Todd L. Dietrich, CCE, EnCE, IGP

Litigation Readiness can be defined as:

Proactive efforts taken by an organization to prepare for the discovery phase of litigation or an investigation. These efforts help to position discovery response as a consistent and defensible business process.

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ELECTRONIC DISCOVERY REFERENCE MODEL (A/K/A EDRM)

ELECTRONIC Discovery Reference Model (A/K/A EDRM)

Identification Locating potential sources of ESI & determining its scope, breadth and depth.

Preservation Ensuring that ESI is protected against inappropriate alteration or destruction.

Collection Gathering ESI for further use in the e-discovery process (processing, review, etc.)

Processing Reducing the volume of ESI and converting it, if necessary to forms more suitable for review and analysis.

EDRM Description

EDRM Description Review Evaluating ESI for relevance &

privilege. Analysis Evaluating ESI for content &

context, including key patterns, topics, people & discussion.

Production Delivering ESI to others in appropriate forms & using appropriate delivery mechanisms.

Presentation Displaying ESI before audiences, especially in native & near-native forms to elicit further information, validate existing facts or positions or persuade an audience

LITIGATION READINESS IN THE EDRM

Litigation Readiness: A Practical Guide For In-House Counsel, 2006 Dickstein Shapiro LLP.

Costs • Reduce discovery costs

•  less duplicate or unnecessary information

•  reduced processing, hosting, and review fees

•  Improve data collection response times

• Optimize discovery workflow

Risks •  Limit incomplete collections

and risk of spoliation •  Reduce legal exposures

from over retention of unnecessary records

•  Avoid inconsistent discovery processes

•  Drive compliance with regulators

Custodians •  Relevant Departments •  Locations •  Current vs. former

Data Sources •  Email •  Workstations •  Mobile devices •  Network locations

Locating potential sources of ESI & determining its scope, breadth and depth.

(Source: https://hbr.org/2017/05/whats-your-data-strategy)

50% is used in decision making

1% is analyzed or used at all

70% of employees have improper access to data

Analysts spend 80% of their time just looking for and preparing data

Smaller Data Volumes

Catalog

Classify

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time-1258462

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People

Technology Process

•  Develop a Designated Response Team

•  Seek input from business leaders

•  Users: trust, but verify

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•  Standardize data management for discovery

•  Develop discovery vendor requirements

•  Audit discovery vendors

•  Reduce unnecessary data in the discovery process

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