigation support leaders similarly work in large law firms.

Critical concerns in this year’s discussions included generative AI in e-discovery, developing appropriate guardrails for using generative AI in e-discovery, greater adoption of TAR, automation over human work, navigating fractured privacy regulations, Microsoft 365, the proliferation of data and new file types, redefining custodians, and self-service e-discovery tools.

Together with tracking trends, Ari Kaplan Advisors prepares individual reports for subscribing vendors, providing detailed insights from their target customer base along with a comprehensive SWOT analysis to help guide their sales and marketing initiatives.

*The list of vendors under review is not meant to be comprehensive, and the inclusion of a company in the discussion is not designed to indicate any market position. A primary purpose of the report is to provide the companies who invest in its content with direct insight into their businesses and an overview of their competitive landscape. A more expansive compilation of providers is available here.

PRINCIPAL ANALYST

Ari Kaplan, a leading legal industry analyst, is an inaugural Fastcase 50 honoree, a College of Law Practice Management fellow, and a finalist for ILTA’s Thought Leader of the Year award. His second book, Reinventing Professional Services: Building Your Business in the Digital Marketplace (Wiley, 2011), was also released in Japanese (Akishobo, 2012), and West Academic published the second edition of The Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development in 2016.

He is the principal researcher for a variety of widely distributed benchmarking reports and has also been the keynote speaker for events in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and throughout the U.S. Kaplan is also the founder of the Lawcountability business development platform, a finalist for ILTA’s Innovative Solution Provider of the Year award, and a two-time Ironman triathlon finisher.

Photo credit: Tori Soper

WHO HAS USED OUR RESEARCH?

FEEDBACK

“Candid opinions regarding service delivery are often hard to come by in the ALSP [alternative legal service provider] space and Ari Kaplan Advisors is able to consistently elicit valuable insights from the market and aggregate them into a digestible format. That detailed feedback has become a foundational element for critical, introspective conversation amongst our leadership team and as Integreon continues to seek ways to innovate and meet client needs, we rely on the work product that Ari Kaplan Advisors provides.”

Jamie Berry, Former Executive Vice President for Litigation Services, Integreon

“We found the unbiased input in E-Discovery Unfiltered a very valuable complement to our in-house customer surveys.”

Steve Schley, Former VP of Marketing, Kroll Ontrack

“We have participated in the annual E-Discovery Unfiltered report for several years and it continues to give us valuable unbiased insights that are difficult to obtain from other sources. This data helps us create content and hone our messaging, and even prioritize product development for the market as we actively work to solve difficult challenges faced by current and future clients.”

James Lasson, Director of Marketing, Casepoint

“The annual E-Discovery Unfiltered report from Ari Kaplan Advisors is one of the most valuable business intelligence resources available for legal professionals and e-discovery customers. For 2020, Ari examines 29 companies and goes under the hood with the legal teams who practice e-discovery and use e-discovery tools so as the name implies, it is an unfiltered, unabridged analysis because people tell Ari things they don’t tell the rest of the world.”

David Horrigan, Discovery Counsel and Legal Education Director, Relativity

“Ari’s report was extremely valuable for helping us even better understand how we’re perceived in the market, and what else we could be doing to meet the needs of both customers and non-customers alike. It provided the kind of transparency and insight you get from candid face-to-face conversations-and that’s the best kind of feedback you could hope for.”

Shawn Gaines, Former Director of Marketing Communications, Relativity

“The insights we gained from this report – confirming things we believed to be true and highlighting a couple of things to which we needed to devote a bit more thought – were instrumental in helping us achieve strong growth during this past fiscal year.”

Bill Piwonka, Chief Marketing Officer, Exterro Inc.

“AI’s rapid growth and the surge in data volumes are poised to transform e-discovery. This research offers insights into how professionals in e-discovery are embracing AI, as well as their related strategies, challenges, successes, and future plans.”

Peter Callaghan, Chief Revenue Officer, Pagefreezer

“The world of e-discovery is fast-paced and innovative, necessitating outside-in feedback to ensure we are addressing the needs of the market accurately, which is why for several years, we have come to value the unbiased viewpoints that Ari Kaplan Advisors is able to bring to our attention. While Ari’s research successfully blends quantitative and qualitative results, we are always impressed at the depth of feedback he receives and feel it is second to none.”

Andrew Nester, Former Chief Marketing Officer, Nuix

“2023 was our first year taking part in the E-Discovery Unfiltered report and we really appreciated the in-depth approach to finding out what is on the minds of those who are leading e-discovery and legal technology in corporate legal departments and law firms. The report contains great strategic insights that allow companies in the legal technology and services space to gain a competitive edge.”

Nicole Thompson , Senior Director of Growth, Onna

“For the past two years, I have used the E-Discovery Unfiltered report as a strategic guide, helping to influence decision making in our business. The report is an efficient and cost-effective tool for us to gain insight into current market trends and candid perceptions that have directly influenced our business plans and investments. What I find most valuable is that Ari Kaplan takes the report deeper than most market research by adding recommendations for next steps, helping to turn the results into actionable intelligence.”

Lori Tyler, Former Vice President of Global Marketing, AccessData

REPORT TYPES

STANDARD

The report includes the unfiltered impressions of your company, a rating on a 1-10 scale, and a ranking against your chosen competitors. It also features a SWOT-style analysis of key competitors, a description of your leadership position, the perception of your pricing, and other details to help tailor a marketing strategy based on industry trends, and a follow-up call (up to 60-min) with Ari Kaplan to address key concerns related to perceptions of your competitors and suggestions for improving your market position.

PREMIUM

Includes the Standard report, plus: (1) Ten 30-minute monthly strategy sessions to help develop programs at industry events or webinars based on the research, evaluate the sponsor’s marketing strategy, and offer suggestions for future initiatives; (2) a Reinventing Professionals podcast interview to discuss the impressions and trends found in the report; (3) an audiogram to promote the podcast discussion; (4) a 10-minute split-screen video interview; and (5) a customized and branded mini-report.

PRO

Includes the Standard report and the Premium features, plus: (1) a 60-minute webinar about the industry trends outlined in the report; (2) a Reinventing Professionals podcast transcript for publication; and, (3) a 60-minute Zoom call or webinar with the sponsor’s sales team to discuss market shifts and new opportunities to connect with prospects.

UNFILTERED SALES TRAINING

E-Discovery Unfiltered founder, Ari Kaplan, has conducted hundreds of interviews with buyers of legal and e-discovery services over the past decade. Through these conversations, he has observed an incredible evolution in the way that they consume content, interact with sales professionals, and engage in collaborative decision-making.

The E-Discovery Unfiltered report tracks the impressions of leading vendors in the legal technology and e-discovery sector to provide actionable insights on how to gain market share and adapt to emerging trends. Through this research, Ari Kaplan personally advises individuals and their organizations on how to implement leading strategies to earn a competitive advantage. The Unfiltered Sales Training series is designed to give those who are charged with connecting their product or service to law department leaders and law firm partners practical ideas for raising their profiles and creating meaningful sales opportunities.

From social media engagement and content creation to interdisciplinary collaboration and outreach timing techniques, e-discovery and legal technology sales professionals will learn proven strategies for encouraging prospects to take their calls, fueling productive follow-up, and ultimately converting contacts into clients. Training sessions are available in one-hour, half-day, and full-day programs, with individual coaching sessions included as needed.

90-Minutes

Boost your business development potential by building your brand and reaching the people you want to meet most in this engaging and interactive presentation that leverages findings from the E-Discovery Unfiltered report to tailor the messaging to the legal technology and e-discovery market. Attendees will learn how to successfully cultivate long-term professional relationships by employing technology to raise their profiles, strengthen connections to leading individuals, and reach out to key prospects, including cross-selling colleagues and referral sources. From social media and content creation to public presentations and dynamic follow-up, participants will immediately be able to apply proven techniques for standing out and reinventing their businesses.

Half-Day

This session expands on the one-hour presentation by applying key strategies and impressions from the E-Discovery Unfiltered reports to support attendees in creating comprehensive business development plans. Participants will learn how to identify target prospects, including employees and organizations, draft correspondence and content that appeals to their audience, and enhance their productivity. The discussion also provides practical ideas on how individuals and organizations can take advantage of industry conferences, webinars, live programs, and other events. Half-day attendees will also have full access to the popular Lawcountability business development software platform and iPhone app for six months following the program.

Full-Day

In addition to the half-day curriculum, program participants will meet with the instructor in small groups and individually to identify specific concerns, outline a schedule of follow-up activities, and build accountability into their operations. Full-day attendees will also have complete access to the popular Lawcountability business development software platform and iPhone app for one year following the program.

CONTACT US

Address : 576 Fifth Avenue, Suite 903 , New York, NY 10036
Phone : (646) 641-0600
E-mail : Ari@AriKaplanAdvisors.com