AAL_05_17Web

Creating a “Reasonable” E-Discovery Process:
1. Standardize and Automate the Legal Hold Process
The notice should be easy to understand and include clear,
unambiguous instructions. Beyond the initial notification,
reminder notices should be sent as well on an automated
schedule to ensure custodians remain educated about their
obligations and have opportunities to ask questions.
2. Track Custodians
Define processes for tracking custodian acknowledgments
of legal holds and triggers for sending repeat notifications to
non-responsive custodians. You also must account for employee
status changes, such as departures or extended leaves of absence.
3. Collect Highly Relevant Data
Depending on the nature of the matter, consider immediately
collecting highly relevant data from key custodians.
Another important consideration is accounting for those data
sources, such as structured databases, that may hold valuable
ESI but that can’t necessarily be tracked back to an
individual custodian.
4. Document Everything
A reasonable process is punctuated by very clear
and detailed documentation of all steps taken, along
with the reasoning behind key decisions, such as
whether or not data was collected from a key custodian
and why.
4 Key Steps to Developing
an Information Governance Program:
1. Audit and Assess the Degree of Risk in Your Data
Environment
The assessment must focus on the level of risk
present across various data repositories. The goal
here is to identify those data sources that contain the
highest levels of legal exposure and make sure they
are a primary focus of subsequent IG policies and
processes.
2. Prioritize Initial IG Activities
The data environment assessment should drive the
prioritization of initial IG activities. Every organization
has its own unique set of challenges, and the prioritization
of IG activities should be reflective of the specific
data environment. IG plans aren’t created overnight, so it’s critical
to address the most pressing issues first.
3. Create Policies and Processes to Address Retention,
Access, Use and Storage of Data
A sound IG strategy includes clearly defined policies
regarding who has access to certain types of data, where that
data is stored and how long it is kept. The IG plan will be
inherently weak if it doesn’t involve cross-functional input
from all key stakeholders, including representatives of key
business units.
4. Apply Technology
One way you can align your IG and e-discovery processes
is by integrating certain technologies, such as your HR and
legal hold systems. Data classification and categorization
tools can also be utilized to deliver intelligence about individual
data repositories by extracting key information and
content patterns.
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