Legal Holds Process Behind eDiscovery Risk?

October 17, 2008: A first-of-its-kind survey of Global 1000 companies has found that the vast bulk of eDiscovery risk can be linked to the legal holds process.

Released by CGOC, a practitioners’ forum focused on records retention and preservation practices, and the Huron Consulting Group, the survey looked at legal holds and e-discovery practices in companies with annual revenues ranging from US$5 (AU$7.35) billion to more than US$150 (AU$220.62) billion.

Titled “Benchmark Survey on Prevailing Practices for Legal Holds in Global 1000 Companies”, the survey focused on corporate practices for preserving information in litigation, identifying custodians of data, communicating legal holds, interviewing custodians, and collecting potentially relevant data.

“Increasingly, the vast majority of e-discovery risk can be linked to the legal holds process,” said Jim Mitchell, managing director, Huron Consulting Group. “Corporations and their law departments continue to work to mitigate risk and reduce costs while at the same time they must manage their data effectively and accurately.”

Mitchell says that difficulties in preservation continue to grow due to the diversity, ever-increasing volume, and scrutiny of data.

“Corporations are telling us they can’t afford not to address this process,” he said.

The company says that the survey findings highlight the changes in processes and technology, as well as the methodologies used to issue legal holds, manage preservation, and conduct e-discovery.

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