eDiscovery As a Vital Part of Litigation Procedure

If you think there’s an excuse for not being prepared for eDiscovery, you are wrong. Here’s what some of the top lawyers in the United States have to say on the topic.

Be Prepared for eDiscovery

Amendments to the rules that govern federal court litigation have intensified the need for businesses to store and preserve their electronic documents in preparedness for eDiscovery. Educating employees about electronic document preservation policies has become another critical issue. This comes from Pepper Hamilton, a law firm with over 450 attorneys that practices across New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Michigan, California, Washington and Massachusetts.

According to Steve Harvey, partner with Pepper Hamilton, the federal rules amendments recognize the reality that almost all lawsuits today involve documents and information stored in electronic format.

Almost all lawsuits today involve documents and information stored in electronic format. Click To Tweet

eDiscovery and ESI

eDiscovery is now a crucial procedure that can have a big impact on the outcome of a legal case. In short, eDiscovery involves the retrieval, review, and production of electronic documents during the discovery stage of a litigation. These documents can involve all kinds of electronically stored information (commonly referred to as ESI). However, research shows that email data is almost always the focus of eDiscovery activities.

#eDiscovery involves retrieval and production of e-documents during the discovery stage of litigation. Click To Tweet

Harvey says: “Electronic discovery can no longer be one of the last things companies involved in litigation think about. Instead, it now must be made a high priority in most cases. Businesses have lost cases and millions of dollars by neglecting to preserve information related to a lawsuit.”

#eDiscovery can’t be among the last things companies involved in litigation think about. –Steve Harvey Click To Tweet

What is Legal Hold?

The previous statement is a strong hint that companies should be strengthening their document retention policies and implementing procedures such as legal hold. A legal hold is a process that organizations use to preserve all relevant information as soon as litigation is anticipated. It involves the prevention of processes such as document deletion and alteration of retention policies.

Have you already implemented a legal hold and carried out eDiscovery requests? If not, are you ready to do it?

For more information about eDiscovery and legal compliance, download our free whitepaper Simple Steps to Compliance by clicking on the image below.