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Dragging IT Into the eDiscovery Fold: Page 2 of 2

-- Analyze corporate Legal's eDiscovery practices for risk and resource usage. For example, all too many corporate lawyers practice "litigation holds" by sending out mass emails directing data custodians to preserve their files. This isn't litigation hold; it's a recipe for disaster.

-- Build cross-functional teams of Legal, Compliance and IT to define improvements to the process. These teams are charged with searching out eDiscovery services and technology that will automate eDiscovery procedures.

-- Adopt technology to automate the crucial collection procedure: identify, collect, preserve, analyze, and process relevant data. The better the job the corporation does here, the more efficiently it will manage all of its matters.

--Insist that outside law firms or hosted eDiscovery providers track and justify eDiscovery procedures and expenses. Some corporations may require their outside law firms to use a single eDiscovery workflow management platform to manage their matters.

There are technologies and services available to help with each of these steps. The ROI around automating these procedures is very high but the corporation must have the budget and the will to accomplish it. Better to do it proactively than in response to a devastating series of legal losses.