In From The Cold: Taking Control Of Electronic Discovery By Bringing It In-House

The Editor interviews Frank Wu, managing director in the Litigation, Restructuring and Investigative Services Solution Group of Protiviti Inc. Protiviti is a global business consulting and internal audit firm composed of experts specializing in risk, advisory and transaction services. The firm, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Half International, helps solve problems in finance and transactions, operations, technology, litigation, governance, risk, and compliance.

Editor: Electronic discovery issues started making headlines when the federal courts changed their procedural rules to address the unique nature of electronically stored information. Here we are, two years later, and e-discovery is still making news. Why is it taking so long for companies to come to grips with the new rules?

Wu: We are still in a transition period. Ultimately, the new rules should make legal discovery more consistent and predictable. But right now, two factors are making it difficult for companies to quickly develop enterprise-wide answers to the demands of e-discovery.

First, whenever changes to court rules are enacted, the understanding of those rules continues to evolve as courts address specific problems. Knowing this, some organizations have wanted to see how the courts would interpret and apply the rules before committing their companies to expensive solutions that might need considerable modification later.

Second, the serious jolts to the economy during the last year or so have caused many companies to rearrange priorities and tighten their belts. Unfortunately, the pain and drain of e-discovery continues to impact both the top and bottom line. A single failure in discovery can undermine all those cost-saving efforts, so corporations are wary of false economies that carry high risks of loss.

Editor: Have you seen any trends emerge as companies adjust to both the evolving discovery rules and an uncertain economy?

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Source: metrocorpcounsel.com