From Cost Center to Profit, Client Loyalty and Growth Driver: The Rise of Managed Discovery Centers
In today’s legal landscape, the complexity of litigation, investigations, and regulatory response is growing—but so is the opportunity to transform how firms deliver value. Law firms are increasingly turning to managed services discovery centers led by providers like Lineal to not only reduce costs and operational friction but to reimagine how legal services are deployed, scaled, and monetized.
The Original Architects of the Discovery Center Model
Lineal’s heritage in designing and operating discovery centers of excellence is unmatched. Our leadership team pioneered the Litigation Support Managed Services industry as the architects of Iris Data Services—where we were the first to introduce Relativity to the market as a managed service in 2010. This groundbreaking approach changed how law firms engage with technology, enabling scalable, efficient, and defensible discovery long before it became standard practice.
Many of today’s largest and most respected law firms trace their managed services strategies—and their internal litigation support models—back to the foundations laid by our team. That legacy continues at Lineal, where we’ve carried forward the same innovation-first mindset into the cloud era. We are now the fastest-growing and largest global provider of RelativityOne, bringing next-generation solutions to Am Law 200 firms as part of hybrid managed services programs that blend deep process expertise with world-class technology infrastructure.
From Project Chaos to a Center of Excellence
Most firms juggle multiple eDiscovery workflows across various matters, often relying on ad hoc processes and fragmented vendor relationships. A managed services discovery center replaces this fragmentation with centralized control. Lineal builds and operates dedicated discovery centers for law firms that serve as process-driven, tech-enabled engines for consistent, repeatable performance—delivering faster turnaround times, higher accuracy, and lower overhead.
Flexible Partnership Models Built for the Way You Work
Every firm has different internal capabilities, comfort levels with technology, and strategic priorities. That’s why Lineal offers a spectrum of partnership models—from fully hands-off to fully managed. On one end, we provide the best self-serve model in the industry – RelativityOne, evidence and storage management tools, security, and award-winning Amplify™ tools so that your internal team has everything they need to do be a world class services organization. On the other, we can manage the entire discovery operation—including technology, workflows, review management, and reporting—acting as a seamless extension of your practice support team.
Most firms opt for a hybrid model, co-developed with Lineal to strike the right balance of control, transparency, and efficiency. Whether you’re looking to maintain full ownership or completely offload the function, Lineal adapts to the operating model that best aligns with your business goals.
Tailored to the Client, Built to Scale
One of the most powerful benefits of a managed discovery center is its ability to create case- and client-specific workflows. No two clients are alike, and Lineal’s model ensures that each client’s data needs, review sensitivities, and compliance requirements are accounted for and codified into custom workflows. This deepens client relationships by embedding their unique needs into the legal service infrastructure—an advantage that is both strategic and sticky.
Digital Transformation—Accelerated
Legal departments and law firms alike are under pressure to innovate—but transformation often stalls due to complexity or cost. Lineal’s discovery centers bring transformation to the doorstep, integrating AI-powered workflows, analytics, and automation without the need for long procurement cycles or steep learning curves. New technologies are embedded seamlessly and tested in real-time within the discovery center environment, empowering firms to modernize without disruption.
Evergreen Technology—No Capital Expense
Building internal infrastructure for discovery means constant upkeep, version control, and hardware purchases. A managed center flips that model. With Lineal, law firms benefit from an evergreen tech stack that includes RelativityOne, custom tools from the Lineal Amplify™ suite, and integrations with advanced AI—without purchasing or maintaining any of it. The result: continuous innovation with no capital outlay.
Cost Efficiency That Can Scale—Or Generate Profit
Law firms that operate managed services discovery centers with Lineal often realize more than just operational savings—they unlock strategic flexibility. For some firms, the center becomes a cost-neutral recovery model, allowing them to deliver advanced discovery services to clients more efficiently, transparently, and predictably. This enhances client value while minimizing the financial burden on the firm.
Others choose to go further—transforming the operation into a tech-enabled, revenue-generating practice group. By internalizing services such as analytics, AI workflows, privilege review, and document analysis, firms can offer these capabilities as high-value offerings, billed back at competitive rates. Whether you’re aiming to recover costs or build a new profit center, Lineal provides the infrastructure and expertise to make it happen.
Over time, these models not only reduce reliance on outside vendors but can directly drive revenue growth and increase profit per partner (PPP)—creating a more modern, scalable legal services model that benefits both clients and the firm’s financial performance.
Security That Matches the Stakes
Data security is no longer a backend issue—it’s central to every litigation and investigation. Lineal’s infrastructure meets the highest standards for information governance, privacy, and data protection. Built on secure cloud environments and governed by best-in-class protocols, the discovery center ensures that your clients’ most sensitive data stays protected and fully auditable.
Institutional Memory for Every Client
Knowledge retention is often a missed opportunity in the discovery process. With tools like Lineal’s Memory Bank, the discovery center becomes a vault for institutional knowledge—capturing search terms, privilege decisions, key actors, and document classifications across matters. This intelligence is preserved and reused, making each future project faster, smarter, and less expensive.
Faster. Smarter. More Loyal.
At its core, a Lineal-led discovery center is a strategic legal asset. It accelerates legal service delivery, reduces total cost of ownership, improves profitability, and embeds innovation into your firm’s DNA. More importantly, it enables deeper partnerships with clients by making their priorities your process.
With a legacy that helped shape the industry and a future built on cloud-native innovation, Lineal is uniquely positioned to help your firm build a discovery program that’s more than just operational—it’s transformational. Let’s build the next generation of legal service together.
Want to see how Lineal’s modern managed services model scales legal operations and drives real transformation? Explore how top firms are making the shift.
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About Lineal
Lineal is an innovative eDiscovery and legal technology solutions company that empowers law firms and corporations with modern data management and review strategies. Established in 2009, Lineal specializes in comprehensive eDiscovery services, leveraging its proprietary technology suite, Amplify™ to enhance efficiency and accuracy in handling large volumes of electronic data. With a global presence and a team of experienced professionals, Lineal is dedicated to delivering custom-tailored solutions that drive optimal legal outcomes for its clients. For more information, visit lineal.com