Understanding how the courts and rulemakers have addressed the costs of discovery, including their allocation between the parties, provides important background and context for future recommendations. This report reviews the laws in the United States and other countries and provides examples of, and analogies to, various cost allocation models. We look to the various approaches for commonalities and lessons that can be learned, both at home and abroad.
One of the key takeaways is the importance of proportionality. Proportionality has become the axis around which the efforts to limit the expanding costs of civil litigation have rotated, both in the United States and abroad.
