6 Steps to eDiscovery: From Collection to Production

1. Hire a Litigation Support Firm to assist you.

Litigation Support Firms (LSP) provide practical guidance to attorneys and paralegals in the collection and review of electronically stored information. LSPs will equip you with a plan to identify, preserve, collect, process, and ultimately review and produce requested documents in complex litigation discovery or investigations.

2. Preserve Your Data

Preserving relevant data under the Rules of Civil Procedure means litigation is anticipated and legal teams are obligated to collect, secure, and preserve relevant evidence. Evidence may take different forms – paper, email, databases, websites, communications, mobile data, and hard drives. Attorneys and their staff should meet with their clients to determine what types of evidence impacts the case and determine what should be preserved.

3. Determine the right type of eDiscovery solution.

Three basic types of eDiscovery exist: Manual Production, On-Demand eDiscovery, and Complex eDiscovery. Manual production is meant for the very basic of cases often including a load of 100 pages or less. This data is produced with office software only.

On-Demand eDiscovery is for larger but manageable cases often producing a load of up to 100,000 pages. eDiscovery software with the ability to convert different file types, organize documents, and add Bates numbers is advised for this level of production. All file types may not be supported with this type of software.

The final option is Complex eDiscovery. This option is intended for robust cases involving a load of a minimum of 100,000 plus pages. eDiscovery software of the highest level will be needed for a load of this size. eDiscovery software suited for this job will offer early case assessment, complex search functions and processing, and production of all types of data formats.

4. Load your data to a searchable eDiscovery software.

Once you have a handle on the type of eDiscovery tools you need for the case,

the data must be loaded into the eDiscovery software via a load file. A load file is a document-by-document path for a production document. Generally, a load file (.dat, .csv) accompanied by images (tiff, jpg and PDF) and text files (think the words of the document being produced) and often native files (the original document in its Native file format). Most of the time load file deliverables are generated to insert the document production into an eDiscovery review platform to be reviewed by legal teams.

5. Review data for privileged documents

The Review stage of the eDiscovery is the perfect time for your organization to work together to understand the exact facts of your specific case, develop a review strategy moving forward, and map out which information falls under a “privileged” category.

During the Review phase, the following steps will take place:

· Determine and understand the scope of the review

· Ensure that best practices are followed

· Develop procedures to guide reviewers

6. Export & Submit Data to the Court

A final review of the data takes place. Then the file is exported for delivery to the opposing counsel and court. Keep in mind that the more data involved in the case the longer it will take to upload. Even with the very best software, load files of several hundred gigabytes can take a few days to upload into a searchable database.

The legal rules and regulations surrounding electronic information are continuously evolving with state and federal rules of civil procedure sometimes differing from one another. It’s crucial to utilize an experienced eDiscovery partner to ensure digital information produced for litigation is authentic and complete.

Legal Eagle & CloudNine Your Choice for eDiscoveryServices

Without eDiscovery and digital forensics, your side of the story may be lost in boxes of irrelevant documents, and your labor costs could spiral while trying to sift through tens of thousands of pages. Legal Eagle is a more economical solution saving attorneys and firms thousands of dollars.

CloudNine Review offers full searching capability of thousands of documents in seconds. Find the documents you want easily and quickly – prepare for depositions, review documents for relevancy and prepare your case using cutting edge technology. Additionally, it has no license fees, no user fees, and no long-term commitment.