Tips for a security team's role in e-discovery

Electronic discovery (e-discovery) is a topic generally limited to legal circles. Although recent case law and the revised Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) are aimed squarely at judges and lawyers, both have profound implications for IT and security organisations, given the significant amount of electronically stored information (ESI) that is relevant for court cases.

In essence, IT teams are strategic helpers for enterprise litigation, and the choices they make for the creation, storage, archiving and destruction of information have significant effects on legal and regulatory evidence handling.

What this means is that it’s prudent for the security team to understand the core aspects of e-discovery law and practice. After all, the information lifecycle involves data availability, confidentiality and integrity — all critical security objectives. In addition, security practitioners should note the market landscape for e-discovery solutions and related products, including e-discovery point products, enterprise-search tools, classification systems and records archiving.

So, what’s the essence of e-discovery? Central to US judicial practice since the 1930s is the concept that parties in litigation are entitled to explore the facts fully (often resulting in out-of-court settlements) before presenting their cases to a judge or jury. Courtroom "surprises" may make for good television drama, but US judges frown on surprise as an element of justice.

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