That's not only expensive, but also could mean paying repeatedly for the same set of data which, itself, is so inflated with the irrelevant that only one bit in 20 is relevant to a particular case, according to John Palumbo, senior litigation support manager for law firm Foley Hoag, LLP in Boston. Foley Hoag specializes in clients in technology, banking, pharmaceuticals and other highly regulated, data-heavy industries.

Palumbo, a records-management specialist with a knack for information technology, despite a traditional gulf between IT and records managers, runs what amounts to an internal service bureau at Foley Hoag.

Most initial internal searches net far more data than they should, plus repeat work almost certainly done for the last lawsuit, he says.

"Doing it the same way twice means just paying twice to collect the same non-relevant data," he says.

It's unusual for Palumbo to deal with a client that isn't coming in with huge files -- 100GB, 200GB -- and paying Foley Hoag to filter through them.