Plaintiffs in asymmetrical litigation can often force settlement by threatening to impose large discovery expenses on the defendant. Even in a meritless case, if a judge is willing to approve a low-cost settlement that pays the class counsel, both sides can find it profitable to settle rather than litigate. (Moreover, in a meritorious case, conducting unreasonably broad discovery can be a means to boost lodestar to rationalize larger fees when a court is evaluating a settlement agreement: the discovery is reviewed by low-paid associate attorneys with a highly profitable lodestar billing rate, and the class counsel then uses that figure to rationalize a disproportionate fee at the tail end of the case.)

In Boeynaems v. LA Fitness International, LLC, 2012 WL 3536306 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 16, 2012), the defendant faced onerous supplemental discovery requests after already producing substantial information. As Sean Wajert reports:

Judge Michael Baylson ruled that when class action plaintiffs request "very extensive discovery, compliance with which will be very expensive," plaintiffs typically should share defendant's discovery costs - at least until plaintiffs' certification motion has been filed and decided. ... "If the plaintiffs have confidence in their contention that the Court should certify the class, then the plaintiffs should have no objection to making an investment."

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