Extract from David Steinfeld, Akshita Singhal & Lianna Vaughan’s article “Everything You Need to Know about Risk of Loss”
Failure to properly conduct electronic discovery can expose a party to a range of penalties. One penalty relates to the spoliation of evidence, which can result in an adverse inference against that party. Naturally, the goal of every party and its attorney in litigation is to avoid such punishment. But identifying the risk and managing that exposure is an undeniable component of the eDiscovery process.
In this post, I’ll share what you should know about risk of loss in eDiscovery. I’ll cover how to identify risks, what happens if data is lost, and relevant case studies.
What Is eDiscovery?
Discovery is the process in a civil dispute by which parties exchange and obtain information. It is punctuated by requests for information and documents commonly termed “paper discovery,” as well as direct inquiry through mechanisms like depositions. eDiscovery is simply the term given to the discovery of electronically stored information. As a consequence of the uniqueness of the data involved, the process is composed of several components. Those component parts are commonly recognized as the preservation, collection, processing, and production of the data.
Identifying Risks in eDiscovery
The risk inherent to eDiscovery is the risk of loss of data. This can occur at two crucial points in the eDiscovery process: preservation (client’s side) and processing (lawyer’s side).
