Purpose At the University, it is a priority that students are provided with strong educational programs and courses that allow them to be servant-leaders in their disciplines and communities, linking

Discussion week 4

Top of Form

E-discovery is defined as the pretrial legal process used to describe the method by which parties will obtain and review electronically stored information. The 2006 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) served to place electronically stored information (ESI) on equal footing with paper documents in the eyes of the court. ESI of any kind can serve as evidence (Marchand, 2001). This may cover any type of ESI data or devices including, but not limited to, text, images, voice, databases, spreadsheets, legacy systems, tape, Smart phones, tablets, instant messages, e-mail, calendar files, and Websites. In March, 2013 the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) established and introduced its own definitions of health information and data governance, of which e-discovery and litigation response planning are components. Legal counsel plays a crucial role in e-discovery and/or any regulatory investigation.

As a first step, organizational legal counsel conducts a thorough evaluation of all e-discovery rules applicable at the federal, state, and local levels. Within the organization, the actual process by which the discovery of electronic information will occur will depend on the jurisdiction of the court and the type and complexity of the case to be litigated. The process may also depend on the scope and complexity of the organization’s business and state of operations (Marchand, 2001). The response team’s responsibilities extend to evaluating the efficacy of the organization’s policies and procedures after implementation. This includes developing and regularly reviewing staff orientation and annual training materials and creating an ongoing audit and monitoring process.

References

Marchand, L. (2001), “Discovery of Electronic Medical Records.” American Trial Lawyers Association Annual Convention Reference Materials.

Bottom of Form