Why Are ESI Protocols Important for Legal Teams During Ediscovery?
Ensure Preservation of Relevant ESI: ESI protocols help to ensure that relevant ESI is properly preserved, collected, and produced. These protocols can specify the types of ESI that must be preserved, how it should be collected and stored, and who is responsible for ensuring its preservation.
Reduce Costs: ESI protocols can help to reduce the costs associated with Ediscovery by providing guidelines for the scope of discovery, the types of ESI that must be produced, and the timing of production. This can help to prevent unnecessary or duplicative searches for information, which can be costly and time-consuming.
Promote Efficiency: ESI protocols can also promote efficiency in the Ediscovery process by streamlining the collection and review of ESI. By providing clear guidelines for the collection and production of ESI, legal teams can avoid delays and errors that can slow down the process.
Ensure Compliance with Legal Obligations: ESI protocols can help to ensure compliance with legal obligations regarding the preservation and production of ESI. By following established protocols, legal teams can reduce the risk of sanctions, fines, or other legal consequences that can arise from failing to comply with eDiscovery requirements.
ESI Protocol Checklist for Collaboration Data
- What relevant communications exist?
- What channels will be searched?
- How will a search for responsive communications be conducted?
- What format will be used for collecting / processing / reviewing?
- How will links, pointers, and other “modern attachments” be dealt with?
- What will the production of chats look like and what format will be used?
- How will non-responsive or privileged material be removed?
- What will be the format for the privilege log?
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