Defensible Deletion: The Cornerstone of Intelligent Information Governance
The struggle to stay above the rising tide of information is a constant battle for organizations. Not only are the costs and logistics associated with data storage more troubling than ever, but so are the potential legal consequences. Indeed, the news headlines are constantly filled with horror stories of jury verdicts, court judgments and unreasonable settlements involving organizations that failed to effectively address their data stockpiles. While there are no quick or easy solutions to these problems, an ever increasing method for effectively dealing with these issues is through an organizational strategy referred to as defensible deletion. A defensible deletion strategy could refer to many items. But at its core, defensible deletion is a comprehensive approach that companies implement to reduce the storage costs and legal risks associated with the retention of electronically stored information (ESI). Organizations that have done so have been successful in avoiding court sanctions while at the same time eliminating ESI that has little or no business value. The first step to implementing a defensible deletion strategy is for organizations to ensure that they have a top-down plan for addressing data retention. This typically requires that their information governance principals – legal and IT – are cooperating with each other. These departments must also work jointly with records managers and business units to decide what data must be kept and for what length of time. All such stakeholders in information retention must be engaged and collaborate if the organization is to create a workable defensible deletion strategy. Cooperation between legal and IT naturally leads the organization to establish records retention policies, which carry out the key players’ decisions on data preservation. Such policies should address the particular needs of an organization while balancing them against litigation requirements. Not only will that enable a company to reduce its costs by decreasing data proliferation, it will minimize a company’s litigation risks by allowing it to limit the amount of potentially relevant information available for current and follow-on litigation. In like manner, legal should work with IT to develop a process for how the organization will address document preservation during litigation. This will likely involve the designation of officials who are responsible for issuing a timely and comprehensive litigation hold to custodians and data sources. This will ultimately help an organization avoid the mistakes that often plague document management during litigation. The Role of Technology in Defensible Deletion In the digital age, an essential aspect of a defensible deletion strategy is technology. Indeed, without innovations such as archiving software and automated legal hold acknowledgements, it will be difficult for an organization to achieve its defensible deletion objectives. On the information management side of defensible deletion, archiving software can help enforce organization retention policies and thereby reduce data volume and related storage costs. This can be accomplished with classification tools, which intelligently analyze and tag data content as it is ingested into the archive. By so doing, organizations may retain information that is significant or that otherwise must be kept for business, legal or regulatory purposes – and nothing else. An archiving solution can also reduce costs through efficient data storage. By expiring data in accordance with organization retention policies and by using single instance storage to eliminate ESI duplicates, archiving software frees up space on company servers for the retention of other materials and ultimately leads to decreased storage costs. Moreover, it also lessens litigation risks as it removes data available for future litigation. On the eDiscovery side of defensible deletion, an eDiscovery platform with the latest in legal hold technology is often essential for enabling a workable litigation hold process. Effective platforms enable automated legal hold acknowledgements on various custodians across multiple cases. This allows organizations to confidently place data on hold through a single user action and eliminates concerns that ESI may slip through the proverbial cracks of manual hold practices. Organizations are experiencing every day the costly mistakes of delaying implementation of a defensible deletion program. This trend can be reversed through a common sense defensible deletion strategy which, when powered by effective, enabling technologies, can help organizations decrease the costs and risks associated with the information explosion.Would Rule Changes Alleviate eDiscovery Burdens?
You have heard this one before. Changes to the Federal Rules are in the works that could alleviate the eDiscovery burdens of organizations. Greeting this news with skepticism would probably be justified. After all, many feel that the last set of amendments failed to meet the hype of streamlining the discovery process to make litigation costs more reasonable. Others, while not declaring the revised Rules a failure, nonetheless believe that the amendments have been doomed by the lack of adherence among counsel and the courts. Regardless of the differing perspectives, there seems to be agreement on both sides that the Rules have spawned more collateral disputes than ever before about the preservation and collection of ESI. What is different this time is that the latest set of proposed amendments could offer a genuine opportunity for organizations to slash the costs of document preservation and collection. Chief among these changes would be a revised Rule 37(e). The current iteration of this rule is designed to protect companies from court sanctions when the programmed operation of their computer systems automatically destroys ESI. Nevertheless, the rule has largely proved ineffective as a national standard because it did not apply to pre-litigation information destruction activities. As a result, courts often bypassed the rule’s protections to punish companies who negligently, though not nefariously, destroyed documents before a lawsuit was filed. The current proposal to amend Rule 37(e) (see page 127) would substantially broaden the existing protection against sanctions. The proposal would shield an organization’s pre-litigation destruction of information from sanctions except where that destruction was “willful or in bad faith and caused substantial prejudice in the litigation” or “irreparably deprived a party of any meaningful opportunity to present a claim or defense.” In making a determination on this issue, courts would be forced to examine the enterprise’s information retention protocols through more than just the lens of litigation. Instead, they would have to consider the nature and motives behind a company’s decision-making process. Such factors include: The extent to which the party was on notice that litigation was likely The reasonableness and proportionality of the party’s efforts to preserve the information The nature and scope of any request received to preserve information Whether the party sought timely judicial guidance regarding any preservation disputes By seeking to punish only nefarious conduct and by ensuring that the analysis includes a broad range of considerations, organizations could finally have a fighting chance to reduce the costs and risks of preservation. Despite the promise this proposal holds, there is concern among some of the eDiscovery cognoscenti that provisions in the draft proposal to amend Rule 37(e) could water down its intended protections. Robert Owen, a partner at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP and a leading eDiscovery thought leader, has recently authored an insightful articlethat spotlights some of these issues. Among other things, Owen points out that the “irreparably deprived” provision could end up diluting the “bad faith” standard. This could ultimately provide activist jurists with an opportunity to re-introduce a negligence standard through the backdoor, which would be a troubling development for clients, counsel and the courts. These issues and others confirm the difficulty of establishing national standards to address the factual complexities of many eDiscovery issues. They also point to the difficult path that the Civil Rules Advisory Committee still must travel before a draft of Rule 37(e) can be finalized for public comment. Even assuming that stage can be reached after the next rules committee meeting in April 2013, additional changes could still be forthcoming to address the concerns of other constituencies. Stay tuned; the debate over revisions to Rule 37(e) and its impact on organizations’ defensible deletion efforts is far from over.
They’re Here…. 7th Circuit Mock Hearing & Panel Discussion Videos on Predictive Coding
The 7 th Circuit Pilot Program sponsored an educational mock hearing and expert panel discussion in Chicago last May to tackle important issues related to the use of predictive coding technology. The long awaited video footage of the event is finally here and available for review courtesy of Symantec. The event begins with U.S. Chief Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, James F. Holderman, welcoming a courtroom packed full of people eager to learn more about novel issues presented by increased usage of predictive coding technology in litigation. National Archives Director of Litigation, Jason R. Baron, follows with opening remarks about the role of information retrieval in eDiscovery to set the stage for a lively mock hearing and panel discussion about a number of hot topics related to the use of predictive coding technology. Notable speakers include Maura R. Grossman, Counsel at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Dr. David Lewis, co-founder of the TREC Legal Track; Ralph Losey, Partner at Jackson Lewis; Matt Nelson, eDiscovery Counsel at Symantec; Jeff Sharer, Partner at Sidley Austin; and Martin T. Tully, Partner and National eDiscovery Practice Group Chair, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. The hypothetical hearing centers on a dispute between parties to a patent litigation matter regarding the use of predictive coding technology. Plaintiffs argue defendants should use predictive coding technology to assist with the production and review of documents. Defendants counter that they have a process in place for responding to discovery requests that is sufficient and that includes the use of legal technology approaches like keyword search that are commonly used during discovery. The hearing participants take positions (not necessarily their own) about important issues such as the reliability of predictive coding technology, steps needed to establish a protocol that is fair to both parties, and cost shifting. Ralph Losey does an excellent job playing the role of “judge” and summarizes key arguments made by each party before ruling from the bench at the conclusion of the hearing. Following the mock hearing, Losey and others debated important issues related to the use of predictive coding as part of a lively panel discussion. The panel discussion covered a broad range of interesting issues, but some of the liveliest discussion related to the following topics: Should parties be required to disclose their use of predictive coding technology? Is it appropriate to use keyword searches to cull electronically stored information (ESI) prior to using predictive coding technology? Could the misapplication of statistics be the downfall of predictive coding? The mock argument and panel discussion are among several excellent resources practitioners should consider reviewing to help them navigate a rapidly shifting and sometimes confusing predictive coding technology landscape. Please feel free to share your comments and feedback below and be sure to visit the 7 th Circuit Pilot Program’s homepage for more information about the group’s efforts to help clarify some of the most complex and important eDiscovery issues facing litigators today. This post was co-authored by Symantec's Allison Walton, eDiscovery Counsel
Legal Tech 2013 Sessions: Symantec explores eDiscovery beyond the EDRM
Having previously predicted the 'happenings-to-be' as well as recommended the 'what not to do' at LegalTech New York, the veteran LTNY team here at Symantec has decided to build anticipation for the 2013 event via a video series starring the LTNY un-baptized associate. Get introduced to our eDiscovery-challenged protagonist in the first of our videos (above). As for this year's show we’re pleased to expand our presence and are very excited to introduce eDiscovery without limits, along with a LegalTech that promises sessions, social events and opportunities for attendees in the same vein. In regards to the first aspect – the sessions – the team of Symantec eDiscovery counsels will moderate panelist sessions on topics ranging across and beyond the EDRM. Joined by distinguished industry representatives they’ll push the discussion deeper in 5 sessions with a potential 6 hours of CLE credits offered to the attendees. Matt Nelson, resident author of Predictive Coding for Dummies will moderate “How good is your predictive coding poker face?” where panelists tackle the recently controversial subjects of disclosing the use of Predictive Coding technology, statistical sampling and the production of training sets to the opposition. Allison Walton will moderate, “eDiscovery in 3D: The New Generation of Early Case Assessment Techniques” where panelists will enlighten the crowd on taking ECA upstream into the information creation and retention stages and implementing an executable information governance workflow. Allison will also moderate “You’re Doing it Wrong!!! How To Avoid Discovery Sanctions Due to a Flawed Legal Hold Process” where panelists recommend best practices towards a defensible legal hold process in light of potential changes in the FRCP and increased judicial scrutiny of preservation efforts. Phil Favro will moderate “Protecting Your ESI Blindside: Why a “Defensible Deletion” Offense is the Best eDiscovery Defense” where panelists debate the viability of defensible deletion in the enterprise, the related court decisions to consider and quantifying the ROI to support a deletion strategy. Chris Talbott will moderate a session on “Bringing eDiscovery back to Basics with the Clearwell eDiscovery Platform”, where engineer Anna Simpson will demonstrate Clearwell technology in the context of our panelist’s everyday use on cases ranging from FCPA inquires to IP litigation. Please browse our microsite for complete supersession descriptions and a look at Symantec’s LTNY 2013 presence. We hope you stay tuned to eDiscovery 2.0 throughout January to hear what Symantec has planned for the plenary session, our special event, contest giveaways and product announcements.What Abraham Lincoln Teaches about Defensible Deletion of ESI
The reviews are in and movie critics are universally acclaiming Lincoln, the most recent Hollywood rendition regarding the sixteenth president of the United States. While viewers may or may not enjoy the movie, the focus on Abraham Lincoln brings to mind a rather key insight for organizations seeking to strengthen their defensible deletion process. Lincoln has long been admired for his astute handling of the U.S. Civil War and for his inventive genius (he remains the only U.S. President who patented an invention). Nevertheless, it is Lincoln’s magnanimous, yet shrewd treatment of his rivals that provides the key lesson for organizations today. With a strategy that inexplicably escapes many organizations, Lincoln intelligently organized his documents and other materials so that he could timely retrieve them to help keep his political enemies in check. This strategy was particularly successful with his Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon Chase, who constantly undermined Lincoln in an effort to bolster his own presidential aspirations. To blunt the effect of Chase’s treachery, Lincoln successfully wielded the weapon of information: Chase’s letters to Lincoln that were filled with problematic admissions. Doris Kearns Goodwin chronicled in her Pulitzer Prize winning book, Team of Rivals, how Lincoln always seemed to access that information at a moment’s notice to save him from Chase’s duplicity. Lincoln’s tactics reinforce the value of retaining and retrieving important information in a time of need. Lacking the organizational and technological capacity to do so may prevent companies from pulling up information at a crucial moment, be it for business, legal or regulatory purposes. For this and many other reasons, industry experts are recommending that organizations implement a defensible deletion strategy. Defensible Deletion Requires Deletion Such a strategy could have some success if it is powered by the latest in effective retention technologies such as data classification and automated legal hold. Such innovations will better enable organizations to segregate and preserve business critical ESI. And yet, it is not enough to just adopt the preservation side of this strategy, for the heart of defensible deletion requires just that – deleting large classes of superfluous, duplicative and harmful data – if its benefits are ever to be realized. Companies that fail to delete such ESI will likely never come off conqueror in the “battle of the data bulge.” Indeed, such a growing waistline of data is problematic for three reasons. First, it can place undue pressure on an organization’s storage infrastructure and needlessly increase the cost of data retention. It can also result in higher eDiscovery costs as the organization is forced to review and analyze all of that ESI largesse. Finally, a potentially fatal risk of producing harmful materials – kept beyond the time required by law – in eDiscovery will unnecessarily increase. All of which could have been obviated had the enterprise observed the rule of “good corporate housekeeping” by eliminating ESI in a manner approved by courts and the rules makers. For organizations willing to get rid of their digital clutter, defensible deletion offers just what they need so as to reduce the costs and risks of bloated ESI retention. Doing so will help companies make better use that information so, like Honest Abe, they can stave off troublesome challenges threatening the enterprise.
Responsible Data Citizens Embrace Old World Archiving With New Data Sources
The times are changing rapidly as data explosion mushrooms, but the more things change the more they stay the same. In the archiving and eDiscovery world, organizations are increasingly pushing content from multiple data sources into information archives. Email was the first data source to take the plunge into the archive, but other data sources are following quickly as we increase the amount of data we create (volume) along with the types of data sources (variety). While email is still a paramount data source for litigation, internal/external investigations and compliance - other data sources, namely social media and SharePoint, are quickly catching up. This transformation is happening for multiple reasons. The main reason for this expansive push of different data varieties into the archive is because centralizing an organization’s data is paramount to healthy information governance. For organizations that have deployed archiving and eDiscovery technologies, the ability to archive multiple data sources is the Shangri-La they have been looking for to increase efficiency, as well as create a more holistic and defensible workflow. Organizations can now deploy document retention policies across multiple content types within one archive and can identify, preserve and collect from the same, singular repository. No longer do separate retention policies need to apply to data that originated in different repositories. The increased ability to archive more data sources into a centralized archive provides for unparalleled storage, deduplication, document retention, defensible deletion and discovery benefits in an increasingly complex data environment. Prior to this capability, SharePoint was another data source in the wild that needed disparate treatment. This meant that legal hold in-place, as well as insight into the corpus of data, was not as clear as it was for email. This lack of transparency within the organization’s data environment for early case assessment led to unnecessary outsourcing, over collection and disparate time consuming workflows. All of the aforementioned detractors cost organizations money, resources and time that can be better utilized elsewhere. Bringing data sources like SharePoint into an information archive increases the ability for an organization to comply with necessary document retention schedules, legal hold requirements, and the ability to reap the benefits of a comprehensive information governance program. If SharePoint is where an organization’s employees are storing documents that are valuable to the business, order needs to be brought to the repository. Additionally, many projects are abandoned and left to die on the vine in SharePoint. These projects need to be expired and that capacity must be recycled for a higher business purpose. Archives currently enable document libraries, wikis, discussion boards, custom lists, “My Sites” and SharePoint social content for increased storage optimization, retention/expiration of content and eDiscovery. As a result, organizations can better manage complex projects such as migrations, versioning, site consolidations and expiration with SharePoint archiving. Data can be analogized to a currency, where the archive is the bank. In treating data as a currency, organizations must ask themselves: why are companies valued the way they are on Wall Street? For companies that perform service or services in combination with products, they are valued many times on customer lists, data to be repurposed about consumers (Facebook), and various other databases. A recent Forbes article discusses people, value and brand as predominant indicators of value. While these valuation metrics are sound, the valuation stops short of measuring the quality of the actual data within an organization, examining if it is organized and protected. The valuation also does not consider the risks of and benefits of how the data is stored, protected and whether or not it is searchable. The value of the data inside a company is what supports all three of the aforementioned valuations without exception. Without managing the data in an organization, not only are eDiscovery and storage costs a legal and financial risk, the aforementioned three are compromised. If employee data is not managed/monitored appropriately, if the brand is compromised due to lack of social media monitoring/response, or if litigation ensues without the proper information governance plan, then value is lost because value has not been assessed and managed. Ultimately, an organization is only as good as its data, and this means there’s a new asset on Wall Street – data. It’s not a new concept to archive email, and in turn it isn’t novel that data is an asset. It has just been a less understood asset because even though massive amounts of data are created each day in organizations, storage has become cheap. SharePoint is becoming more archivable because more critical data is being stored there, including business records, contracts and social media content. Organizations cannot fear what they cannot see until they are forced by an event to go back and collect, analyze and review that data. Costs associated with this reactive eDiscovery process can range from $3,000-30,000 a gigabyte, compared to the 20 cents per gigabyte for storage. The downstream eDiscovery costs are obviously costly, especially as organizations begin to deal in terabytes and zettabytes. Hence, plus ca change, plus c'est le meme chose and we will see this trend continue as organizations push more valuable data into the archive and expire data that has no value. Multiple data sources have been collection sources for some time, but the ease of pulling everything into an archive is allowing for economies of scale and increased defensibility regarding data management. This will decrease the risks associated with litigation and compliance, as well as boost the value of companies.