Discovery is the process, Electronic Discovery or "E-Discovery" refers to ESI and its associated process and procedures, when confronted with litigation or goverment investigations. ESI includes emails, digital-files i.e. word-processing documents, databases, and any other form of information created and/or stored in an electronic format.
The world of electronic discovery can be daunting. It is critical to realize the discovery process hasn't changed; rather the dynamic and volatile nature of the information technology, digital-documents and other ESI increases Discovery's complexities.
The answers to four simple questions position you to handle e-Discovery effectively:
| Who | - are the custodians of interest? - are the custodians of electronic-evidence? - is knowledgeable about how and where digital-documents are created and stored? |
|---|---|
| What | - types of ESI are created ? - software was used to create common documents? (email, word-processing, spreadsheets, presentation) - programs create and store company information and records? (Databases, outside services, CAD programs) |
| Where | - does company ESI reside? - does indivdual ESI reside? - are email messages kept? - are documents and records saved and retained on company systems? - are other sources of data storage? (laptops, home-computers, off-site) |
| When | - does the duty to preserve ESI trigger? - where preservation actions taken? - was relevant electronic-evidence collected? |