I’m not a lawyer. But I often wonder if lawyers watch TV legal dramas like Law & Order (the original or any of the many spin-offs we now have to choose from) and think to themselves, “Really, if it were only that simple.” Or maybe it’s more like, “Jack McCoy (played by Sam Waterson) you wouldn’t last a day prosecuting a real legal matter.” They make it look so easy. You find the evidence. You arrest the bad guy. You convict the bad guy. Case closed. What’s so hard about that? In the real word, a lot actually.
Working for an information management company I might be a bit jaded toward the lack of visibility TV dramas provide into the discovery process. However I do know it’s unlikely you’re going to find key evidence or a “smoking gun” wadded up in a trash can in the bad guy’s office – though it seems to happen a lot on TV. No, more than likely you are going to have to wade through terabytes or even petabyes of electronic data from multiple custodians spread across email, file shares, laptops, document management systems, etc. Your first thoughts are probably, “How long is this going to take and how much is it going to cost?”
Organizations must expect the unexpected and be prepared to deal with several concurrent matters with varying electronic discovery requirements. In a recent whitepaper from Brian Babineau, senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group, he discusses the often unpredictable and challenging eDiscovery process – and the opportunities that in-house eDiscovery solutions provide for real world improvement including:
- Incorporate All Data – ensure that your eDiscovery solution is comprehensive and goes beyond email to include other corporate ESI sources – locating the data you need to make informed case strategy decisions and minimizing your risk for non-disclosure sanctions.
- Timeliness Matter – other than meeting tight deadlines, organizations can benefit from speeding up the eDiscovery process by meeting the duty to preserve early, more accurately predicting case budgets, preparing for initial case assessments, and reducing reliance on outsourced review resources when pressed for time.
- Resource Scalability – utilizing a holistic eDiscovery solution, corporations can ensure that all departments and users involved in the legal discovery process are not overburdened by disparate tools and technologies, and that productivity isn’t impacted as the amount of corporate information and number of matters continues to grow.
As Mr. Babineau states in the paper, “Electronic discovery, when supported by the right technology has the potential to deliver benefits greater than a simple reduction of legal service provider costs. Corporate counsel can near-instantaneously analyze data to see what should be collected and preserved, enabling them to make strategic decisions sooner in the legal process, and swiftly adapt as new information is discovered.”
Perhaps as more organizations adopt in-house eDiscovery solutions, the legal discovery process will become more intelligent, less cumbersome, and less costly. And who knows, one day it may start to resemble the legal dramas we watch on TV. 
For more in-depth information, download the complete whitepaper from Enterprise Strategy Group.
Tags: accelerate early case assessment, accelerate ECA, brian babineau, e-discovery, early case analysis, early case assessment, ECA, eDiscovery, electronic discovery, legal discovery, litigation readiness
