By the end of 2012, enterprises that fully document their search processes in e-discovery will save 25% on their collection processes, according to Gartner. It predicts that by 2014, lawyers and technologists will use a customary means of recording search processes in e-discovery.
Gartner said that businesses of all sizes, and those facing legal actions annually, should have a simple set of practices to follow whenever they need to embark on an e-discovery process in the near future.
Whit Andrews, vice president and analyst at Gartner, said: Addressing the ongoing challenge of the IT perspective of litigation management demands both that the technologies be acquired and that procedures for using them be established.
“Companies need to own the products that will be necessary for them to address litigation and understand that those products will not have the same positive impact unless they are supported by repeatable, effective, systemic processes for lawyers and IT to follow.
Gartner has identified five guidelines to ease the first steps of addressing e-discovery for litigation. The first is that the legal team and IT must be able to communicate throughout the process. At the first threat of litigation, IT and the lawyers representing any company or government enterprise should initiate a planned round of meetings as though the e-discovery phase of litigation were a project with phased deliverables and expectations.
The other four include: getting a senior litigator involved immediately, analysing the corpus of documents and data early, estimating the price scale for collection based on what it will cost to pursue different strategies, and documenting the decisions.
Mr Andrews added, “Codifying these guidelines in order will further enhance efficient proceedings and improve the successful resolution of litigation.
