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Email archiving solutions, policies critical to compliance

Email archiving solutions, policies critical to compliance

"Companies can avoid potential fines and sanctions related to regulations by tailoring their email archiving and other solutions to meet requirements. With increased scrutiny on companies of all kinds coming from the federal government and regulatory authorities, organizations must do everything they can to comply with these mandates, according to Network World."

Piloting E-Discovery Rules in the 7th Circuit

Piloting E-Discovery Rules in the 7th Circuit

"Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois had a long background as a criminal defense attorney before becoming a judge. She says that her background left her unprepared for the battles over discovery of electronic evidence she has encountered in the world of civil litigation. "I was not able to get my arms around all of the fighting over discovery," she says. "I know that some people have snickered about this idea that you can get lawyers to make nice and cooperate on discovery. But I believe it is possible."

Under the leadership of Chief Judge James F. Holderman, Nolan has helped launch a pilot program to address electronic discovery issues: 7th Circuit E-Discovery Pilot Program. Taking their cues from, among other sources, the Sedona Conference Cooperation Proclamation, the 7th Circuit E-Discovery Committee is attempting to fix some of the most intractable discovery problems in litigation."

eDiscovery implemented to reduce expenses, improve process

eDiscovery implemented to reduce expenses, improve process

"Companies looking to implement an eDiscovery solution rightfully take a critical approach when deciding upon a vendor as most offer different packages and prices. To prevent entering a partnership that does not adequately solve their problems, law firms and corporate legal departments must devise a plan for the solution to identify their needs.

Lowering evidence discovery costs is often the primary aim of organizations planning for a new eDiscovery solution. However, this can only be achieved if the process is carefully planned for. In fact, primary to implementing a new eDiscovery solution, researching email archiving to ensure that process is as efficient and inexpensive as possible will likely keep eDiscovery costs as low as possible. As the primary goal of eDiscovery is to find relevant information as quickly and cheaply as possible, it will only happen if other processes are equally efficient."

Hosting eDiscovery in the Cloud: Know What You’re Getting

Hosting eDiscovery in the Cloud: Know What You’re Getting

"There is a lot of confusion over what constitutes the cloud. “Clouds” can be an umbrella term for pretty much anything at all that involves either storage pooling, delivery of some service over the Internet, or a nifty idea that came out of your marketing team’s Monday morning meeting. “Heh! Let’s call the product a cloud! Yeah, that’s the ticket!”

So let’s define some cloud terminology narrowed down by eDiscovery. Essentially eDiscovery applications and services are cloud-based when they are delivered online by third-party providers. Titles are fluid and indistinct, but a couple of the major examples include Software as a Service (SaaS) or cloud-based application delivery, and hosted eDiscovery or cloud-based eDiscovery. (Believe me, different vendors will define these terms according to what they think will sell the best.) Below are some decent working definitions."

E-discovery sector has room to grow: experts

E-discovery sector has room to grow: experts

"Canada’s legal industry continues its shift into the world of electronic discovery, and the group of specialized firms helping to manage the transformation has room to grow with it, according to experts.

Dominic Jaar, CEO of Ledjit Consulting Inc., says e-discovery specialists have broken into different areas of the e-discovery reference model, which moves along a continuum ranging from information-management practices to courtroom presentation techniques and services.

“We’re really a minority of people and we sort of informally, without necessarily agreeing, went with our preference and chose different parts of the [reference] model to specialize in,” says Jaar. “It happened naturally and it’s a good thing because I think we’re covering the whole spectrum.”

Jaar’s firm focuses on the first two steps of the e-discovery process: information management and document identification. Ledjit helps companies develop document-retention policies and implement relevant technologies, for example."

How to comply with rules of discovery concerning your electronically stored information

How to comply with rules of discovery concerning your electronically stored information

"State and federal court rules have always provided that a business’s information is discoverable if it is relevant to litigation and not protected by attorney-client privilege.

However, the federal court rules and, more recently, the Michigan court rules, have been amended to recognize the expanding use and importance of electronically stored information (ESI). The rules make it clear now that ESI is discoverable, too.

“The discovery rules used to speak of ‘documents,’ ” says Robert B. Holt Jr., partner with Secrest Wardle. “Now, the Michigan rules include ‘electronically stored information’ of all types.”

Smart Business spoke with Holt about the disclosure of ESI and how to protect your business."