Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/43390
may be in the effective use of a managed service provider to leverage a solution. LITIGATION READINESS AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT: AN IDEAL PARTNERSHIP Many corporations have spent the last few years examining and often purchasing "inside the firewall" solutions to drastically reduce the amount of data that must be handled when a litigation arises. Often the data volume is growing so exponentially that even sophisticated tools — and the labor needed to manage them — can't keep pace. For the general counsel's office, a wise choice is to go back to the drawing board and find where the new pain points lie in the information lifecycle. Restructuring processes can enable companies to leverage existing tools and staff to achieve further operational efficiencies. This might first involve taking another look at the corporate retention schedule. For example, the company, in the name of caution for discovery sanctions, may have agreed on a retention period that was too conservative. Now that the discovery landscape is a bit better-defined, can those "permanent" retention categories be reduced? Perhaps a content manager can be added to an email archive to remove nonsubstantive communications from retention. This is the point where litigation readiness advisors and records and information management (RIM) staff can collaborate to achieve a more efficient workflow. Next, the collaborative team can re-examine the existing data map (or if one doesn't exist, create one) to see if the map focuses on the data that is most routinely the subject of discovery production requests. If it does, then the next step is to determine if there are efficiencies that can be gained by further collaboration with the database administrator. If not, then perhaps the data map needs to be updated to target the most commonly requested data. The company may need to develop a new protocol for extraction, presentation and review of that data that is a more cost-efficient manner. As great as process re-engineering sounds, and even though efficiencies upstream will deliver downstream savings, many companies still struggle with a limited budget. This is where managed services advisors come into play. The globalization of discovery services, combined with the expanded service offerings within providers, makes leveraging the services of one partner to assist with RIM analysis, litigation readiness and discovery mechanics easier than ever. BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT Managing discovery from RIM through review (and back again) is best done by pairing tailored workflows and data management. The ability of a corporate legal department to institutionalize RIM and data-culling tools behind the firewall can easily be supplemented with the labor resources of a trusted provider. The trusted provider can assist in the day-to-day management of the process and can suggest real-time efficiency improvements on a case- by-case basis. Given that the corporation will have the ability to meet the 24/7 schedule that litigation sometimes demands, while avoiding the bottom-line burden of additional full-time employees, the managed service option can deliver excellent value. It can be scaled up or down depending on the needs of the moment. www.iltanet.org Corporate Law Departments 25