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Firms Unprepared for E-Discovery
Information Management Journal, Nov/Dec 2007 by Swartz, Nikki
More than 69 percent of companies responding to a new Contoural Inc./Osterman Research survey said they are not ready to respond to litigation. Only 6 percent said they could immediately and confidently handle e-discovery requests. More than half said they might not be able to enforce a litigation hold.
The survey also found that a significant gap exists between enterprise IT and legal departments. Only 9 percent of IT managers surveyed said legal had provided clear guidance on e-discovery procedures or contributed the budget money necessary to accomplish the goals. Nearly 40 percent said they received no guidance on supporting e-discovery requirements.
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The study, commissioned by Contoural, an independent provider of business and technology consulting services for litigation readiness, compliance, policy development, and data storage strategy, was conducted in June 2007. More than 100 IT managers in medium and large enterprises were surveyed about their litigation-readiness status and practices.
"Companies are facing increasing challenges in meeting e-discovery requirements. It is extremely important that IT and legal forge strong and supportive connections," explained Mark Diamond, Contoural CEO and president. "The courts are increasingly putting IT on the stand and asking for enforced policies and procedures around records management."
More than 51 percent of organizations surveyed had not yet identified anyone in their IT departments who was prepared to testify in court regarding electronically stored information - what records are retained, where the records reside, how they are protected, and how the data could be retrieved if necessary under court order.
According to Michael Osterman, president of Osterman Research, "The recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) have required companies to know what information they have and to be able to retrieve it quickly."
However, only 25 percent of the companies surveyed had deployed an e-mail archive solution. To recover e-mail messages, nearly one-half (48 percent) would need to retrieve messages from backup tapes.
To help corporate IT departments prepare themselves for potential litigation, Contoural suggests the following steps:
1. Create or update a records retention policy and schedule.
2. Develop a current data map to enable fast and efficient production of relevant information.
3. Establish litigation hold processes and procedures to ensure that responsive records - those that match the legal search criteria are not destroyed.
4. Develop e-discovery data collection and review processes.
5. Evaluate and deploy e-mail and file system archiving solutions.
Copyright ARMA International Nov/Dec 2007
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved
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