Chapter 8 - Information Governance and Legal Functions: According to the authors, Smallwood, Kahn, and Murphy, IG is perhaps one of the functional areas that impact legal functions most. Failure to me
e-Discovery is a crucial process in civil litigation matters that encompasses the exchange of information between those involved in a lawsuit or other legal action. Information exchanges include email messages, word processing files, Facebook posts, tweets, voicemails, presentations, and spreadsheets. There are several reasons why corporations must proactively manage the e-discovery process. The first reason is to reduce litigation risks and costs. Proactive e-discovery helps in complying with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which govern the procedures for managing civil lawsuits in the United States District Courts (Smallwood, 2014).
The second reason is to ensure that the corporation responds rapidly to requests. Section 26(a)(1) of the Federal Rules for Civil Procedure requires organizations to have a good understanding of their data assets to help in ensuring that they are able to discuss the issues involves ahead of the initial pre-trial discovery meeting (Osterman Research, Inc., 2013). Section 16(b) also requires a meeting to take place within 99 days from the commencement of a legal action, which implies that parties must be able to rapidly respond to requests. There are cases when courts require even more rapid production of content.
The third reason for proactive e-Discovery is to help in managing the growing number of data types and venues. The e-Discovery process is complicated nu the need to provide large and growing number of data types and platforms on which an organization may have stored relevant data (Osterman Research, Inc., 2013). Being proactive helps in ensuring that the large number of data types does not compromise rapid response to requests.
References
Osterman Research, Inc. (2013). Why eDiscovery Should be a Top Priority for Your Organization. Washington, DC.
Smallwood, R. F. (2014). Information governance: Concepts, strategies, and best practices. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons, Inc.
