Digital White Papers

77 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER LITIGATION AND PRACTICE SUPPORT Navigating Mergers for Ediscovery and Litigation Support vendors, it is important to take note of those and create a comparison document to see overlaps and what needs to be hashed out before full integration is completed. The goal is to make all parties successful when new systems, policies and procedures designed with one vision for the whole organization goes on-line. It is also critical to raise issues if something does not look right or presents a conflict of interest for any of the parties involved. Information technology and legal are not the only departments to consult at the beginning of the merger and acquisition; many other teams within the organization need to be involved. Litigation support, in conversation with other teams, will focus on ensuring that policies and procedures are carried out, systems work together properly with minimal risk and users are satisfied. It is important that road maps address how the integration of tasks will revolve around the business needs of the organizations involved. Working together within core teams will ensure everything is being covered and carried forth in a safe and secure fashion. Ensuring Project Success Planning calls are essential in building camaraderie between parties working on all phases of the integration. If video conferencing is available, it is a good way of puing names to faces and creating a sense of unity for the groups involved. These calls allow teams to build plans for the successful interpretation of systems prior to the full integration of platforms. Defining roles and mapping strategies is the key to developing success with any form of integration. Documenting is necessary for determining the scope of projects involved as well as keeping other teams up to speed on the progression and integration of platforms and procedures. Create documents to show the breakdown of systems ensuring that the litigation support department is running efficiently when done and that duplicative information is minimal. It is also helpful to put together process flow procedures and a list of team members handling key elements of the integration to ensure all elements are being developed and covered. By creating rolling documents upfront, teams establish policies and procedures that are compliant with the overall vision of the new organization being formed. Testing environments help guarantee that technologies are viable, and users are comfortable with the new platforms being rolled out. Identify key players within key departments to engage in testing; Information technology and legal are not the only departments to consult at the beginning of the merger and acquisition; many other teams within the organization need to be involved.

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