eDiscovery: What is eDiscovery?
Electronic Discovery, or eDiscovery, is the collection, preparation, review and production of electronically stored information (ESI) in civil litigation. This includes, but is not limited to email, attachments, files, IM, SharePoint and other data stored on a computer, network, back-up image or other storage media. eDiscovery includes metadata such as attributes, movements and storage locations.
Recent analyst reports have shown 80% of corporate respondents have been asked to collect and turn over email information and 60% have had to supply file system information in response to an eDiscovery request from opposing counsel in civil litigation. If your organization has not yet been asked to search Exchange, Windows file system or SharePoint data, chances are it will...soon. While eDiscovery capabilities and procedures are evolving, companies are expected to respond to electronic discovery requests in much less time than in the past. Enterprises that rely on reactive search tools, back-up tapes, and manual processes to retrieve ESI face an expensive, risky, time-consuming process that includes search, collection, and review. And, if enterprises cannot preserve and produce all relevant ESI in a timely fashion, the results can be costly including adverse rulings, negative publicity and punitive damages.
Early Case Assessment
It doesn't matter if you are being sued for $1,000 or $100 million, the first question to ask yourself is do they (the plaintiff) have a case. Next, you need to consider how you are going to manage the case, control its costs and evaluate the impact on your business. The key to managing litigation lies in your ability construct an effective strategy and take control of the case based on the data that you have. One of the most efficient ways to manage litigation is to conduct an "early case assessment" or ECA.
Early case assessment provides a preliminary analysis of the legal merits of the case, claims, and tools to formulate a legal strategy. An early assessment allows you to make an informed decision regarding the case and to decide whether to seek an early mediation or proceed to trial. The key to an effective early case assessment is to have access to all responsive data across all primary and secondary custodians in the case. The Mimosa NearPoint Proactive Archive and eDiscovery application provides you with all the needed tools to quickly evaluate the case merits and plan your legal strategy going forward.
Mimosa Legal eDiscovery Solutions
The Mimosa NearPoint™ eDiscovery for Exchange, Windows file systems and SharePoint provides integrated, easy-to-use capabilities that IT Forensics groups, paralegals and staff attorneys can use to search, review, cull, preserve, and produce ESI from the NearPoint archive. Having ready access to potentially responsive ESI can provide you with the ability to place immediate litigation holds as well as an important Early Case Assessment capability.
Corporate auditors, IT staff, paralegals, staff lawyers, external counsel, and compliance officers can quickly search through thousands or millions of emails, office files and SharePoint records, review these items, place them on litigation hold, and export the results for further processing or presentation to external or opposing counsel.
