|
|
|
Practice Tips
Five Steps to Effective Data Gathering
When a document request is issued, your legal team has a limited amount of time to identify and gather necessary documents from your client's computer systems. Preparing a data gathering plan in advance will enable you to react quickly and efficiently, allowing more time for substantive document review.
- Define the Scope of the Project
Work with your client to review the document request with an eye for the following questions:
- Who are the custodians of interest?
- Based on: specific document requests;
geography; department; job function; dates of employment; or other variables.
- What are the time periods of interest?
- Must deleted files be produced?
- Are backup tapes within the scope of the
project?
- If so, must all tapes be restored, or are monthly, quarterly or yearly snapshots acceptable?
- In what form must the data be produced?
- Can in-house IT staff handle the workload, or
does it make sense to contract with a service provider for assistance?
- Identify Relevant Data
Gather as much specific information as possible about the layout of the organization's IT systems. Create a diagram to show how the relevant data is distributed throughout the organization.
Areas to consider:
- Electronic Mail Information
- What types of electronic mail servers are deployed throughout the organization?
- Are email services centralized? If not, where are the mailboxes of the relevant custodians?
- What are the email server policies?
- How long is email allowed to stay on the server?
- What are the mailbox size limits?
- File Server Information
- What types of file servers are deployed throughout the organization?
- Do users have home directories? If so, on what servers?
- What are the size limits for each user?
- Does the organization utilize shared folders?
- How are shared folders organized?
(By department? By geography? By job function?)
- Prepare the Data Gathering Plan
Once the information is aggregated, a customized retrieval plan can be developed. This should include:
- A diagram of the locations of data to be gathered.
- A project plan for all physical locations.
- A summary of the anticipated impact on operations.
- Identification of all members of the data gathering team.
- Identification of points of contact for each location.
- An inventory of the hardware and software tools to be used to gather data.
- An outline of the specific collection procedures to be used.
- Detailed work product checklists for technical staff completing the collection work.
- Chain of custody instructions for all involved parties.
- Arrangements for shipment of the media
containing the data gathered.
- Conduct a Pilot Test
The plan should be reviewed by a data gathering professional to ensure that the procedures are comprehensive and forensically sound. Upon acceptance of the plan, it is important to test the procedures on non-relevant data. This test will be good practice for the individuals involved, and will reveal any potential problems with the plan.
- Implement the Plan
Completing an electronic discovery project on time depends in large part on effective execution of the data gathering plan. Implementation of the plan should occur as early as possible, and should be managed by a designated person trained to maximize effectiveness of this crucial first step to effective electronic data review.
Further Reading
To request a copy of Applied Discovery's Fact Sheet "Creating a Data-Gathering Plan," send your request to edstandard@applieddiscovery.com.
|
|
|
|
Law Technology News Award
Applied Discovery recognized as Product of the Year and Best Electronic Data Discovery System by the readers of Law Technology News... 
|
 |
|
Newsletter
 Applied Discovery offers free subscriptions to The E-Discovery Standard™, our quarterly electronic discovery newsletter.
Click here to view past newsletters... |
|
|
New ABA E-Discovery Resource on FRCP Amendments
The Discovery Revolution: E-Discovery Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, by Lewis and Roca LLP partner George L. Paul, Esq. and J.H. Cohn LLP director of IT security auditing Bruce H. Nearon, CPA. Order your copy from the ABA today...
|
|
|
Ask Miranda
 Have a question about electronic discovery?
Click here to ask Miranda a question. |
|
