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06 May 2010 / Costa Kypre
Issue: 7416 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Early birds

Early case assessment could take flight, says Costa Kypre

There was a lot of attention generated by early case assessment (ECA) when the concept first emerged. Now that some time has passed has ECA had a major impact on the UK market? One key area is whether it’s been an effective way to manage costs more efficiently and is it suitable for all cases or is it best utilised in certain circumstances when the criteria is right.
ECA has had an impact on the UK market but not to the extent that many had been initially expecting. The potential reason for this has been twofold. First, it seems that ECA is most effective in certain circumstances and may not always be the best course of action for every case.

Second, UK litigation tends to be completed in a more proportionate way than many US-led matters, therefore data tends to be collected in a more targeted manner and from a defined list of relevant sources. This ensures that the source data set can often be quite focused

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