What is eDiscovery and what are the advantages of it?

What is eDiscovery?

eDiscovery (also known as electronic discovery, e-Discovery, or eDisclosure) is a process where data/information is arranged for legal proceedings . 

While the terminology can be confusing at times, eDiscovery is really just another way to describe the process of identifying, collecting and reviewing electronically stored information (ESI) which is then shared or exchanged with other parties, normally in the context of litigation or a regulatory investigation.

The process is known as Discovery in Northern Ireland and Disclosure in England and Wales. Each jurisdiction has its own set of distinct rules. Cleaver Fulton Rankin helps clients across the UK with eDiscovery services with our multi-disciplinary team.

What is the eDiscovery process?

In simple terms, eDiscovery works as follows:

1. Data is identified as useful for a case
2. Documents are placed in a legal hold (so they can’t be edited)
3. Documents are reviewed and preserved
4. Documents are collected & processed/cleaned up to get them standarised
5. A legal team reviews the documents to understand what is useful for a case
6. Documents are shared with the other party
7. The final documents are used in legal proceedings

It is a vital aspect of any litigation matter as it is the process of identifying the relevant documents upon which your client will rely on in court.By leveraging cutting edge legal technology and Artificial intelligence (AI) analytics, combined with efficient workflows, the eDiscovery process is much more streamlined and efficient.

The Discovery process can be very complex and onerous given the huge volume of electronic documents which companies now hold.  This is why firms like our have dedicated personally in place to utilise eDiscover in line with the EDRM model.

What are the advantages of eDiscovery?

eDiscovery has a number of key advantages, including:

• Improved efficiency;
• Reduction in costs;
• Early identification of key documents and issues; and
• Increased accuracy and quality of the review.

In years past, parties exchanged paper documents, often hundreds and hundreds of boxes of them. Over time, paper documents have been largely replaced with computer generated content, and the process of discovery has been fundamentally changed in the modern digital world.

Is eDiscovery a challenging process?

It can be if an individual or business isn’t ready for disclosure. The biggest hurdles encountered for those unprepared include data procurement and handling. For example, a business may be entering litigation and freely provide access to internal servers, without knowing that data on work phones or other devices would be needed too.

Conversely, leveraging cutting edge e-discovery software and Artificial intelligence (AI) analytics, combined with efficient workflows, the eDiscovery process is much more streamlined and efficient. That means the right team can reduce the time needed for processing & review.

If you’d like to find out more about eDiscovery, fill out the form below and a member of our expert team will be in touch.

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