Extract from Jim Gill’s article “Collaboration Data Challenges During Litigation (And How Technology Can Help)”
Collaboration during litigation is critical to ensure that all relevant information is discovered and reviewed. However, the emergence of various communication platforms like Slack and Teams has made the process more challenging. Collecting data from these platforms can be difficult as messages are stored differently, and there are different types of communications and channels to consider. Additionally, preserving and collecting collaboration data, and deciding on the best method to do so, presents another challenge. This article (part 3 of a 4-part series) explores the challenges involved in collaboration during litigation and how technology can help address these issues.
Collaboration Data Challenges During Litigation
Defining the scope of a search and determining what to review and produce can be challenging when dealing with data that includes various communication platforms, such as Slack and Teams. While collecting data from specific custodians, such as emails and documents, has been a common strategy, these new communication tools make it difficult because messages can be stored and managed differently on each platform, and within each platform, there are different types of communications and channels with messages stored in different places.
For example, in Slack, there are one-on-one direct messages, group messages, private channels, and public channels, while in Teams, there are meeting chats, shared channels, and messages stored in personal mailboxes or new mailboxes created for particular channels. In addition, files, links, and apps can be intertwined with messages, making it challenging to identify the scope of the search and collection when dealing with litigation.
