It is increasingly difficult for corporations to efficiently and defensibly respond to demands for information, whether such demands arise in litigation, as a result of regulatory requirements, or from internal investigations.
The cost, business disruption, and complexity of modern discovery, as well as the increasingly complex legal and technological framework within which discovery must be conducted, requires a unique, multi-disciplinary set of skills and expertise.
LeClairRyan's Discovery Solutions Practice has the experience and expertise to help corporations navigate all aspects of modern discovery.
Records and Information Management Consulting
Effective records and information management can have an enormous impact on the efficiency of an organization’s broader business processes, and can greatly affect the downstream costs of electronic discovery response. Savings can be realized though a better understanding of a company’s records and information infrastructure; greater clarity and precision in records retention policies, procedures and training; better leveraging of existing and emerging technologies; and elimination of unneeded information. While most organizations have records retention schedules and policies related to paper records, far fewer are consistently and effectively managing electronically-stored business records.
Records and Information Management Assessment
DSP professionals guide clients through a formal assessment, analysis and recommendation process by conducting a detailed review of the organization’s current records retention practices through interviews with those who create, store and manage electronically stored business inforrmation. The assessment can cover records and information broadly, or it can be targeted to specific areas of concern, be they operational, technological, or policy and process oriented. Using proven methodologies, DSP professionals assess the ability of an organization’s people, processes and technologies to effectively manage critical business records. By analyzing the “as is” state of records and information management, DSP identifies gaps and develops appropriate remediation strategies. The assessment team identifies problems with existing policies and procedures; identifies business-critical records that are not subject to current records retention schedules and policies; and outlines any risks associated with the people, processes and technology affecting records and information management. Finally, the assessment concludes with specific, prioritized and actionable recommendations.
Records Retention Policies and Procedure Development
As an outgrowth of a Records and Information Management Assessment, or as a stand-alone project, DSP professionals help companies ensure that records retention policies and procedures adequately cover all business-critical records and information and are in compliance with applicable laws, statutes and regulations; appropriate training is available and administered; and information is managed properly.
Records Retention Schedule 2.0
A key component of an effective records and information management program is the records retention schedule. Traditionally, records retention schedules have been contained in word processing documents or spreadsheets listing the business records of the enterprise by department and category. As business records have migrated from the file cabinet to the file server, the limited information contained in traditional records retention schedules, such as physical location and record category, is no longer sufficient to properly manage those records.
Corporations must understand their information infrastructure, including the type of information system, system capacity, backup protocols, and business and IT stewards, etc. The volume of information required for effective management of electronically-stored information (ESI) requires a tool more complex than a simple spreadsheet or word processing document.
In response to this need, DSP has developed the Records Retention Schedule 2.0, which involves migrating the traditional records retention schedule to a records retention database. The process for creating a Records Retention Schedule 2.0 includes:
- identification of business records managed pursuant to business and legally driven retention requirements;
- development of a database containing the necessary fields for categorizing and detailing information about the electronically-stored business records necessary for proper management;
- population of the database with information about current business records; and
- development of a business process or implementation and maintenance of the database to improve a corporation’s ability to manage records subject to retention guidelines.
Discovery Response Services
Even with a well-defined discovery response plan, companies routinely require help in executing the plan and the aspects of discovery response, such as collections, processing, review and production. DSP provides support for data and document collections, review and production, as well as comprehensive legal services related to discovery, ranging from national discovery counsel services to expert consulting on discrete e-discovery issues.
Document & Data Collection
Today, collection of information that is potentially responsive to a discovery need requires a combination of experience and technical expertise. DSP professionals tailor each collection project to meet the requirements of the client and the case. Collection activities include the identification of relevant custodians and central storage locations, establishment of collection guidelines, preparation of collection assessment questionnaires and tracking documents, and the creation of a master custodian list and collection interview scripts, as well as the actual collection of paper documents and ESI. DSP professionals perform ESI collections on-site or remotely and are qualified to perform both active file and forensic collections.
Early Evidence Assessment
One of the great discovery challenges is finding the relevant nuggets of information in the increasingly large mountain of data maintained by most companies. One key step in that process is early evidence assessment. Utilizing leading technologies both in-house and through preferred partners, DSP is experienced in analyzing data collections to assess the proper scope of discovery, facilitate targeted collections and develop more efficient and effective review strategies.
Data Processing Services
While DSP employs some internal processing capability with LexisNexis® LAW PreDiscovery™, we generally believe in leveraging the commercially available data processing service best suited to the particular client and matter. DSP has experience with most leading data processing providers and can utilize that knowledge to identify the suite of services resulting in the appropriate blend of capability and price. Because of DSP’s reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry, we enjoy pricing preferences often not extended to larger enterprises. Regardless of where data are processed, DSP experts manage the engagement from initiation through production, ensuring that requirements are understood and executed upon.
Managed Review Services
DSP recognizes that document review often comprises the most expensive step in the discovery process and leverages its more than 20 years experience in discovery management to ensure that clients obtain the most cost-efficient result without sacrificing quality or incurring unnecessary risk. Through superior project management, extensive training and uncompromising quality control, DSP can ensures that resources are deployed, managed and utilized in the most efficient manner possible. Our extensive experience with third-party review applications enables us to select the best application for a given project and leverage all the efficiency-enhancements available. DSP owns the infrastructure necessary to staff even a large-scale review project and maintains preferred relationships with the area’s best staffing organizations to enable quick response. DSP has also long been an innovator in alternative pricing arrangements for review services, working with clients to identify the billing model best suited to ensure consistency and predictability.
Discovery Counsel Services
From advice on an arcane discovery issue to management of all discovery in an entire portfolio of litigation, DSP’s team of seasoned attorneys has the experience and expertise necessary to address virtually any discovery-related challenge. Our attorneys have represented Fortune 1000 companies as national discovery counsel, appeared in federal and state courts across the country, managed multi-million document matters in independent and consolidated litigations, guided clients through accelerated government investigations involving enormous quantities of data and impossible timelines, and helped countless companies navigate the ever-changing complexities of e-discovery.