How Do You Develop an Effective eDiscovery Process?

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Jason Priebe, Of Counsel
Runtime: 7:27

Key Takeaways:

1. An ineffective eDiscovery process can result in substantial financial risk to an organization.
   
2. In Federal cases, lawyers for both sides must be prepared to discuss electronically stored information (ESI) relevant to the case within 100 days of a lawsuit being filed. Many organizations will need to develop a centralized approach to eDiscovery to help their legal counsel prepare within this timeframe.
   
3. Some steps organizations can take to develop an effective eDiscovery process:
   • Review what your organization has done in the past to preserve information.
   • Determine how your organization identifies and notifies current and former employees regarding information requests.
   • Map the key IT systems that are most likely to be relevant in litigation.
4. Stakeholders from IT, information security, the in-house legal team and experienced outside counsel should be considered when developing an eDiscovery team.
5. Common eDiscovery mistakes:
   1. Assuming eDiscovery is easy.
   2. Thinking eDiscovery is a one-time event.
   3. Counting on outside counsel to do all eDiscovery work.