Extract from Kristin Zmrhal’s article “Modern Attachments for Ediscovery: Hyperlinked Files in Emails”
As evolving data communication platforms create new ways for employees to communicate, legal solutions must adapt in order to keep up with the resulting larger, more complex cases.
A prime example is the rapid adoption of hyperlinked files instead of the traditional attachments in emails. This simple shift in how we work together has had cascading effects on how we approach ediscovery.
What are hyperlinked files, or modern attachments?
Users of cloud-based platforms, such as Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive, share links to collaborative cloud documents. These files are colloquially known by Google Workspace users as “hyperlinked files” and Microsoft users as “modern attachments.” However, despite their widespread usage, how we treat hyperlinked files in ediscovery is a hotly debated topic in the legal world.
