RAND found a $1.8M median cost for large-company eDiscovery. 73% of that spend is document review alone. Here's the anatomy of that benchmark — and a clearly labeled modeled compression scenario.
The most rigorous public study of eDiscovery costs remains RAND's analysis of actual matter-level expenditures in large-company litigation.
Current benchmarks from the EDRM / ComplexDiscovery Summer 2025 pricing survey. These are what the market charges — before you add attorney time.
Enterprise eDiscovery was built for Fortune 500 litigation budgets. Most litigants don't have one.
An illustrative mid-complexity LLC dispute model at a CPG company. Multi-source collection across email, cloud storage, and financial platforms. Left-hand figures are modeled from public benchmarks; right-hand figures are self-reported actual deployment metrics.
Verified figures below link to citable sources. Modeled figures and self-reported deployment metrics are labeled as such.
| Claim | Figure | Source | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median cost to produce ESI | $1.8M | RAND, Where the Money Goes | 2012 | Verified |
| Review share of spend | 73% | RAND, Where the Money Goes | 2012 | Verified |
| Current processing rates | <$25/GB (43%) | EDRM / ComplexDiscovery | 2025 | Verified |
| Forensic collection rates | $250–350/hr (70%) | EDRM / ComplexDiscovery | 2025 | Verified |
| Hosting rates | <$10/GB/mo (56%) | EDRM / ComplexDiscovery | 2025 | Verified |
| TAR / predictive coding rates | <$75/GB (27%) | EDRM / ComplexDiscovery | 2025 | Verified |
| Managed review rates | $25–40/hr (53%) | EDRM / ComplexDiscovery | 2025 | Verified |
| Project management rates | $100–200/hr (51%) | EDRM / ComplexDiscovery | 2025 | Verified |
| Median partner rate (Large Law) | $991/hr | LexisNexis CounselLink | 2024 | Verified |
| Self-represented parties in civil cases | 75%+ | NCSC, Landscape of Civil Litigation | 2015 | Verified |
| Solo practitioner tool access | 27% | ABA, 2024 TechReport | 2024 | Verified |
| Small-firm tool access | 38% | ABA, 2024 TechReport | 2024 | Verified |
| Large-firm tool access | 73% | ABA, 2024 TechReport | 2024 | Verified |
| Global eDiscovery market | $16.89B | ComplexDiscovery | 2024 | Estimate |
| Traditional pipeline cost (mid-complexity) | $201K–$475K | Modeled from EDRM 2025 pricing + public large-law rate benchmarks | 2026 | Modeled |
| Traditional pipeline timeline (mid-complexity) | 6–14 weeks | Modeled from public timing benchmarks for mid-complexity matters | 2026 | Modeled |
| Acquit.ai deployment timeline | Under 3 weeks | Self-reported deployment metric | 2026 | Self-reported |
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