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by mag3737

How to Optimize Your eDiscovery Search

Simply put, eDiscovery, or electronic discovery, is finding and turning out electronic information to support events like investigations, audits or litigation. The first step performed by an attorney or someone connected to the eDiscovery process is to commence with an eDiscovery search. An optimized eDiscovery search can assist substantially in early case assessments. The right kind of tool equipped with the right kind of search features will permit a rock solid and collaborative eDiscovery search process, thereby enabling you to cull only relevant information. Ensure that your eDiscovery tool is equipped with elements such as:

·         Ability to provide search preview
Your eDiscovery tool should equip you with complete visibility into matching keywords even before you run a search. It should allow you to select relevant variations, add pertinent documents or even remove irrelevant documents from your search results.

·         Robust search filter
The eDiscovery search tool should enable real-time results which means it should have a filtering system that allows for individual queries or variations and allows users to sample and evaluate the effectiveness of their search.

·         Create comprehensive search report
The tool must help in the creation of a comprehensive report that includes all search criteria and provide detailed analytical results for both the overall search and the individual queries within the search. It should be able to track the terms that were included or excluded during the search preview, thus ensuring there is a defensible audit trail.

·         Ability to run enormous numbers of queries simultaneously
The eDiscovery search tool must be able to run large quantities of queries simultaneously and also provide reports for overall searches as well as for individual queries. The results need to be provided within minutes, not days.

·         Enable advanced search
If the data you are looking for is not found, the eDiscovery tool must necessarily be equipped with advanced search according to different elements, namely recipient, sender, subject attachment names, etc. Ideally it should support stemmed as well as un-stemmed searches in diverse languages.

·         Built-in auto filters
The tool should be equipped with built-in auto filters so that it can automatically narrow down search results according to different metadata fields, such as sender domain, recipient name, group, etc.

·       Automatic Highlighting
The tool should also lessen your burden of looking over the search results by highlighting the search terms among the data messages or attachments.

The simplest way to optimize your eDiscovery search is by opting for an eDiscovery tool that can make searches easy and accessible.

Know more – electronic discovery litigation support

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Assessing the Effectiveness of eDiscovery Tools in Litigation

To move your legal process in the right direction, litigation teams need to be provided with the best eDiscovery tools. These tools ensure a reduction in the time spent procuring and collating relevant data. The right eDiscovery tools can aid legal teams in viewing the status of every case, thereby enabling them to take timely and decisive action. As data volumes increase rapidly, the need to store and maintain this data becomes even more important. There is hence a need for effective electronic Discovery evidence that will not only help locate data, but also bring up relevant information for a particular legal matter.

Since eDiscovery helps in responding to diverse legal actions, its tools are essential for the effective functioning of litigation. Several factors need to be considered before choosing the right tool. Solutions and tools are meant to cut down on the time involved in searching for relevant information. With the help of a suitable eDiscovery search tool, investigating teams are better aided in making prompt and correct decisions. A suitable and effective eDiscovery tool should enable rapid early case assessment (ECA). It should enhance defensibility, provide authoritative search capabilities and essentially be compatible with other litigation support tools. An assessment of the efficacy of eDiscovery tools is dependent on certain factors, such as:

Flexibility - The principal aim of eDiscovery tools is to provide integrated solutions to carrying out searches and maintaining, managing and storing records. The eDiscovery program should allow for the integration of new applications and not be rigid. The flexible nature of the program increases productivity and is thereby cost effective.

Accountability of data – Data archiving is a rather convoluted process. Retrieving, capturing and indexing data can be a major challenge. An eDiscovery program should be capable of capturing and indexing 100% of the data and be able to provide a full reconciliation report. To be an efficient program, the eDiscovery tools should be capable of providing full accountability.

Precise – Locating data can be a cumbersome task. A suitable eDiscovery tool should remove all ambiguities and have the capacity to conduct all types of searches. Keyword searches should yield accurate results and not have incongruent nuances. It should provide easy navigation of electronic information.

Deployment time – The prime benefit of an electronic discovery system is the ability to be set up and running with minimal loss of time. This enhances filtering, categorization and reporting procedures and is useful in early case assessments.

E-discovery and its many tools have given rise to the new position of the litigation support professional who implements and manages these e-discovery tools. Organizations that are laden with litigation cases can only be assured of relief and positive outcomes with a complete electronic discovery tool that can take care of the entire process of litigation effortlessly and without snags. To move your legal process in the right direction, litigation teams need to be equipped with the right tools. An efficient legal eDiscovery search runs the gamut in terms of sophistication and defensibility. Legal teams that can effectively comprehend search technology can help reduce eDiscovery costs and mitigate legal risks.

Tags: Assessing, EDiscovery, Effectiveness, Litigation, tools
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by Ed Yourdon

The Effect of the Recession on eDiscovery

The present recession has caused many financial upheavals and brought the economy to its knees. It has caused many to close shop due to financial strain and the inability to cope and maintain a balance. Litigation is expensive and eDiscovery can add to the financial turmoil. So what can organizations do to bail out of these legal meshes? Litigation is unavoidable and eDiscovery may not always be a viable solution, especially during economic crisis.

Even with the recession wreaking havoc, the demand for electronic discovery services has not declined. Firms in a bid to reduce their costs have resorted to alternative measures to deal with legal issues. Many organizations choose to bring eDiscovery in-house to help relieve them of their financial burdens and find solutions. Experts have suggested that there is no need for companies to bring the entire eDiscovery process in-house. If companies can manage to bring in only those processes that are focused on cost-savings, it can be quite beneficial

In-house eDiscovery targeting specific functions

Organizations have been carefully and wisely following the guidance of experts, and some have plans to bring processing and analysis procedures in-house, while others plan to use identification and collection processes. The processing, analysis, identification and collection procedures are complex and vast, which can weigh heavily on cost control and budget management. Plodding through stores of information to locate relevant data is a cumbersome process that requires the right sorting method for timely reporting and delivery. The in-house eDiscovery approach can eliminate these massive expenses that are usually outsourced.

Another aspect of in-house eDiscovery is staff training on eDiscovery procedures. Some organizations are taking positive steps by enhancing the strength of existing employees with better e-discovery knowledge and skills. A good number of organizations have appointed eDiscovery managers to oversee all matters pertaining to eDiscovery. This strategy of utilizing in-house resources has helped companies to deal with eDiscovery costs effectively.

Some enterprises have reduced their costs by purchasing litigation support software, which has helped them gain control over tracking, file collection, processing and legal reviewing procedures rather than outsourcing them. This has also helped reduce risks and improve the economic status of enterprises.

Thought-provoking lessons

Vendors providing e-disclosure services are dwindling in numbers because enterprises have become aware of the benefits of in-house eDiscovery. In-house legal eDiscovery tools have been major catalysts in reducing the expenditures that are usually directed toward outsourced functions by culling data, following easy file collection procedures and providing refined and accurate results.

The recession has certainly taught enterprises that handling litigation cases cost-effectively is possible with some diligence and foresightedness. It is these trying times that have enabled organizations to develop insight, focus on core needs and use effective strategies to battle the demands of the present situation. The shift to in-house electronic discovery services has given many companies praiseworthy results and highlighted the fact that eDiscovery is a plausible solution.

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by mag3737

5 Tips for Choosing eDiscovery Software

With the rise in the number of corporate investigations, lawsuits and regulatory audits, companies and organizations often chooses to retain almost every business record since nobody knows for sure what might be useful in the future as proof for litigation. Be it Word documents, spreadsheets, email, chats, audio or video, federal and state regulations mandate that companies and organizations produce these records quickly when an eDiscovery request is made. With courts making it very clear that complying with eDiscovery requests at all costs is required, non-compliance can result in companies and organizations paying millions of dollars in fines.

Some organizations depend on outside agencies for their eDiscovery needs. This is a good move if the company or organization does not deal with much data and if the eDiscovery requests occur very rarely. However, in those industries where litigation is more rampant, such as banking and insurance, depending on outside eDiscovery service providers could mean heavy expenses and the possibility of services not measuring up to expectations. Hence, it makes sense to choose a good e-Discovery software solution rather than incurring more expenses without any great benefit. But with so many software options available, companies have to carefully evaluate their needs before determining the right eDiscovery software for their requirements.

Here are some useful tips for selecting the right solution for your company.

Affordability
Invest in a good eDiscovery solution that is affordable and guarantees a good ROI.

Multiple Solutions vs. Single Solution
This may be a mute point since there is no one solution that manges every single aspect of eDiscovery.  However, one should focus on the most important phases of e-discovery (Identification-Production) and look for a solution that addresses these phases with one unified application.

Versatility
Typically electronic information is created and stored in an unstructured manner. Data can be found in a variety of places, including network drives, both Mac and PC desktops and laptops, PDAs, Smart phones, voicemail, content and document management systems or  storage and archiving systems. The eDiscovery solution should be versatile enough to reprocess and analyze data from all of these diverse sources.

Search Accuracy
When legal requests come in, it is very important to retrieve data relevant to that particular litigation. Failing to do so means serious problems like loss of time, money, and effort, as well as an embarrassing situation for the company. Hence, the eDiscovery solution should be effective when it comes to optimizing search accuracy.

Easy Deployment
When responding to legal requests, time is a crucial factor as every second counts. If the ediscovery solution takes too long to deploy before starting the eDiscovery process, it is not worth it. A good ediscovery solution is the one that is easy to deploy, use, and maintain.

Investing in goodEdiscovery software can assure companies and organizations of responding to legal requests and litigation’s quickly and effortlessly.

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by mag3737

The Cost Of Ediscovery

What is eDiscovery?

Before, all businesses store data and information in paper documents. But with breakthroughs made in Information Technology over the past two decades, businesses have switched to using computers as a major device in storing and managing information. A large fraction of these electronic data contain legally sensitive information that may be used as evidence in a civil or criminal legal case. With this, the process known as eDiscovery has become popular in acquiring evidences to be used in lawsuits. Electronic discovery or commonly referred to as E-discovery is a process wherein electronic data in the form of text, images, databases, spreadsheets, audio files, etc. are being used as evidence in civil or criminal legal litigations.

Electronic Data vs Paper Documents

Electronic data is easy to store, manage, share, and search compared to hard copy data. These characteristics have made electronic data suitable in investigations. Another feature of electronic data which cannot be found in paper documents is the metadata or metainformation that usually go together with electronic data. Metadata is the data about the data, with it more information such as the author and the date the file was created becomes available.

Impact on Business Organizations

As business organizations continue their day to day routine, the amount of Electronically Stored Information (ESI) that needs to be managed also increases. With tightening regulations that have to be put into consideration and the increasing litigations companies have been forced to confront, more and more have become aware of the legal risks involved in managing Electronically Stored Information. This has led companies to invest in information risk management systems and document retention policies.

eDiscovery is a costly process for businesses. Millions of dollars have been spent in eDiscovery. Since the 2006 amendments to the federal procedures for e-discovery, companies have been taking eDiscovery seriously. DuPont spent approximately M reviewing documents in eDiscovery, only to find out that those documents should have been destroyed long ago according to according to existing document retention policies. UBS Warburg and Merck were fined .2M and 3M respectively in litigation that required eDiscovery of files. The Prudential Insurance Company of America was fined more than M for not preserving certain records that proved to be crucial by the courts.

Business organizations have always been left overexposed to documented-related risks. According to The Tower Group, there are about 7.5 million Microsoft Office documents created every year. About 35% of all corporate documents contain legally sensitive information (Cohasset Survey 2005). 25% of corporate documents are subject to regulatory compliance (Vanson Bourne Consultancy) and only about 30% of businesses have implemented technology to facilitate the retention and disposal of documents across the enterprise.

These documented-related risks can come from many directions, some of the primary risk forces as identified by NextPage.com include:

Your Enterprise. On the average 80% of the Office documents that companies create are stored in hard drives and scattered shared drives. Combined with the continuing problem of user adoption of new tools, they becomes exposed to information risks.

Employees. High-risk documents on employees’ computers and the neglect in complying to document retention policies becomes a dangerous combination for businesses.

Clients. The inability to meet with contractual obligations can create obvious and unacceptable liabilities for businesses.

Regulatory. Most businesses have been required by government regulations to have written document retention policies in place and effectively execute these polices. In too many cases, uncontrolled documents on the desktop lead directly to non-compliance with these regulations.

Legal Departments. Business leaders must manage the effects of legal issues to business productivity.

Reactive vs Proactive eDiscovery

A good article from IT Today by Ursula Talley explains the difference between reactive and proactive eDiscovery. Reactive eDiscovery means taking actions after receiving a discovery request. Proactive eDiscovery on the other hand is the other way around, organizing and managing information in advance, thus giving companies a better response to future discovery requests.

With the concept being relatively new and the tedious tasks involved in managing electronically stored information, most business organizations are still reacting to eDiscovery requests. But as time goes by, more and more companies are switching to proactive eDiscovery given the obvious advantages of having it over reactive eDiscovery.

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How Does in-House EDiscovery Help?

eDiscovery is a process executed to help legal teams and departments sort, cull and retrieve relevant electronic data as proof for litigation. The results can tremendous, and now there is an overwhelming increase in the demand for eDiscovery solutions. The complexity of the process can cause many corporations to seek help from outside sources, but those same corporations are gradually awakening to the fact that outsourcing is often an expensive endeavor.

Organizations are now taking the initiative to implement in-house eDiscovery solutions in order to cut down on those heavy expenses. In doing so, it is essential that companies first evaluate the nature of their eDiscovery process and which segment should be in-sourced to generate favorable ROI. There are also other factors that govern the decision for implementation of in-sourced electronic discovery solutions:

Transparency – In-house eDiscovery solutions facilitate cost visibility for the duration of the eDiscovery process, and also assess its effects on the entire management.

Control – Managing the data, people and tools in-house gives better insight into eDiscovery search performance and also minimizes the risk involved in trusting outsiders with internal investigations.

Greater efficiency – You can build your data and processes, thus reducing your costs over a span of time. With every case you will gain experience and become proficient in collecting, processing, analyzing and reviewing documents. There is no need to hire new people or install new software for each new case.

When any organization decides to implement an in-house eDiscovery solution, they should follow these tips:

An eDiscovery solution should have the capacity to perform all the processes defined by the EDRM standard. It should be adept in information management, identification, preservation and collection, processing and early case assessment, providing concise data to the legal team for review. If the eDiscovery solution fails to serve its overall purpose, it only adds to your woes.

Companies who plan to use in-house eDiscovery should insist on using an open integration platform that supports various email systems, storage and archiving systems, content and document management systems. When the data is migrated from one server to another, the system should be able to read from both servers. The eDiscovery tool’s versatility is the key to an effective eDiscovery process. It should read data from desktops, laptops, shared file servers, PCs, content management systems and storage systems as well.

The performance of in-house eDiscovery tools should not waver in the absence of employees, and should have a flexible schedule that can be processed with no disturbance to normal functions.

The tools should be compatible with corporate records and management policies such as data back-up, migration, etc., to avoid any accidental data deletion.

The eDiscovery solution that you implement should be able to identify stored information with relevance to content type, access time, system location and size, and create a complete profile of that data so you are aware of the liabilities and can respond quickly to legal requests.

The solutions provided should not alter the existing data while moving or copying it. It is essential to maintain data in its original form.

All relevant information should be available when required for any legal or auditing purpose before the collection process is completed. This means that during the process of collection and preservation, the solution should be capable of providing data that has been saved and indexed.

Any processing action should not change the original content. Attaching digital signatures validates the authenticity of the content before and after the collection process.

Searching for items, terms and language in files, emails and attachments accurately is what makes eDiscovery solutions worth the investment. Performing critical search operations with complicated language helps reduce the cost and time of the companies.

Invest in a solution that is easy to use and maintain.

Many organizations are beginning to understand the value of in-house eDiscovery for internal investigations. The costs that can be saved, the reduction of time lost when responding to legal requests , the better handling of internal data storage and management are some of the advantages that are prompting organizations to adopt this new approach.

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