Digital White Papers

I L T A W H I T E P A P E R | C O R P O R A T E L E G A L D E P A R T M E N T S 12 Jack Thompson is the Senior Manager, E-Discovery & Legal Operations at Sanofi, and also serves on ILTA's Board of Directors. C O R P O R A T E K M • Cost benefit analysis of having a dedicated program and professional management of such a program internally deconstructs reliance on outside counsel spend • Objective results are to reduce outside counsel spend on learning time and billable hours on established organizational processes using in-house resource experts and program controllers (collections, narrative briefs, 30 (b) (6) witnesses, etc.). Building the business case is the first step for building and supporting an information governance program. Added incentive is positioning tools for the organization's investment. Artificial Intelligence programs and services are heavily invested in building knowledge management programs specifically for law firm KM programs. The result and future growth for law firm professionals as well as end products for value add to internal and external clients. In the same instance, law departments are appropriating AI tools, services, and efficiencies where AI is a useful tool in managing information governance as well as reducing overall operating costs in knowledge management for legal matters. AI is one added advantage tool, with consistent investment in time from a law department would enhance overall performance and ability. A scenario to consider for usage of AI and support of an information governance program would be when deciding what to do with the unused data which has not been classified or abandoned. Typically, the question of legal value comes up when looking through sources of information – the question is what is to be done with this and is it under legal hold, preservation or retention hold, or will the business use this moving forward. The answer lies in an information governance perspective providing insight with internal business units to make the decision make the decision legally viable – also what type of tool/system/service/ workflow is manageable and implementable for this scenario. Another scenario for information governance program and usage of tools such as AI, are the importance of opportunities to build collaboration internally and externally for the organization's law department. Internally, client groups such as IT, Security, Records Management turn to the Law Department for guidance on what to do with information and usage of an AI or IG tool enhance the capability of making informed decisions and effective use of technolo for data classification. Externally facing, the information governance program ascends collaboration with outside counsel by providing the "know thy data" mentality with defense and actions of information directly from the organization. There are notable differences between KM Managers in law firms and law departments, however the building of such programs, support and maintenance, as well as opportunities remain consistently the same. As law departments continue to grow with data, change technolo landscapes, and encounter more changes in law, the role of a law department information governance program and in- house knowledge management professional will become a greater asset for the organization. ILTA

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