eDiscovery Daily Blog

• May 6, 2011

 

At eDiscoveryDaily, we try not to re-post articles or blog posts from other sources.  We may reference them, but we usually try to add some commentary or analysis to provide a unique spin on the topic.  However, I read a post Thursday on one of the better legal blogs out there – Ride the Lightning from Sharon Nelson – that was a guest post by Jim McGann, VP of Information Discovery at Index Engines that I thought was well done and good information for our readers.  Jim has been interviewed by eDiscoveryDaily here and here and always has terrific insight on ESI issues.  You can click here to read the post directly on Ride the Lightning or simply read below.

Law firms and corporations alike tend to keep data storage devices well beyond what their compliance requirements or business needs actually dictate.  These so-called “skeletons in the closet” pose a major problem when the entity gets sued or subpoenaed. All that dusty data is suddenly potentially discoverable. Legal counsel can be proactive and initiate responsible handling of this legacy data by defining a new, defensible information governance process.

1. Understand all data sources. The first choice when faced with an ESI collection is to look at current online network data. However, many other sources of email and files exist on corporate networks, sources that may be more defensible and even cost effective to collect from, including offsite storage typically residing on backup tapes. Tape as a collection source has been overlooked because it was historically difficult and expensive to collect from legacy backup tapes.
2. Get proactive with legal requirements. Defining what ESI data should be kept and placed on litigation hold and what can be purged are the first steps in a proactive strategy. These legal requirements will allow clients to put a policy in place to save specific content, certain custodians and intellectual property so that it is identifiable and ready for on demand discovery.
3. Understand technology limitations. Only use tools that index all the content, and don’t change any of the metadata. Some older search solutions compromise the indexing process, and this may come to haunt you in the end.
4. Become a policy expert. As new technology comes on the market, it tends to improve and strengthen the discovery process. Taking the time to understand technology trends allows you to stay one step ahead of the game and create a current defensible collection process and apply policy to it.

So, what do you think?  Do you have “skeletons” in your ESI closet?   Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.