Electronic discovery, also known as e-discovery or ediscovery, refers to the process of identifying, collecting, and producing electronic data in legal proceedings such as litigation, government investigations, or Freedom of Information Act requests. This includes data from email accounts, instant messages, social profiles, online documents, databases, internal applications, digital images, website content, and any other electronic information that could be used during civil and criminal litigation.
The processes and technologies around e-discovery are often complex because of the sheer volume of electronic data produced and stored. Electronic documents are more dynamic and often contain metadata such as time-date stamps, author and recipient information, and file properties. Modern document review platforms accommodate the use of native files and allow for them to be converted to TIFF and Bates-stamped for use in court.
The use of computer-assisted review (also known as “C.A.R.” or Technology Assisted Review, “T.A.R.”), predictive coding, and other analytic software for e-discovery reduces the number of documents required for review by attorneys and allows the legal team to prioritize the documents it does review. The ultimate goal of e-discovery is to produce a core volume of evidence for litigation in a defensible manner.
The e-discovery process is comprised of many linked actions that begin when a lawsuit is reasonably foreseeable and lasts until documents are presented in court (in the event the case actually goes to trial) . Once litigation is reasonably foreseeable, potential litigants have the legal duty to preserve potentially relevant electronically stored information (ESI) . Attorneys from both sides determine the scope of e-discovery, identify and preserve the relevant ESI, and make e-discovery requests and challenges of the opposing side. Once parameters are set, ESI is then collected, reviewed, and produced.
