Cost of Electronic Discovery Database Not Recoverable

The court rejected defendant's claim for more than $300,000 in costs for its electronic discovery database. "The court is sympathetic to the practical arguments advanced by [defendant]. In modern complex litigation, particularly patent litigation, the maintenance of an electronic database is a practical necessity. . . . Attorneys can no longer reasonably be expected to maintain thousands upon thousands of documents in paper form, and to manually process those documents during litigation. Any law firm that attempted to do so would soon find itself falling far behind its competition, as clients have come to expect the efficiency that modern technological conveniences provide. Unfortunately, however, the law does not always favor efficiency or practicality. . . . [T]his court is constrained by the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1920 when determining the costs that may be awarded to a prevailing party, and the Third Circuit has offered a thorough, reasonable, and persuasive interpretation of that statute."

Abbott Point of Care Inc. v. Epocal, Inc., 5-08-cv-00543 (ALND November 5, 2012, Order) (Smith, J.).