eDiscovery Navigator

Delaware Court of Chancery Recently Established Guidelines for Preservation of ESI

The Delaware Court of Chancery recently set forth guidelines for the preservation of electronically stored information.

Here's the Guidelines.

Basic Steps In E-discovery Preparation: Creating The Team And Knowing When To Pull The Trigger

Basic Steps In E-discovery Preparation: Creating The Team And Knowing When To Pull The Trigger

"Corporate counsel alone cannot coordinate all of the complex e-discovery issues, consider all of the company stakeholders' interests, and get sufficient management support to insure that employees will understand and comply with all of the corporation's e-discovery obligations. Nor is it practical to assemble new e-discovery teams each time a matter arises. An ongoing team process will allow the company to learn from prior experience, better plan and budget for future e-discovery matters, and demonstrate to the court that its decisions were reasonable should particular decisions be challenged. Membership on the team can change based upon the subject matter of the dispute, but it certainly should include representatives of in-house counsel, management, records and information management, and outside counsel familiar with the company's business objectives and potential e-discovery issues. The company should also consider including third-party experts and service providers. One of the most critical elements of any e-discovery team is corporate "buy-in." If the leaders of the major corporate stakeholders do not support the process and emphasize its importance, then the policies will not be followed and this situation can become worse than if there were no policies in place at all."

Cloud computing crime poses unique forensics challenges

Cloud computing crime poses unique forensics challenges

"As cloud computing becomes more widespread, its use in criminal activity will likely grow. Authorities will need better forensic tools if they're going to extract evidence from cloud-based environments.

Cloud services are relatively new, insofar as use by the general public for storage is concerned, said Martin Novak, physical scientist at the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). Over time, it's expected that clouds will contain more and more evidence of criminal activity. To help extract that evidence, the Department of Justice's research arm, the NIJ, recently revealed plans to fund research into improved electronic forensics in several areas, including the cloud."

E-Discovery to Serve the Small Litigant

E-Discovery to Serve the Small Litigant

"Without the benefit of large electronic discovery budgets, attorneys handling smaller matters may find themselves trapped. Engaging an outside expert to assess the client's technology infrastructure and implement an appropriate e-discovery protocol is often prohibitively expensive. Even when such a project is proposed, clients question the need to hire outside experts when their own information technology personnel are intimately familiar with the technology in use within the company. These are, of course, reasonable arguments.

There are techniques, however, that address both the fear that arises from the uncertainty of proper preservation and the demands for cost efficiency when handling litigation in smaller matters."

Taking The Value Challenge Beyond Law Firms And Clients: Making Your Electronic Discovery Providers Step Up

Taking The Value Challenge Beyond Law Firms And Clients: Making Your Electronic Discovery Providers Step Up

"The realm of e-discovery, like that of all legal services, requires a re-evaluation based on the ACC's cost-value equation as an "appropriate cost," which has not traditionally been associated with the discovery process. A dreaded budget line item, discovery has a reputation for being unwieldy and inconvenient, with the potential for costs to spiral out of control. This is not without merit, as many cost-drivers (time, technology, supervision) are compounded when managed internally by legal teams not accustomed to the discovery process or by external vendors adding numerous hidden costs after a deceptively low initial bid.

As such, it is reasonable to expect e-discovery providers to create more value for clients within a reasonable budget while maintaining a strong bottom line. Here's how, in eight easy steps."