Peer to Peer Magazine

PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE OF ILTA BEST PRACTICES 16 Let's examine how three traditional searching methods can be transformed by adding the power of interactive visualizations. • Custodian Searching: This involves isolating a custodian to determine what content this person created or had access to, who he communicated with and when, and the actual contents of his documents, including metadata. Taken on its own, it can be useful if you are confident you have all of the data and can accurately index, search and review it. Visual analytics can help show what is beyond the dates and documents, including with whom this person communicated, which is often critical in fraud or investigations which try to answer "who knew what when." • Date Range Searching: This provides rapid insight into areas of interest in an investigation or litigation event. Visualizing document or communication frequency against date ranges is a powerful tool to help isolate peaks and ebbs of communication. A team can quickly focus on centers of activity that might be critical to an investigation or aid in making defensible deletion decisions. • Keyword Searching: Also known as the holy grail of searching through data, keyword search is a double- edged sword. It is as likely to obscure key documents as find them given the inherent challenges involved with human language and communication patterns. Attorneys are familiar with the frustration of having to build mind- numbing and error-prone Boolean searches based on a set of negotiated keywords. Infinitely better is to have the documents "describe themselves" through visual analytics, which can assemble groups or clusters based on keywords or concept words. The attorney is now reacting to a known lexicon of terms and can chose his or her own starting points based on the merits of the investigation or matter details. In each of these examples the addition of visual analytics quickly reduces the burden on the legal team, resulting in faster, better decision-making. Given the number of mission- critical objectives that rely on this knowledge — from better document review and internal investigations to more informed retention policies — the use of visual analytics is sure to grow in the coming years. Lincoln relied on visual analytics during one of the most challenging times in history, allowing him to both make and defend difficult decisions. The lessons of his day are clear: The assembly and organization of thousands of data points can deliver profound insights and reveal solutions to problems that can seem overwhelming. Whether trying to understand the contents of your corporate repository or the details in a critical legal matter, visual analytics can help you achieve a winning outcome. Counsel Weighs In on Tech Mess While we must look to technology to solve emerging challenges presented by growing data volumes, we have only technology to blame for creating this mess in the first place. Big data is drawing so much attention that, as InformationWeek reported in the article "White House Launches Big Data, Privacy Review," a national study was launched this year to determine how big data is affecting society and gain a better understanding of policies that might be needed in response. A great deal of knowledge and information is resulting from big data; however, the recent national attention to this issue resonates with IT and corporate legal departments that continue to worry over the data deluge. FTI Consulting recently published the fifth annual "Advice from Counsel" study, which surveyed corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 companies to uncover the latest trends, challenges and advice around e-discovery. Social media and big data received attention from every respondent. Sixty-two percent of participants expect a continued increase in e-discovery data volumes for the next few years. One respondent noted, "The company is moving toward bring your own device (BYOD), so it is expanding the number of devices that contain discoverable data." These figures are consistent with last year's study, which found 64 percent of respondents worried about the increasing effect of big data on e-discovery. Diving deeper into this issue as it relates to information governance, the participants were asked to highlight their top three information challenges. Thirty-seven percent identified growing data volumes as their highest priority, followed by 23 percent who struggle with data mapping and identifying the sources of information. The remaining issues ranged from data security and the disposition of legacy data to BYOD concerns and navigating the diversity of media. As such, many respondents who typically conduct the preservation and collection phases of e-discovery in-house suggested using outside service providers as a best practice for matters that involve social media platforms with unusual preservation or collection requirements, and in BYOD environments where employees might have case-sensitive data on personal devices such laptops and cell phones.

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