Electronic discovery, or eDiscovery, has become a critical component of modern litigation. As organizations increasingly rely on digital communications and documents, legal professionals must understand how to effectively manage the discovery process.
What is eDiscovery?
Electronic discovery refers to the process of collecting, processing, reviewing, and producing electronically stored information (ESI) in legal proceedings. This includes emails, documents, databases, voicemail, audio files, social media posts, and any other digital content that may be relevant to a case.
Key Phases of eDiscovery
The eDiscovery process typically follows these stages:
- Identification: Locating potential sources of relevant ESI
- Preservation: Ensuring relevant data is protected from deletion or modification
- Collection: Gathering the identified ESI in a forensically sound manner
- Processing: Converting collected data into reviewable formats
- Review: Analyzing documents for relevance, privilege, and responsiveness
- Production: Delivering responsive documents to opposing parties