Electronic Discovery & Data Management
Troutman Sanders’ Electronic Discovery and Data Management (EDDM) Practice Team provides clients with cost-efficient and integrated solutions to manage the preservation, identification, review, and production of electronically stored information (ESI) in litigation and internal/governmental investigations. The Team combines the skills of lawyers, technologists, paralegals, and litigation support personnel who work together with clients and case teams to create and implement cost-effective strategies for managing ESI both before and after litigation arises. Most importantly, the team works collaboratively with clients to minimize disruption to the client’s business operations and ensure that the ESI plan meets clients’ needs and satisfies their legal obligations.
As the universe of ESI continues to expand at an exponential rate, the technological and legal tools for addressing the additional burdens created by this volume continue to evolve. The EDDM Team stays current on developments in the law and technology in this ever-changing area to reduce costs and risks to clients. The EDDM Team works to craft e-discovery plans during litigation that focus on the efficient and focused production of ESI in order to move the case forward on the merits while minimizing disproportionate and unnecessarily costly discovery. The EDDM Team also works to reduce costs and increase efficiencies in the review and production of ESI by utilizing appropriate review tools for managing reviews and by relying on lower-cost and specially-trained project and discovery attorneys to conduct reviews.
The EDDM Team has successfully
-
worked with clients to develop data management practices and litigation response plans to limit the risks and costs associated with e-discovery
-
developed and defended litigation strategies that focus the scope of discovery and limit risks and costs
-
provided consistent and defensible practices and strategies as national coordinating discovery counsel
-
defended against motions to compel overly burdensome and broad e-discovery
-
compelled production of ESI from parties who are fallen short of their discovery obligations
-
obtained protective orders to prevent unreasonably broad and disproportionate discovery of ESI
-
developed cost-effective strategies for handling e-discovery in smaller and mid-sized matters
-
developed cost-effective and efficient document production strategies for producing large volumes of ESI in governmental and internal investigations
-
managed cost-effective document review teams staffed with discovery attorneys and project attorneys
-
utilized strategic relationships with preferred e-discovery vendors for processing, hosting and producing ESI to provide our clients with the latest technology at the best prices
-
taken and defended 30(b)(6) depositions related to e-discovery issues and worked with clients to select and prepare appropriate witnesses
-
utilized technological tools to effectively remove irrelevant ESI from manual review and to prioritize and focus review of key ESI
-
utilized technological tools and resources to effectively understand and affirmatively utilize ESI in support of claims and defenses in litigation
-
developed cost-effective and creative solutions for production of ESI including the use of shared production databases
Data Management & Litigation Readiness
The EDDM Team works closely with clients’ information technology departments, business leaders, and legal teams to develop client-specific solutions for the cost-effective management of data, including email usage and retention policies, backup policies, compliance plans, preservation protocols, and litigation readiness and response plans. These plans help to streamline the discovery process, create defensible protocols and repeatable processes, and in turn, reduce the burdens and risks associated with meeting e-discovery obligations in litigation and investigations.
Strategic E-Discovery Planning
Once litigation or an investigation arises, the EDDM Team consults with case teams and clients to develop case-specific and cost-effective strategies for managing ESI throughout the entire e-discovery process - preservation, identification, collection, review, production, and presentation. By considering the specific facts and claims at issue, the client’s and key custodian’s data management and storage practices, burdens and costs, and the unique needs of the case, the EDDM Team develops discovery plans that limit the scope of discovery to the most relevant ESI to reduce waste while still meeting discovery obligations.
For example, the EDDM recognizes that while some cases may require a detailed document by document privilege review, other matters may be better handled by reliance on a careful privilege search protocol and a well-crafted clawback agreement or protective order under Federal Rule of Evidence 502. Other cases may require the restoration of back-up media and the forensic imaging of home computers, while others may not require such efforts.
By taking the time to understand the unique issues of each matter and to develop an appropriate and defensible plan for focusing discovery, the EDDM Team helps clients control costs, reduce the risk of sanctions, and affirmatively use ESI to advance their case rather than distract from the merits.
Document Review and Production
Understanding that document review is the most expensive component of the e-discovery process, the EDDM Team utilizes state-of-the art technology to further reduce the volume of ESI for review through targeted analytics and search and retrieval techniques. By using technology to avoid manual review of certain documents, the EDDM Team is able to significantly reduce the costs of document review for clients. The EDDM Team utilizes the most advanced tools for effective and efficient document reviews by working with a select group of constantly-evolving preferred vendors to ensure that clients have the best rates for these tools.
The EDDM Team utilizes dedicated discovery attorneys to staff and manage our reviews. These attorneys are specially trained and experienced in maximizing the utility of e-discovery review tools and applications. Discovery attorneys work solely on the management of electronic document reviews and processes. They perform back-end searches and utilize complex analytical tools to automatically remove non-responsive data in bulk from the manual review. Discovery attorneys also utilize review tools that carefully manage reviewer pace to ensure efficiency and perform upper level quality control reviews to monitor consistency in coding.
Our discovery attorneys also perform work previously handled by associates such as managing the review and production, reviewing documents, creating chain of custody documentation, and tracking productions. Additionally, discovery attorneys assist associates with creating privilege logs by using review tools to generate an automatic log of the documents classified as privilege by the review teams which can then be revised and edited as needed – reducing the cost of manually creating such logs.
When the size of the project warrants a larger review team, we supplement our discovery attorney team with temporary project attorneys from a vetted list of selected project attorneys who are specially trained in the EDDM Team’s processes, review tools, and the facts and issues of the specific review to ensure consistent results. We bring these project attorneys on-site to provide the best environment for incorporating them into the review team and case team. The project attorneys work collaboratively with the discovery attorneys and case teams to stay informed of developments in the case that impact the review. By staffing the first-pass review with lower-cost project attorneys and discovery attorneys, we are able to significantly reduce the costs associated with the manual review of documents.
The EDDM Team seeks creative and case-appropriate solutions to ESI production such as whether to produce ESI in native or image format or whether to produce through a shared document repository. The EDDM Team works with clients and case teams regarding the production format of documents by discussing these issues early and resolving production format disputes with opposing counsel before production begins. By developing affirmative strategies and production protocols early, the EDDM Team helps keep costs associated with production format disputes to a minimum.
ESI Analysis
The EDDM Team also works with case teams to identify the key documents contained in the ESI for substantive analysis and case development. The EDDM Team and discovery attorneys work with case teams to identify ESI necessary to defend and take depositions, develop case themes, and present at trial. By utilizing appropriate technological tools and their knowledge of the data set, the EDDM Team can ensure the case team is not distracted by review of non-responsive or duplicative information and can focus the team on the most relevant documents.
National Discovery Counsel
The EDDM Team has helped reduce the costs and errors, create efficiencies, and reduce risks associated with e-discovery for some of our clients by serving a National Discovery Counsel. In this role, the EDDM Team works with case teams to apply their knowledge and experience with the client’s data management and retention practices, business operations, documents, and personnel to provide consistent and defensible management of the e-discovery process including implementation of holds, identification of locations of responsive ESI, and standardized procedures for collection, review and production of ESI. As National Discovery Counsel, the EDDM Team can maximize its knowledge of the clients systems, business, documents, and personnel to create the most cost-effective discovery strategies for each case and to conduct cost-efficient document reviews and productions.
The EDDM Team Key Players
| E-Discovery Project Coordinator – Angela Hood | Angela combines her technical knowledge of the review tools with her experience as a practicing attorney to set-up efficient work-flows for collections, reviews, and productions. She ensures the team stays on pace and coordinates the logistics involved in assembling a large-scale review team with a tight deadline. |
| Staff Attorneys: Michelle Kahoiwai Danielle Diethorn Adam Gajadharsingh | Our Staff Attorneys specialize in coordinating the review and production of ESI using web-based review platforms. They draft a coding manual, train and oversee contract review teams, establish quality control (“QC”) protocols, and ensure consistency in coding and production of ESI. Staff Attorneys also conduct targeted searches in review tools to analyze data and isolate irrelevant data from the manual review process. |
| Litigation Technology Department: Brain Ingram - Manager | Our litigation technology department is staffed with litigation support professionals who work closely with our preferred vendors, Staff Attorneys, and case teams to provide technical support and ensure seamless transition of data throughout the lifecycle of the project. Brian Ingram brings almost 20 years of hands-on experience in managing national Litigation Technology operations and cases involving all aspects of technology and ESI-related issues. |