eDiscovery Beyond Litigation

Discovery refers to the pre-trial identification and examination of documents related to the case, and ‘eDiscovery’ is the electronic version of that same process. The discovery process is generally thought of as involving lawyers, evidence, and courtrooms. But eDiscovery solutions and tools extend beyond legal uses and eDiscovery for law firms. Legal, compliance, HR, and security teams use eDiscovery solutions such as Arctera’s eDiscovery platform and Microsoft Purview’s Premium eDiscovery to manage electronically stored information (ESI) on a day-to-day basis. eDiscovery specialists work on internal investigations and disputes, regulatory compliance, cybersecurity, and public information requests.

Any type of legal dispute can involve eDiscovery. Emails, documents, and chat logs can all be considered evidence in civil, commercial, and criminal cases. Legal teams can search with eDiscovery tools to identify and retrieve relevant communications supporting the company’s legal defense or position. Time is critical for legal eDiscovery requests. Having an efficient eDiscovery solution in place ensures compliance with legal obligations, and avoids penalties, and possible case dismissal.

Employee misconduct and company policy violations may be dealt with internally or through mediation, avoiding a formal trial and the courtroom. HR and compliance teams use eDiscovery solutions for internal investigations and disputes. Emails, messaging records, and other ESI can contain evidence in support, or opposition of an employee claim. Companies dealing with wrongful termination disputes, and discrimination or workplace harassment claims use the eDiscovery process to gather digital evidence for both internal cases and potential legal cases.  

Companies subject to industry regulations and requests from agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Department of Justice (DOJ), and FTC (Federal Trade Commission) use eDiscovery tools to maintain compliance. When agencies request records or information, the ability to quickly identify and retrieve documents and messages ensures transparency. Compliance teams use eDiscovery tools to handle regulatory requests, maintain transparency with industry and compliance laws such as GDPR, and ultimately avoid fines and penalties.

Federal and regulatory agencies are not the only ones making information requests. eDiscovery solutions speed up the process of fulfilling Freedom of Information Act requests and general public records requests.  Responding to any requests with relevant materials in a timely manner improves company transparency and ensures compliance with public disclosure laws.

Security teams use eDiscovery tools to analyze security and data breaches. After a cyberattack or any type of security and information breach, companies can review logs and emails to determine the extent of the breach and what data was compromised. Knowing more information about an attack helps in any investigation, and ensures the most accurate information is provided to impacted individuals in compliance with any data breach notification laws.

Corporate leadership, legal, compliance, HR, and security also use eDiscovery tools for assessing risks during a merger or company acquisition, investigating whistleblowing complaints or claims of fraud and misconduct, enforcing confidentiality agreements, and organizing corporate contracts.

Organizations continue to find uses for eDiscovery beyond typical legal investigations and disputes. The ability to connect documents to cases, assign custodians, place items on legal hold, and generate reporting through eDiscovery programs benefits other aspects of a business. The built-in security and search features of eDiscovery software can replace a manual spreadsheet created to track hundreds of related documents. Advancements in eDiscovery technology with AI and machine learning also advance the potential use cases.

Tools such as Arctera Insight eDiscovery include AI-powered tools for intelligent workflows, saving your team time and effort. Machine learning helps locate relevant documents and emails, reducing the time spent identifying and reviewing data.  eDiscovery is more than responding to legal and information requests. Modern eDiscovery means embracing new eDiscovery tools, integrating across your company for intelligent and efficient data management and reducing legal and security risks.

Beyond eDiscovery with Bluesource

Bluesource helps you stay on top of eDiscovery and go beyond the typical use cases. Integrating eDiscovery tools and concepts into other aspects of your IT infrastructure, and thinking beyond the standard use cases can improve efficiency across multiple teams and departments. Our DiscoveryAssist and managed eDiscovery services overlap with our skills and knowledge of archive and system migrations, risk management, data governance and compliance, and security.

Thinking beyond litigation to see how email, messaging, and document archiving and management benefits HR, compliance, and security teams – and therefore benefits your entire organization.