Litigation Readiness: A Practical Approach to Electronic Discovery

✍ Scribed by Prashant Dubey, Sam Panarella

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 160
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Industry studies indicate that corporations in the United States spend almost $4-5 billion annually taking electronically stored information (ESI) from its source and producing it for a requesting party. The cost to review this information for privilege/responsiveness prior to production is estimated to be another $30 billion. Traditional solutions to these problems have ranged from knee-jerk (and expensive) purchases and implementation of software and hardware for managing discovery, to abdicating responsibility for the process to law firms, to half-hearted attempts at managing the process with capacity-constrained in-house legal, IT and records management resources. The failure of these approaches has led to a growing recognition that corporations should approach "the inevitable" (i.e., litigation & discovery) with a proactive and organized approach, which is known as "litigation readiness." This phrase was first introduced to the market in 2004 by Prashant Dubey, one of the authors of this book in the form of an executive primer book entitled: Litigation Readiness: Mastering the Inevitable. Seven years hence, the co-authors have authored a book based on years of learning derived from helping dozens of corporations achieve a higher level of litigation readiness in the face of an every growing electronically stored information ecosystem. Litigation Readiness: A Practical Approach to Electronic Discovery is a strategic guide to litigation readiness, or how a corporation can establish and embed a business process for responding to discovery when compelled to produce ESI.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 6
Foreword......Page 14
Introduction......Page 20
1.01. An Organized Business Process—Five Key Components......Page 30
[A] Components of a Business Process......Page 31
[A] Risk, Cost, and Cycle Time......Page 35
[A] The Mechanics Behind Good Lawyering......Page 36
[B] The Six (+ 2) Basics of E-discovery......Page 37
[A] Balancing Cost, Risk, and Cycle Time......Page 43
1.05. Guiding Principles......Page 44
[B] Create a Plan People Will Use......Page 45
[C] Perfection Not Required—Just Good Enough Is Preferred......Page 46
2.01. A Foundation for Continuous Improvement: Assessment, Planning, Implementation, and Embedding......Page 49
2.04. Big Bang vs. Iterative Approach—The Technology Elixir......Page 50
2.06. Assessment as a Basis for Establishing Proportionality......Page 51
2.08. Assessment as Minefield......Page 52
2.10. Discovery Response Planning vs. Discovery Response Plan......Page 53
2.12. Implementation: 5 Parts People, 1 Part Tools......Page 54
2.14. Embedding: Back to the Basics of Change Management......Page 55
2.16. Choosing the Right Outside Counsel......Page 56
2.18. Get Outside Counsel Involved Early......Page 57
3.01. A Parable......Page 59
3.02. Self-Assessment......Page 60
3.04. Assessing Discovery Intensity......Page 61
3.05. Company and Industry Litigation Profiles......Page 62
3.06. Identifying the Risks—In Just Good Enough Style......Page 63
3.08. Confronting Reality......Page 64
3.10. Assessing Current Practice/Process—Documenting the Gaps......Page 66
3.12. Assessment Should Be Broad-Based......Page 67
3.14. Is the Assessment Discoverable?......Page 68
3.16. Defensibly Diverse Processes......Page 69
3.18. Relearning Your Job......Page 70
3.19. Trust Your Employees......Page 71
4.02. Baby Steps......Page 73
4.03. Ad Hoc to Value Added......Page 74
4.05. Questioning the Way Things Are Done......Page 75
4.07. Risks in Preservation......Page 76
4.08. Creating a Framework for Risk Profile......Page 77
4.10. Drilling Down to Find the Gaps......Page 78
4.11. Assimilating and Interpreting the Results—Secret Sauce......Page 79
[B] What Is “Just Good Enough”?......Page 80
[C] Good Enough = Good Faith......Page 81
[E] Predictable, Defensible......Page 82
[B] Nonbelievers Unmasked......Page 83
[D] Mix in a Little Politics......Page 84
[E] Distributing Ownership......Page 85
[F] Truth Telling......Page 86
5.02. The Urgency behind Socialization......Page 87
5.04. Threat or Opportunity?......Page 88
5.05. Elements of Socialization......Page 89
[A] Risk vs. Cost Gaps......Page 90
[C] The Urgency to Recognize the Inevitable......Page 91
5.08. Is 100 Percent Required?......Page 92
5.10. Purpose of the Plan......Page 93
5.12. The Three “Ps”......Page 94
[B] Protocol......Page 95
[C] Policy......Page 96
[B] Setting the Tone......Page 97
[B] Communicating the Commitment......Page 98
[D] Make It Real......Page 99
6.02. Organized Business Process......Page 101
[A] Matter Initiation......Page 102
[C] Preservation......Page 103
[D] Collection......Page 104
[G] Review......Page 105
[A] Nailing the IPC......Page 106
[A] Empowering Your People......Page 107
[B] The People. . . Continued......Page 108
[A] Software: Buy or Rent?......Page 110
[B] Format/Presentation of the Discovery Response Plan......Page 111
[C] Outside Counsel Guidance......Page 112
6.08. Views on Discoverability......Page 113
6.10. Hard Copy with Intranet Support......Page 114
6.11. Keep, Start, Stop......Page 115
[A] The Benefits of the Discovery Counsel......Page 116
[B] Liaison Status......Page 117
[D] Related Benefits of the Position......Page 118
[A] Obstacles to Building Your Team......Page 119
[A] Office of Discovery Counsel......Page 120
7.05. Be Specific......Page 121
7.07. What Does a Charter Look Like?......Page 122
[B] Tasks and Workflow......Page 123
[C] Change and the Discovery Response Team......Page 124
[A] Catch the Litigation Readiness Buzz......Page 125
8.02. Critical Team Takeaways......Page 126
[A] Accept and Comply......Page 127
[B] Mastering the Legal Hold Notice......Page 128
[B] The Sales Pitch......Page 130
8.05. The Layers of the Litigation Readiness Onion......Page 131
8.07. Orbiting Around the Initiative......Page 132
[B] Goes Well with Reinvention......Page 133
[A] Sharing Outcomes......Page 134
9.02. Don’t Reinvent the Invented......Page 136
9.04. Your Studio Audience Includes......Page 137
9.05. Others at the Table......Page 138
9.07. Follow-up to the Big Show......Page 139
9.08. Has Litigation Readiness Embedding Occurred?......Page 141
9.11. Steps to 26(f) Success......Page 142
9.12. Updating Your Plan......Page 144
10.02. Keeping up with Data Creation......Page 146
10.05. Steps to Mastering Information Governance......Page 147
[A] Practicing Information Governance for E-discovery......Page 148
10.07. 90 Percent Organization......Page 149
10.09. The General Liability Test......Page 150
[A] Evolution of the CIO......Page 151
10.13. The CFOs Take Their Shot......Page 152
10.15. Elevated CIO Signals Good Governance......Page 153
10.16. Rewards of Mastery......Page 154
C......Page 156
E......Page 157
L......Page 158
T......Page 159
Z......Page 160