E-discovery can be challenging for businesses that tend to opt for a do-it-yourself approach as this process requires expertise and ample time.
Without knowledge, businesses often understand e-discovery as “data” rather than “evidence” and involve the unprofessional in the chain of studying and handling evidence.
And what’s more devastating? Unskilled professionals don’t get the technicality drawn with evidence and make it legally defensible.
Some companies hire eDiscovery partners to streamline everything but this step results in overspending on the process due to a lack of standardization in the system.
Most Common E-Discovery Pitfalls And Ways To Avoid Them:
1. Zero Knowledge Of EDiscovery
“Half knowledge is dangerous”. If you don’t know what eDiscovery is, what the process involves, then don’t directly jump on the process as it will take you nowhere.
Right from collecting and accumulating data to uploading and reviewing it- there are certain dos and don’ts that you should follow. Here are a few stages involved in eDiscovery process that you should be aware of:
- Collection of all the relevant data
- Upload all the data at a centralized location
- Make use of software to make above process seamless
- Done with uploading, review everything once
- Produce data for opposite counsel review
2. Disorganization Of Evidences
If you are not serious about your data or legal evidence you may end up spending ample time on such a non-strategic process unnecessarily.
For instance, if you have the habit of storing data in multiple locations or different computers, you’ll for sure lose the track of everything and create a mess for yourself. Therefore, it is advisable to keep a checklist of eDiscovery ethics in order to stay on top. Following is the handy checklist:
- How to preserve the data
- How to gather the data at a safe location
- Searching the data
- How to protect your data
- Which is the right eDiscovery software
3. Losing To Maintain A Flow In The E-Discovery Process
eDiscovery is complicated that can take you through crowds and leave you in solitude. You may start with collecting, reviewing, and processing data, but can get stuck technically in many phases and forget the subject of the case completely.
From the subject, I mean “Who is involved?”, “What happened?” “What did they do?”, “How they connected to each other?”, and a lot more.
To keep in touch with the story, you have to come back to these questions and keep refining them as you interact with clients or opposing counsel. For this, you should always do your groundwork and involve factors like:
- Get rid of unnecessary files
- Learn your client’s slang
- Search for the right keyword and test them
- You can only stick to the story once get the flow
4. Uploading Files In Excess
With eDiscovery you easily access and deal with excess piles of data in no time. But that doesn’t mean you should keep dealing with heaps of files every now and then.
Because more the files in eDiscovery, expensive is the process as the files need to be hosted at a particular location, processed and reviewed- means more time and money. So to keep control of uploading files and save on money, follow these simple steps:
- Keep only essential files
- Keep attachments separate
- Do not extract inline images
- Use email threads.
5. Searching For The Case That You Don’t Know How
Searching eDiscovery can be a tricky situation as you might be uneasy about not finding the information you’re actually looking for whilst you also don’t want to waste time finding the information you’re not looking for.
Therefore, it is advisable that you should learn techniques to make “advanced “searches, test your search terms and avoid the same mistakes. How to perform advanced searches? Use three operators in mind- AND, OR and NOT:
- “And” helps you find documents with all the keywords
- “Or” helps you find documents with any of your keywords
- “Not” keeps out document with your keywords
6. Not Taking Help Of Experts When Required
This is a very common mistake that every business makes while handling its eDiscovery. There comes a time when your business or law firms get flooded with files.
However, hiring an in-house team for reviewing can be expensive. Thus, opting for Legal Support Services is an ideal way to streamline the processes. They offer you immense benefits like:
- Save time and money
- Access to skilled labor
- Available 24/7
- Data security
7. Not Choosing The Right Software
Even if you have a tech-savvy business or law firm, you may fall short if you don’t have the right eDiscovery application in place.
However, in today’s competitive environment choosing the software that suits your needs can be challenging as the competition is fierce. Thus, below we’ve outlined the best eDiscovery applications used by businesses across the world.
- Logikcull
- Digital WarRoom
- Onna
- Algolia Search
- Concordance
- Page Vault
- Reprise
- Reveal Data
In Conclusion
The above-mentioned mistakes are very common across businesses due to innumerable reasons. However, if you take the right step to mitigate such mistakes, then you can successfully run your eDiscovery process.
