Real World eDiscovery – Not Seen On TV

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.

StoredIQ Named KMWorld Trend-Setting Product for Second Consecutive Year

We are pleased to announce that StoredIQ’s Intelligent Information Management Platform was named as a KMWorld “Trend-Setting Product of 2010.” This is the second year in a row that StoredIQ has been honored with this annual and prestigious award which highlights products that demonstrate clearly identifiable technology breakthroughs that serve the vendors’ full spectrum of constituencies, especially their customers. This year, more than 600 products were assessed by KMWorld’s judging panel which consisted of editorial staff, analysts, system integrators, vendors, line-of-business managers and users.

“StoredIQ continues to deliver an industry leading product that provides customers with deep intelligence and understanding into their data and gives them the ability to quickly act on that information – this is why StoredIQ is again on our list of Trend-Setting Products.”

Hugh McKellar, editor in chief of KMWorld

StoredIQ recently announced the availability of its 6th generation award-winning solution. StoredIQ 6.0 is designed to empower corporate counsel with a legal-friendly, best-of-breed application – eDiscoveryManager – that addresses the wide range of legal discovery requirements, including search, identification, collection, early case assessment (ECA) and analysis, as well as legal hold and review. By integrating an easy to use eDiscovery application with the power of the StoredIQ platform, legal teams have a single solution to make more informed strategic decisions in less time, cut the cost of litigation and reduce legal risk.

We are very pleased to again be recognized by KMWorld and its judges. The continued recognition as a Trend-Setting Product of the Year is a testament to our dedication and commitment to enabling organizations to manage their information according to its business value and reduce cost and risk in the process.

New Enterprise Strategy Group Whitepaper Spotlights How StoredIQ Accelerates eDiscovery for the Enterprise

Need to streamline eDiscovery process, predict legal review cost and make strategic legal decisions much sooner?

With the rise in opinions and sanctions issued on electronic discovery, this new white paper from analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), is provided to help corporate counsel and legal professionals address the new eDiscovery realities which include managing multiple concurrent matters – with varying eDiscovery requirements, across multiple custodians, locating electronically stored information (ESI) that is spread across disparate data sources – all on tighter budgets and timelines.

“As the amount of electronic discovery related opinions and sanctions increases, organizations must be prepared to efficiently manage the complexities of responding to today’s legal matters that involve ESI,” said Brian Babineau, senior analyst with ESG and author of the whitepaper.  “StoredIQ allows companies to standardize electronic discovery processes on a single platform, while providing the flexibility that corporate counsel needs to better prepare case budgets and make more informed legal decisions.”

In this paper, StoredIQ Accelerates Electronic Discovery While Providing Cost Predictability, Mr. Babineau discusses how StoredIQ enables companies to control costs, mitigate risk, and manage cases in the face of varying types of matters.  Specifically, he explains how StoredIQ:

• Provides greater insight into ESI including unstructured documents within email, file shares, SharePoint, and other repositories;
• Facilitates more detailed early case analysis, allowing legal teams to analyze data in-place – prior to preservation and collection;
• Reduces the amount corporations spend on legal service provider review fees;
• Allows IT and Legal to work seamlessly together.

To learn more, download the whitepaper from the StoredIQ website at www.storediq.com.